Interview questions for python programming jobs

 · 12 mins read

Hello friends! Here are some tips and tricks to prepare for the Python programming related jobs.

What is Python? How is it different from other programming languages?

Answer: Python is a high-level, interpreted programming language that is known for its simplicity, readability, and ease of use. It is different from other programming languages in that it is dynamically typed, which means that you do not need to declare variable types in advance. It also has a large standard library, which means that you can easily find pre-built modules to use in your code.

What are the built-in data types in Python?

Answer: Python has several built-in data types, including integers, floats, strings, lists, tuples, dictionaries, and sets.

What is the difference between a list and a tuple in Python?

Answer: A list is a mutable sequence of values, while a tuple is an immutable sequence of values. This means that you can modify the contents of a list after it has been created, but you cannot modify the contents of a tuple.

How can you check if a given string is a palindrome in Python?

Answer: You can check if a given string is a palindrome by comparing the string to its reverse. Here is an example:

def is_palindrome(s):
    return s == s[::-1]

What is the difference between a module and a package in Python?

Answer: A module is a single file that contains Python code, while a package is a collection of modules that are organized in a directory hierarchy. Packages are used to organize related modules and make it easier to import and use them in your code.

How do you handle errors and exceptions in Python?

Answer: You can handle errors and exceptions in Python by using try/except blocks. Here is an example:

try:
    # code that might raise an exception
except ExceptionType:
    # code to handle the exception

How do you read and write files in Python?

Answer: You can read and write files in Python using the built-in open() function. Here is an example of how to read a file:

with open('file.txt', 'r') as f:
    data = f.read()

And here is an example of how to write to a file:

with open('file.txt', 'w') as f:
    f.write('Hello, world!')

How do you create a virtual environment in Python?

Answer: You can create a virtual environment in Python using the built-in venv module. Here is an example:

python -m venv myenv

What is the difference between range() and xrange() in Python?

Answer: range() returns a list of integers, while xrange() returns an iterator. xrange() is more memory efficient than range() because it only generates the numbers as they are needed.

What is the GIL in Python?

Answer: The Global Interpreter Lock (GIL) is a mechanism used in Python to ensure that only one thread executes Python bytecode at a time. This is necessary to prevent race conditions and other synchronization problems that can occur in multi-threaded code. However, it can also limit the performance of multi-threaded programs in some cases.

What is a decorator in Python?

Answer: A decorator in Python is a way to modify or enhance the functionality of a function without changing its code. Decorators are functions that take another function as an argument and return a new function that adds some behavior to the original function.

How do you connect to a database in Python?

Answer: You can connect to a database in Python using the appropriate database API module. For example, to connect to a MySQL database, you can use the mysql-connector-python module. Here is an example:

import mysql.connector

mydb = mysql.connector.connect(
  host="localhost",
  user="username",
  password="password",
  database="mydatabase"
)

What is the difference between a shallow copy and a deep copy in Python?

Answer: A shallow copy creates a new object with a new reference that still points to the original object’s memory location, while a deep copy creates a new object with a new reference that points to new memory locations for the original object’s values.

What is a lambda function in Python?

Answer: A lambda function in Python is a small, anonymous function that can be defined on the fly without a formal name. It is often used for simple one-line functions that can be passed as arguments to other functions.

How can you sort a list of dictionaries by a specific key in Python?

You can sort a list of dictionaries by a specific key using the sorted() function and a lambda function that returns the value of the desired key. Here is an example:

my_list = [{'name': 'Alice', 'age': 25}, {'name': 'Bob', 'age': 30}, {'name': 'Charlie', 'age': 20}]
sorted_list = sorted(my_list, key=lambda x: x['age'])

What is a generator in Python?

Answer: A generator in Python is a special type of function that produces a sequence of values on-the-fly, rather than returning them all at once. Generators can be used to efficiently generate large sequences of values without having to store them all in memory.

How do you handle missing values in a Pandas DataFrame in Python?

import pandas as pd

df = pd.DataFrame({'A': [1, 2, None, 4], 'B': [5, 6, 7, None]})

# fill in missing values with 0
df.fillna(0, inplace=True)

# remove rows with missing values
df.dropna(inplace=True)

How can you create a GUI application in Python?

Answer: You can create a GUI application in Python using a GUI toolkit such as Tkinter, PyQt, or wxPython. These toolkits provide pre-built widgets and event-handling mechanisms that make it easy to create interactive graphical applications.

What is the difference between a list comprehension and a generator expression in Python?

Answer: A list comprehension creates a new list by evaluating an expression for each item in a sequence, while a generator expression creates a generator object that produces a sequence of values on-the-fly. Generator expressions are more memory efficient than list comprehensions because they do not create a new list in memory.

How can you profile your Python code to identify performance bottlenecks?

Answer: You can profile your Python code using the built-in cProfile module. This module provides a way to measure the execution time of each function in your code, and can help you identify performance bottlenecks.

How do you read a CSV file in Python?

Answer: You can read a CSV file in Python using the built-in csv module. Here is an example:

```pythonimport csv

with open(‘my_file.csv’) as csvfile: reader = csv.reader(csvfile) for row in reader: print(row)


### How can you create a thread in Python?

Answer: You can create a thread in Python by creating an instance of the Thread class from the threading module, and passing it a target function to execute. Here is an example:

```python
import threading

def my_function():
    print('Hello, world!')

my_thread = threading.Thread(target=my_function)
my_thread.start()

What is a context manager in Python?

Answer: You can handle exceptions in Python using the try-except statement. The try block contains the code that may raise an exception, and the except block contains the code that is executed if an exception is raised. Here is an example:

try:
    # some code that may raise an exception
except SomeException as e:
    # handle the exception

How can you make a Python script executable on Linux?

Answer: You can make a Python script executable on Linux by adding a shebang line at the beginning of the file that specifies the path to the Python interpreter. Here is an example:

#!/usr/bin/env python

# your Python code here

You also need to make the script file executable using the chmod command:

$ chmod +x my_script.py

How do you sort a dictionary by value in Python?

Answer: You can sort a dictionary by value in Python using the sorted() function and a lambda function that returns the value of each key-value pair. Here is an example:

my_dict = {'Alice': 25, 'Bob': 30, 'Charlie': 20}
sorted_dict = {k: v for k, v in sorted(my_dict.items(), key=lambda item: item[1])}

How can you debug a Python program?

Answer: You can debug a Python program using the built-in pdb module, which provides a command-line debugger for Python. You can set breakpoints in your code, step through it line by line, inspect variables and expressions, and more. To use pdb, you simply import it and call the set_trace() function at the point in your code where you want to start debugging:

import pdb

pdb.set_trace()

What is the difference between local and global variables in Python?

Answer: A local variable is a variable that is defined inside a function and can only be accessed within that function. A global variable is a variable that is defined outside of any function and can be accessed from anywhere in the code. If a local variable and a global variable have the same name, the local variable takes precedence within the function.

How do you read and write to a file in Python?

Answer: In Python, files can be opened using the built-in open function. To read from a file, you can use the read or readlines method of the file object. To write to a file, you can use the write or writelines method of the file object. After reading or writing, the file must be closed using the close method.

What is the difference between the is and == operators in Python?

Answer: The is operator checks if two objects are the same object in memory, whereas the == operator checks if two objects have the same value. In other words, is compares object identity, and == compares object equality.

What is the difference between a set and a frozenset in Python?

Answer: A set and a frozenset are both built-in data types in Python for storing a collection of unique elements. The key difference between them is that a set is mutable, while a frozenset is immutable.

This means that a set can be modified by adding or removing elements, while a frozenset cannot be modified once it is created. To create a set, you can use curly braces {} or the set() function, and to create a frozenset, you can use the frozenset() function.

Here is an example to illustrate the difference:

# create a set
my_set = {1, 2, 3}

# add an element to the set
my_set.add(4)

# remove an element from the set
my_set.remove(1)

# create a frozenset
my_frozenset = frozenset([1, 2, 3])

# try to add an element to the frozenset (this will raise an error)
my_frozenset.add(4)

In this example, we create a set my_set and add an element to it using the add() method. We also remove an element from the set using the remove() method. On the other hand, we create a frozenset my_frozenset using the frozenset() function, and then we try to add an element to it using the add() method, which raises an error because a frozenset is immutable and cannot be modified.