Core Java - Interview Questions and Answers for 'Variables' | Search Interview Question

Core Java - Interview Questions and Answers for 'Variables' - 44 question(s) found - Order By Newest

Q1. What do you mean by "Java is a statically typed language" ?

Ans. It means that the type of variables are checked at compile time in Java.The main advantage here is that all kinds of checking can be done by the compiler and hence will reduce bugs.

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Q2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of static variables and static methods ?

Core Java

Ans. Advantages

Can do meta object operations ( like validating something before creating objects , keep count of number of objects )

Can do operations which have nothing to do with objects but still you want them to be tied to Class.

Disadvantages

Commonly used to static variables sometime leads to problems due to access by different objects.

Are not tied to objects so doesn't reflect pure Object Oriented approach.

Needs to be synchronized so as to avoid update conflicts by mutiple objects and threads.

Some limitation in testing as not all frameworks have facility to mock them. Powermock has but Mockito doesnt

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Advanced level question usually asked to senior developers , leads and architects.

Q3. How does volatile affect code optimization by compiler?

Core Java

Ans. Volatile is an instruction that the variables can be accessed by multiple threads and hence shouldn't be cached. As volatile variables are never cached and hence their retrieval cannot be optimized.

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Q4. What is a Final Variable ?

Core Java

Ans. Final variable is a variable constant that cannot be changed after initialization.

Sample Code for final variable

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Q5. When are static variables loaded in memory ?

Core Java

Ans. They are loaded at runtime when the respective Class is loaded.

Sample Code for static variable

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Q6. Can we serialize static variables ?

Core Java

Ans. No. Only Object and its members are serialized. Static variables are shared variables and doesn't correspond to a specific object.

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Q7. What are the disadvantages of using arrays ?

Core Java

Ans. Arrays are of fixed size and have to reserve memory prior to use. Hence if we don't know size in advance arrays are not recommended to use.

Arrays can store only homogeneous elements.

Arrays store its values in contentious memory location. Not suitable if the content is too large and needs to be distributed in memory.

There is no underlying data structure for arrays and no ready made method support for arrays, for every requriment we need to code explicitly

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Q8. What are different types of variables a class can have ?

Core Java

Ans. 1. Method local variables - These are declared and defined within a method ( instance or static methods ) and their scope is limited to the method itself. They are destructed once the execution of method completes. They are stored in stack memory.

2. Instance variables - These are declared as non static variables as part of the class.They are initialized as part of object creation ( constructor ) and are destructed by java's garbage collection mechanism and hence stored in heap.

3. Static variables - These are declared with the static keyword and are part of the class. They are initialized at the time of class loading and are destructed by java's garbage collection mechanism and hence stored in heap.

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Q9. When we say final x = 10, is the reference final or the value ?

Core Java

Ans. final keyword have meaning only to referenced and not the value. It means that the specified reference cannot be dereferenced. It doesn't control the value assigned to the memory that's being referenced. This is the reason that final object references doesn't mean that the object is immutable but means that the reference cannot be changed to point to new object.

In case of primitive types too, when we assign a reference to another, values are passed and not the object reference, and hence a new placeholder is created in memory with the same value. That is why final to that context means that you cannot change the assigned memory and there is no way we can have that memory place have another value.

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Q10. Why do member variables have default values whereas local variables don't have any default value ?

Core Java

Ans. member variable are loaded into heap, so they are initialized with default values when an instance of a class is created. In case of local variables, they are stored in stack until they are being used.

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Q11. Will the static block be executed in the following code ? Why ?

class Test
{
static
{
System.out.println("Why I am not executing ");
}
public static final int param=20;
}

public class Demo
{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
System.out.println(Test.param);
}
}

Ans. No the static block won't get executed as the referenced variable in the Test class is final. Compiler replaces the content of the final variable within Demo.main method and hence actually no reference to Test class is made.

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Q12. Can static method access instance variables ?

Core Java

Ans. Though Static methods cannot access the instance variables directly, They can access them using instance handler.

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Q13. What is the advantage of using arrays over variables ?

Ans. Arrays provide a structure wherein multiple values can be accessed using single reference and index. This helps in iterating over the values using loops.

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Q14. Are there any global variables in Java, which can be accessed by other part of your program?

Ans. No. Global variables are not allowed as it wont fit good with the concept of encapsulation.

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Q15. What data type Variable can be used in a switch statement ?

Core Java

Ans. Variables used in a switch statement can only be a byte, short, int, or char ( and String with Java 7 and above )

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Q16. What environment variables do I need to set on my machine in order to be able to run Java programs?

Ans. CLASSPATH and PATH are the two variables.

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Q17. Will static block for Test Class execute in the following code ?

class Test
{
static
{
System.out.println("Executing Static Block.");
}
public final int param=20;

public int getParam(){
return param;
}
}

public class Demo
{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
System.out.println(new Test().param);
}
}

Ans. Yes.

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Q18. What are the conventions regarding constant variables or static final variables ?

Core Java

Ans. They should be named all in upper case with underscore separating words.

Moreover the name should be such that it identifies the value. For example, if we are using constant for employee Id 123, it should be named something like EMPLOYEE_ID_123 and not EMPLOYEE_ID

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Q19. Why is a constant defined as a static final in Java?

Core Java

Ans. Final makes sure that the value doesn't change after initialization and static makes sure that there is only one copy that can be shared across objects.

Making it non static will unnecessarily create a different copy per object wherein the same value will kept for all copies ( as its final and cannot be changed ).

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Q20. Variables of an interface are intrinsically ...

a. transient
b. final
c. public
d. static

Ans. b,c and d i.e final , public and static

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Q21. Which of the following is not true for final variables ?

a. They cannot be changed after initialization
b. They can be initialized within static method
c. They can be declared and initialized together at the same place
d. They can be initialized within constructor

Ans. They can be initialized within static method

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Q22. What is an instance variable?

a. An instance or object of an class
b. The field of an object
c. Any variable of a class
d. None of the above

Ans. The field of an object

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Q23. What are different types of variables in Java ?

Ans. 1. Function Local Variables
2. Instance Variables
3. Class variables or static variables

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Q24. Does compiler treats it differently if we don't prefix this to the member element and its implicit as its the only variable available with that name ?

Ans. It makes no difference whether we add this to the variable or not. The only use of this is in the cases where there are multiple variables with the same name and we want to distinguish between the member variable and local variable. In case this is not added ,this is automatically added by the compiler in the byte code.

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Q25. What is a static variable in Java ?

Core Java

Ans. It is a class level variable that is shared among the objects of that class.

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Q26. Can we access private members of the parent class ? i.e Are private members of the class visible in the derived class ?

Core Java

Ans. No, If both Parent and Derived are outer classes.

public class Vehicle {
private static String manufacturingDate = "2016";
}

public class Car extends Vehicle{
public static void main(String args[]){
System.out.println(manufacturingDate); // error - The field Vehicle.manufacturingDate is not visible
}
}

Yes, If derived is the inner class of Parent.

public class Vehicle {
private static String manufacturingDate = "2016";
static public class Car extends Vehicle{
public static void main(String args[]){
System.out.println(manufacturingDate); // no problem
}
}
}

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Q27. What could be the problems due to the usage of static methods and elements ?

Core Java

Ans. static methods and static elements are shared by all objects of a class and hence could create problem.

Static methods are not synchronized by default and hence could create problem when accessed through multiple threads. Static elements are shareable by class and hence state of one object could be altered by another object.

Some limitations with Unit testing as not all mocking framework facilitate mocking them. Power mock allows but Mockito doesn't

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Q28. What is the advantage of using static final or constant variables in Java ?

Core Java

Ans. Better Control - If the value is being used at multiple locations , that can be controlled better from single place. Any change would only require making single change.

Meaning , Aliasing and Better Readability - Sometimes its easy to read the value by its meaning or alias ( 0 as ZERO or 0 as NEUTRAL_VALUE ).

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Q29. Which environment variables do we need to set in order to run Java programs?

Core Java

Ans. PATH, CLASSPATH and JAVA_HOME

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Q30. What will we get if we try to print local variable that hasn't been initialized ?

Core Java

Ans. It will print the garbage value as compiler doesn't provide a default value to local variables.

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