Thursday, 23 July 2015

Java Interview Questions - Section 1


How does Java handle integer overflows and underflows?
It uses those low order bytes of the result that can fit into the size of the type allowed by the operation.

What exception you get when you declare a class as private?
Illegal modifier for the class BaseClass; only public, abstract & final are permitted.

What is the List interface?
The List interface provides support for ordered collections of objects.

What is the Vector class?
The Vector class provides the capability to implement a growable array of objects

What modifiers may be used with an inner class that is a member of an outer class?
A (non-local) inner class may be declared as public, protected, private, static, final, or abstract.

What's new with the stop(), suspend() and resume() methods in JDK 1.2?
The stop(), suspend() and resume() methods have been deprecated in JDK 1.2.

What state does a thread enter when it terminates its processing?
When a thread terminates its processing, it enters the dead state.

If a method is declared as protected, where may the method be accessed?
A protected method may only be accessed by classes or interfaces of the same package or by subclasses of the class in which it is declared.

What is an Iterator interface?
The Iterator interface is used to step through the elements of a Collection.

How many bits are used to represent Unicode, ASCII, UTF-16, and UTF-8 characters?
Unicode requires 16 bits and ASCII require 7 bits. Although the ASCII character set uses only 7 bits, it is usually represented as 8 bits. UTF-8 represents characters using 8, 16, and 18 bit patterns. UTF-16 uses 16-bit and larger bit patterns.

What are three ways in which a thread can enter the waiting state?
A thread can enter the waiting state by invoking its sleep() method, by blocking on I/O, by unsuccessfully attempting to acquire an object's lock, or by invoking an object's wait() method. It can also enter the waiting state by invoking its (deprecated) suspend() method.

Can a lock be acquired on a class?
Yes, a lock can be acquired on a class. This lock is acquired on the class's Class object.

What is the difference between yielding and sleeping?
When a task invokes its yield() method, it returns to the ready state. When a task invokes its sleep() method, it returns to the waiting state.

What modifiers may be used with an inner class that is a member of an outer class?
A (non-local) inner class may be declared as public, protected, private, static, final, or abstract.

If a method is declared as protected, where may the method be accessed?
A protected method may only be accessed by classes or interfaces of the same package or by subclasses of the class in which it is declared.

What is an Iterator interface?
The Iterator interface is used to step through the elements of a Collection.

How many bits are used to represent Unicode, ASCII, UTF-16, and UTF-8 characters?
Unicode requires 16 bits and ASCII require 7 bits. Although the ASCII character set uses only 7 bits, it is usually represented as 8 bits. UTF-8 represents characters using 8, 16, and 18 bit patterns. UTF-16 uses 16-bit and larger bit patterns.

What is the difference between yielding and sleeping?
When a task invokes its yield() method, it returns to the ready state. When a task invokes its sleep() method, it returns to the waiting state.

Is sizeof a keyword?
The sizeof operator is not a keyword.

What are wrapped classes?
Wrapped classes are classes that allow primitive types to be accessed as objects.

Does garbage collection guarantee that a program will not run out of memory?
No, it doesn't. It is possible for programs to use up memory resources faster than they are garbage collected. It is also possible for programs to create objects that are not subject to garbage collection

What is the difference between preemptive scheduling and time slicing?
Under preemptive scheduling, the highest priority task executes until it enters the waiting or dead states or a higher priority task comes into existence. Under time slicing, a task executes for a predefined slice of time and then reenters the pool of ready tasks. The scheduler then determines which task should execute next, based on priority and other factors.

What is a native method?
A native method is a method that is implemented in a language other than Java.

How can you write a loop indefinitely?
for(;;)--for loop; while(true)--always true, etc.

Can an anonymous class be declared as implementing an interface and extending a class?
An anonymous class may implement an interface or extend a superclass, but may not be declared to do both.

What is the purpose of finalization?
The purpose of finalization is to give an unreachable object the opportunity to perform any cleanup processing before the object is garbage collected.

What invokes a thread's run() method?
After a thread is started, via its start() method or that of the Thread class, the JVM invokes the thread's run() method when the thread is initially executed.

What invokes a thread's run() method?
After a thread is started, via its start() method or that of the Thread class, the JVM invokes the thread's run() method when the thread is initially executed.

What is the difference between the Boolean & operator and the && operator?
If an expression involving the Boolean & operator is evaluated, both operands are evaluated. Then the & operator is applied to the operand. When an expression involving the && operator is evaluated, the first operand is evaluated. If the first operand returns a value of true then the second operand is evaluated. The && operator is then applied to the first and second operands. If the first operand evaluates to false, the evaluation of the second operand is skipped. Operator & has no chance to skip both sides evaluation and && operator does. If asked why, give details as above.

What is the Properties class?
The properties class is a subclass of Hashtable that can be read from or written to a stream. It also provides the capability to specify a set of default values to be used.

What is the purpose of the finally clause of a try-catch-finally statement?
The finally clause is used to provide the capability to execute code no matter whether or not an exception is thrown or caught.

What is the purpose of the wait(), notify(), and notifyAll() methods?
The wait(),notify(), and notifyAll() methods are used to provide an efficient way for threads to communicate each other.

What is a static method?
A static method is a method that belongs to the class rather than any object of the class and doesn't apply to an object or even require that any objects of the class have been instantiated.

What is the difference between a static and a non-static inner class?
A non-static inner class may have object instances that are associated with instances of the class's outer class. A static inner class does not have any object instances.

What is an object's lock and which object's have locks?
An object's lock is a mechanism that is used by multiple threads to obtain synchronized access to the object. A thread may execute a synchronized method of an object only after it has acquired the object's lock. All objects and classes have locks. A class's lock is acquired on the class's Class object.

When can an object reference be cast to an interface reference?
An object reference be cast to an interface reference when the object implements the referenced interface.

What happens when a thread cannot acquire a lock on an object?
If a thread attempts to execute a synchronized method or synchronized statement and is unable to acquire an object's lock, it enters the waiting state until the lock becomes available.

What is the difference between the Reader/Writer class hierarchy and the InputStream/OutputStream class hierarchy?
The Reader/Writer class hierarchy is character-oriented, and the InputStream/OutputStream class hierarchy is byte-oriented.

What classes of exceptions may be caught by a catch clause?
A catch clause can catch any exception that may be assigned to the Throwable type. This includes the Error and Exception types.

What is the difference between throw and throws keywords?
The throw keyword denotes a statement that causes an exception to be initiated. It takes the Exception object to be thrown as argument. The exception will be caught by an immediately encompassing try-catch construction or propagated further up the calling hierarchy. The throws keyword is a modifier of a method that designates that exceptions may come out of the mehtod, either by virtue of the method throwing the exception itself or because it fails to catch such exceptions that a method it calls may throw.

If a class is declared without any access modifiers, where may the class be accessed?
A class that is declared without any access modifiers is said to have package or friendly access. This means that the class can only be accessed by other classes and interfaces that are defined within the same package.

Does a class inherit the constructors of its superclass?
A class does not inherit constructors from any of its superclasses.

Name primitive Java types.
The primitive types are byte, char, short, int, long, float, double, and boolean.

Which class should you use to obtain design information about an object?
The Class class is used to obtain information about an object's design.

What is the difference between static and non-static variables?
A static variable is associated with the class as a whole rather than with specific instances of a class. Non-static variables take on unique values with each object instance.

What is the purpose of the File class?
The File class is used to create objects that provide access to the files and directories of a local file system.

How does multithreading take place on a computer with a single CPU?
The operating system's task scheduler allocates execution time to multiple tasks. By quickly switching between executing tasks, it creates the impression that tasks execute sequentially.

What restrictions are placed on method overriding?
Overridden methods must have the same name, argument list, and return type. The overriding method may not limit the access of the method it overrides. The overriding method may not throw any exceptions that may not be thrown by the overridden method.

What is casting?
There are two types of casting, casting between primitive numeric types and casting between object references. Casting between numeric types is used to convert larger values, such as double values, to smaller values, such as byte values. Casting between object references is used to refer to an object by a compatible class, interface, or array type reference.

What class allows you to read objects directly from a stream?
The ObjectInputStream class supports the reading of objects from input streams.

How are this() and super() used with constructors? this() is used to invoke a constructor of the same class.
super() is used to invoke a superclass constructor.

How is it possible for two String objects with identical values not to be equal under the == operator?
The == operator compares two objects to determine if they are the same object in memory. It is possible for two String objects to have the same value, but located indifferent areas of memory.

What an I/O filter?
An I/O filter is an object that reads from one stream and writes to another, usually altering the data in some way as it is passed from one stream to another.

What is the difference between the File and RandomAccessFile classes?
The File class encapsulates the files and directories of the local file system. The RandomAccessFile class provides the methods needed to directly access data contained in any part of a file.

What interface must an object implement before it can be written to a stream as an object?
An object must implement the Serializable or Externalizable interface before it can be written to a stream as an object.

What is a Java package and how is it used?
A Java package is a naming context for classes and interfaces. A package is used to create a separate name space for groups of classes and interfaces. Packages are also used to organize related classes and interfaces into a single API unit and to control accessibility to these classes and interfaces.

What are the Object and Class classes used for?
The Object class is the highest-level class in the Java class hierarchy. The Class class is used to represent the classes and interfaces that are loaded by a Java program.

What is Serialization and deserialization?
Serialization is the process of writing the state of an object to a byte stream. Deserialization is the process of restoring these objects.

Does the code in finally block get executed if there is an exception and a return statement in a catch block?
If an exception occurs and there is a return statement in catch block, the finally block is still executed. The finally block will not be executed when the System.exit(1) statement is executed earlier or the system shut down earlier or the memory is used up earlier before the thread goes to finally block.

How the object oriented approach helps us keep complexity of software development under control?
We can discuss such issue from the following aspects: Objects allow procedures to be encapsulated with their data to reduce potential interference. Inheritance allows well-tested procedures to be reused and enables changes to make once and have effect in all relevant places. The well-defined separations of interface and implementation allows constraints to be imposed on inheriting classes while still allowing the flexibility of overriding and overloading.

What is polymorphism?
Polymorphism allows methods to be written that needn't be concerned about the specifics of the objects they will be applied to. That is, the method can be specified at a higher level of abstraction and can be counted on to work even on objects of yet unconceived classes.

What is design by contract?
The design by contract specifies the obligations of a method to any other methods that may use its services and also theirs to it. For example, the preconditions specify what the method required to be true when the method is called. Hence making sure that preconditions are. Similarly, postconditions specify what must be true when the method is finished, thus the called method has the responsibility of satisfying the post conditions. In Java, the exception handling facilities support the use of design by contract, especially in the case of checked exceptions. The assert keyword can be used to make such contracts

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