Java Interview Questions - Tutorialspoint
Java Interview Questions - Tutorialspoint
Dear readers, these Java Interview Questions have been designed especially to get you acquainted with the nature of questions you may
encounter during your interview for the subject of Java Programming Language. As per my experience, good interviewers hardly planned to
ask any particular question during your interview, normally questions start with some basic concept of the subject and later they continue
Java is a high-level programming language originally developed by Sun Microsystems and released in 1995. Java runs on a variety of
platforms, such as Windows, Mac OS, and the various versions of UNIX.
Java runs on a variety of platforms, such as Windows, Mac OS, and the various versions of UNIX/Linux like HP-Unix, Sun Solaris, Redhat Linux,
Some features include Object Oriented, Platform Independent, Robust, Interpreted, Multi-threaded
It’s compiler generates an architecture-neutral object file format, which makes the compiled code to be executable on many processors, with
Java uses Just-In-Time compiler to enable high performance. Just-In-Time compiler is a program that turns Java bytecode, which is a program
that contains instructions that must be interpreted into instructions that can be sent directly to the processor.
It is designed to adapt to an evolving environment. Java programs can carry extensive amount of run-time information that can be used to
What is Java Virtual Machine and how it is considered in context of Java’s platform independent feature?
When Java is compiled, it is not compiled into platform specific machine, rather into platform independent byte code. This byte code is
distributed over the web and interpreted by virtual Machine (JVM) on whichever platform it is being run.
Object is a runtime entity and it’s state is stored in fields and behavior is shown via methods. Methods operate on an object's internal state and
Define class?
A class is a blue print from which individual objects are created. A class can contain fields and methods to describe the behavior of an object.
Variables defined inside methods, constructors or blocks are called local variables. The variable will be declared and initialized within the
Instance variables are variables within a class but outside any method. These variables are instantiated when the class is loaded.
What is a Class Variable?
These are variables declared with in a class, outside any method, with the static keyword.
Singleton class control object creation, limiting the number to one but allowing the flexibility to create more objects if the situation changes.
Constructor gets invoked when a new object is created. Every class has a constructor. If we do not explicitly write a constructor for a class the
Default value of float and double datatype in different as compared to C/C++. For float its 0.0f and for double it’s 0.0d
This data type is used to save space in large arrays, mainly in place of integers, since a byte is four times smaller than an int.
Class variables also known as static variables are declared with the static keyword in a class, but outside a method, constructor or a block.
Java provides access modifiers to set access levels for classes, variables, methods and constructors. A member has package or default
Variables, methods and constructors which are declared protected in a superclass can be accessed only by the subclasses in other package
According to Java Operator precedence, which operator is considered to be with highest precedence?
Variables used in a switch statement can only be a string, enum, byte, short, int, or char.
This method is used to get the primitive data type of a certain String.
The String class is immutable, so that once it is created a String object cannot be changed. Since String is immutable it can safely be shared
between many threads ,which is considered very important for multithreaded programming.
The String class is considered as immutable, so that once it is created a String object cannot be changed. If there is a necessity to make alot
Use StringBuilder whenever possible because it is faster than StringBuffer. But, if thread safety is necessary then use StringBuffer objects.
java.util.regex consists of three classes − Pattern class, Matcher class and PatternSyntaxException class.
It is possible to define a method that will be called just before an object's final destruction by the garbage collector. This method is called
What is an Exception?
An exception is a problem that arises during the execution of a program. Exceptions are caught by handlers positioned along the thread's
method invocation stack.
It is an exception that is typically a user error or a problem that cannot be foreseen by the programmer. For example, if a file is to be opened,
but the file cannot be found, an exception occurs. These exceptions cannot simply be ignored at the time of compilation.
It is an exception that occurs that probably could have been avoided by the programmer. As opposed to checked exceptions, runtime
The Exception class has two main subclasses : IOException class and RuntimeException Class.
If a method does not handle a checked exception, the method must declare it using the throwskeyword. The throws keyword appears at the
An exception can be thrown, either a newly instantiated one or an exception that you just caught, by using throw keyword.
The finally keyword is used to create a block of code that follows a try block. A finally block of code always executes, whether or not an
What things should be kept in mind while creating your own exceptions in Java?
If you want to write a checked exception that is automatically enforced by the Handle or Declare Rule, you need to extend the
Exception class.
You want to write a runtime exception, you need to extend the RuntimeException class.
Define Inheritance?
It is the process where one object acquires the properties of another. With the use of inheritance the information is made manageable in a
hierarchical order.
When super keyword is used?
If the method overrides one of its superclass's methods, overridden method can be invoked through the use of the keyword super. It can be
What is Polymorphism?
Polymorphism is the ability of an object to take on many forms. The most common use of polymorphism in OOP occurs when a parent class
What is Abstraction?
It refers to the ability to make a class abstract in OOP. It helps to reduce the complexity and also improves the maintainability of the system.
These classes cannot be instantiated and are either partially implemented or not at all implemented. This class contains one or more abstract
If you want a class to contain a particular method but you want the actual implementation of that method to be determined by child classes,
What is Encapsulation?
It is the technique of making the fields in a class private and providing access to the fields via public methods. If a field is declared private, it
cannot be accessed by anyone outside the class, thereby hiding the fields within the class. Therefore encapsulation is also referred to as data
hiding.
The main benefit of encapsulation is the ability to modify our implemented code without breaking the code of others who use our code. With
What is an Interface?
An interface is a collection of abstract methods. A class implements an interface, thereby inheriting the abstract methods of the interface.
It includes −
A Package can be defined as a grouping of related types(classes, interfaces, enumerations and annotations ) providing access protection and
Packages are used in Java in-order to prevent naming conflicts, to control access, to make searching/locating and usage of classes,
A multithreaded program contains two or more parts that can run concurrently. Each part of such a program is called a thread, and each
Thread can be created by: implementing Runnable interface, extending the Thread class.
What is an applet?
An applet is a Java program that runs in a Web browser. An applet can be a fully functional Java application because it has the entire Java API
at its disposal.
It uses garbage collection to free the memory. By cleaning those objects that is no longer reference by any of the program.
It is used with variables or methods and used to call constructer of same class.
Explain TreeSet?
It is used to sort collections and arrays of objects using the collections.sort() and java.utils. The objects of the class implementing the
It includes:
Without throws, Checked exception cannot be handled where as checked exception can be propagated with throws.
Java Runtime Environment is an implementation of the Java Virtual Machine which executes Java programs. It provides the minimum
JAR files is Java Archive fles and it aggregates many files into one. It holds Java classes in a library. JAR files are built on ZIP file format and
Pages, Java Servlets, Java classes, XML files, static Web pages etc.
What is the difference between object oriented programming language and object based programming language?
Object based programming languages follow all the features of OOPs except Inheritance. JavaScript is an example of object based
programming languages.
The java compiler creates a default constructor only if there is no constructor in the class.
It is used to initialize the static data member, It is excuted before main method at the time of classloading.
Define composition?
Holding the reference of the other class within some other class is known as composition.
If a class has multiple functions by same name but different parameters, it is known as Method Overloading.
If a subclass provides a specific implementation of a method that is already provided by its parent class, it is known as Method Overriding.
Method overloading increases the readability of the program. Method overriding provides the specific implementation of the method that is
already provided by its super class parameter must be different in case of overloading, parameter must be same in case of overriding.
Final classes are created so the methods implemented by that class cannot be overridden. It can’t be inherited.
What is NullPointerException?
A NullPointerException is thrown when calling the instance method of a null object, accessing or modifying the field of a null object etc.
What are the 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 IO, 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.
The operating system's task scheduler allocates execution time to multiple tasks. By quickly switching between executing tasks, it creates the
After a thread is started, via its start() method of the Thread class, the JVM invokes the thread's run() method when the thread is initially
executed.
Does it matter in what order catch statements for FileNotFoundException and IOException are written?
Yes, it does. The FileNoFoundException is inherited from the IOException. Exception's subclasses have to be caught first.
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.
The Vector class provides the capability to implement a growable array of objects. Vector proves to be very useful if you don't know the size of
the array in advance, or you just need one that can change sizes over the lifetime of a program.
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.
These are classes that allow primitive types to be accessed as objects. Example: Integer, Character, Double, Boolean etc.
The Frame class extends Window to define a main application window that can have a menu bar.
Which package has light weight components?
javax.Swing package. All components in Swing, except JApplet, JDialog, JFrame and JWindow are lightweight components.
The paint() method supports painting via a Graphics object. The repaint() method is used to cause paint() to be invoked by the AWT painting
thread.
It is used to create objects that provide access to the files and directories of a local file system.
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.
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 and java.lang.Class class instance represent classes, interfaces in a
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
Serialization is the process of writing the state of an object to a byte stream. Deserialization is the process of restoring these objects.
It is part of the analysis of a program and describes a situation that a program might encounter and what behavior the program should exhibit
in that circumstance.
Sub class inherits all the public and protected methods and the implementation. It also inherits all the default modifier methods and their
implementation.
If there is a button instance called b1, you may add menu short cut by calling b1.setMnemonic('F'), so the user may be able to use Alt+F to
click the button.
Can you write a Java class that could be used both as an applet as well as an application?
AWT components are heavy-weight, whereas Swing components are lightweight. Heavy weight components depend on the local windowing
toolkit. For example, java.awt.Button is a heavy weight component, when it is running on the Java platform for Unix platform, it maps to a real
Motif button.
Constructors must have the same name as the class and can not return a value. They are only called once while regular methods could be
Yes, since inheritance inherits everything from the super class and interface, it may make the subclass too clustering and sometimes error-
When copying elements between different arrays, if the source or destination arguments are not arrays or their types are not compatible, an
Can you call one constructor from another if a class has multiple constructors?
The code sleep(2000); puts thread aside for exactly two seconds. The code wait(2000), causes a wait of up to two second. A thread could
stop waiting earlier if it receives the notify() or notifyAll() call. The method wait() is defined in the class Object and the method sleep() is
The ArithmeticException is thrown when integer is divided by zero or taking the remainder of a number by zero. It is never thrown in floating-
point operations.
serialization,
What is synchronization?
Synchronization is the capability to control the access of multiple threads to shared resources. synchronized keyword in java provides locking
which ensures mutual exclusive access of shared resource and prevent data race.
The Collections API is a set of classes and interfaces that support operations on collections of objects.
Does garbage collection guarantee that a program will not run out of memory?
Garbage collection does not guarantee that a program will not run out of memory. 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.
Panel is the immediate superclass. A panel provides space in which an application can attach any other component, including other panels.
A break statement results in the termination of the statement to which it applies (switch, for, do, or while). A continue statement is used to end
the current loop iteration and return control to the loop statement.
A private variable may only be accessed within the class in which it is declared.
The eight primitive types are byte, char, short, int, long, float, double, and boolean.
When a window is repainted by the AWT painting thread, it sets the clipping regions to the area of the window that requires repainting.
Which class is the immediate superclass of the Container class?
Under what conditions is an object's finalize() method invoked by the garbage collector?
The garbage collector invokes an object's finalize() method when it detects that the object has become unreachable.
Yes
A class loader is an object that is responsible for loading classes. The class ClassLoader is an abstract class.
An abstract class can have instance methods that implement a default behavior. An Interface can only declare constants and instance
methods, but cannot implement default behavior and all methods are implicitly abstract. An interface has all public members and no
implementation.
What will happen if static modifier is removed from the signature of the main method?
No, a top level class can not be private or protected. It can have either "public" or no modifier.
We can pass them around as method parameters where a method expects an object. It also provides utility methods.
An error is an irrecoverable condition occurring at runtime. Such as OutOfMemory error. Exceptions are conditions that occur because of bad
input etc. e.g. FileNotFoundException will be thrown if the specified file does not exist.
It is not necessary that each try block must be followed by a catch block. It should be followed by either a catch block or a finally block.
A thread is in the ready state as initial state after it has been created and started.
The Locale class is used to tailor program output to the conventions of a particular geographic, political, or cultural region.
Synchronized methods are methods that are used to control access to an object. A synchronized statement can only be executed after a
thread has acquired the lock for the object or class referenced in the synchronized statement.
Runtime polymorphism or dynamic method dispatch is a process in which a call to an overridden method is resolved at runtime rather than at
compile-time. In this process, an overridden method is called through the reference variable of a superclass.
Binding refers to the linking of a procedure call to the code to be executed in response to the call. Dynamic binding means that the code
associated with a given procedure call is not known until the time of the call at run-time.
ArrayList can grow dynamically and provides more powerful insertion and search mechanisms than arrays.
Deletion in linked list is fast because it involves only updating the next pointer in the node before the deleted node and updating the previous
If you need to frequently add and remove elements from the middle of the list and only access the list elements sequentially, then LinkedList
should be used. If you need to support random access, without inserting or removing elements from any place other than the end, then
It is a collection returned by the values() method of the Map Interface, It contains all the objects present as values in the map.
The dot operator(.) is used to access the instance variables and methods of class objects.It is also used to access classes and sub-packages
from a package.
Private constructor is used if you do not want other classes to instantiate the object and to prevent subclassing.T
Type casting means treating a variable of one type as though it is another type.
Newborn state
Runnable state
Running state
Blocked state
Dead state
Which method of the Component class is used to set the position and size of a component?
MenuItem class
Import statement is allowed at the beginning of the program file after package statement.
What is currentThread()?
The main thread is created automatically and it begins to execute immediately when a program starts. It ia thread from which all other child
threads originate.
Initialization
Starting
Stopping
Destroying
Painting
Define canvas?
It is a simple drawing surface which are used for painting images or to perform other graphical operations.
It refers to writing programs that execute across multiple devices (computers), in which the devices are all connected to each other using a
network.
What is a Socket?
Sockets provide the communication mechanism between two computers using TCP. A client program creates a socket on its end of the
network traffic.
Socket based communications allows only to send packets of raw data between applications. Both the client-side and server-side have to
Which class is used by server applications to obtain a port and listen for client requests?
java.net.ServerSocket class is used by server applications to obtain a port and listen for client requests
Which class represents the socket that both the client and server use to communicate with each other?
java.net.Socket class represents the socket that both the client and server use to communicate with each other.
Generics provide compile-time type safety that allows programmers to catch invalid types at compile time. Java Generic methods and generic
classes enable programmers to specify, with a single method declaration, a set of related methods or, with a single class declaration, a set of
related types.
What environment variables do I need to set on my machine in order to be able to run Java programs?
No, there is no need to import this package. It is by default loaded internally by the JVM.
If a class is declared within a class and specify the static modifier, the compiler treats the class just like any other top-level class. Nested top-
Externalizable is an interface which contains two methods readExternal and writeExternal. These methods give you a control over the
serialization mechanism.
If System.exit (0); is written at the end of the try block, will the finally block still execute?
No in this case the finally block will not execute because when you say System.exit (0); the control immediately goes out of the program, and
Daemon thread is a low priority thread, which runs intermittently in the back ground doing the garbage collection operation for the java runtime
system.
The size is the number of elements actually stored in the vector, while capacity is the maximum number of elements it can store at a given
instance of time.
Yes a Vector can contain heterogenous objects. Because a Vector stores everything in terms of Object.
What is an enumeration?
An enumeration is an interface containing methods for accessing the underlying data structure from which the enumeration is obtained. It
Path and Classpath are operating system level environment variales. Path is defines where the system can find the executables(.exe) files and
A static method should not refer to instance variables without creating an instance and cannot use "this" operator to refer the instance.
Yes an Interface can inherit another Interface, for that matter an Interface can extend more than one Interface.
Polymorphism
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.
What is Downcasting?
It is the casting from a general to a more specific type, i.e. casting down the hierarchy.
What are order of precedence and associativity and how are they used?
Order of precedence determines the order in which operators are evaluated in expressions. Associatity determines whether an expression is
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.
When a class is defined within a scope of another class, then it becomes inner class. If the access modifier of the inner class is static, then it
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.
A child object constructor always first needs to construct its parent. In Java it is done via an implicit call to the no-args constructor as the first
statement.
Can a double value be cast to a byte?
How does a try statement determine which catch clause should be used to handle an exception?
When an exception is thrown within the body of a try statement, the catch clauses of the try statement are examined in the order in which they
appear. The first catch clause that is capable of handling the exception is executed. The remaining catch clauses are ignored.
What will be the default values of all the elements of an array defined as an instance variable?
If the array is an array of primitive types, then all the elements of the array will be initialized to the default value corresponding to that primitive
type.
What is Next?
Further, you can go through your past assignments you have done with the subject and make sure you are able to speak confidently on them. If
you are fresher then interviewer does not expect you will answer very complex questions, rather you have to make your basics concepts very
strong.
Second it really doesn't matter much if you could not answer few questions but it matters that whatever you answered, you must have
answered with confidence. So just feel confident during your interview. We at tutorialspoint wish you best luck to have a good interviewer and
all the very best for your future endeavor. Cheers :-)
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