Top 50+ Tricky Computer Science Interview Questions & Answers

Answer: A disk partition is a section or part of a hard disk drive or storage device that is treated as an independent unit.

Answer: Computer science is the study of computers, computing technologies, and the theoretical and practical aspects of computation and information processing.

Answer: A programming language is a formal system designed for instructing a computer, comprising a set of rules and syntax to create software and execute tasks.

Answer: Object-oriented programming (OOP) is a programming paradigm that organizes code into objects, which encapsulate data and behavior, promoting modularity and reusability.

Answer: A compiler translates the entire source code into machine code before execution, while an interpreter translates and executes code line by line.

Answer: An operating system manages computer hardware and provides services for computer programs, enabling communication between software and hardware components.

Answer: A data structure is a way of organizing and storing data to perform operations efficiently, such as searching, insertion, and deletion.

Answer: Binary code represents information using a binary system, consisting of only 0s and 1s, and is the fundamental language of computers.

Answer: Abstraction in computer science involves simplifying complex systems by representing essential features and ignoring unnecessary details to manage complexity and improve understanding.

Answer: Artificial intelligence (AI) is the broader concept of machines performing tasks that typically require human intelligence, while machine learning (ML) is a subset of AI focused on learning patterns from data.

Answer: Computer networks are crucial for facilitating communication, resource sharing, and information exchange between devices, enabling efficient connectivity in various applications.

Answer: A database is a structured collection of data organized for efficient retrieval, storage, and management, typically using tables and relationships.

Answer: The cache in a computer system is used to store frequently accessed data, reducing the time it takes to retrieve information and improving overall system performance.

Answer: Virtual memory is a memory management technique that uses a combination of RAM and disk space to provide the illusion of a larger memory capacity.

Answer: Recursion in programming is a technique where a function calls itself, either directly or indirectly, to solve a smaller instance of the same problem.

Answer: The OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) model is a conceptual framework that standardizes the functions of a telecommunication or computing system into seven abstraction layers.

Answer: The purpose of an operating system is to manage hardware and software resources, provide a user interface, and facilitate the execution of applications

Answer: Front-end development focuses on user interface and user experience, while back-end development deals with server-side logic, databases, and application functionality.

Answer: “Open source” denotes software with freely accessible source code, enabling users to examine, modify, and share the code.

Answer: In software development, a bug is a flaw or error in a program that causes it to behave unexpectedly or produce incorrect results.

Answer: Modular programming is an approach where a program is divided into separate, independent modules, each responsible for specific functionality, promoting code reusability and maintainability.

Answer: A Data Warehouse serves as a centralized storage facility, collecting extensive amounts of structured and unstructured data from diverse sources, intended for analysis and reporting.

Answer: Big Data refers to extremely large and complex datasets that traditional data processing tools struggle to handle, requiring specialized techniques and technologies for storage, processing, and analysis.

Answer: Symmetric encryption uses a single key for both encryption and decryption, while asymmetric encryption uses a pair of public and private keys for these operations.

Answer: Authentication verifies the identity of a user, while authorization determines the user’s access permissions to resources or actions.

Answer: A function is a standalone block of code, while a method is a function associated with an object in object-oriented programming.

Answer: Deep learning is a subset of machine learning that involves neural networks with multiple layers, allowing the model to learn hierarchical representations of data.

Answer: A device driver is software that acts as an interface between an operating system and hardware devices. It allows the operating system to communicate with and control the hardware, ensuring proper functionality.

Answer: Edge computing involves processing data closer to the source of data generation, reducing latency and improving efficiency compared to centralized cloud computing.

Answer: A static website has fixed content, while a dynamic website can display different content based on user interactions or data changes.

Answer: An API allows different software systems to communicate and interact by providing a set of defined rules and protocols.

Answer: In a client-server network, a central server manages resources, while in a peer-to-peer network, devices communicate directly without a central server.

Answer: Serverless computing allows developers to build and run applications without managing server infrastructure, relying on cloud providers to automatically scale and allocate resources.

Answer: Penetration testing assesses the security of a system by simulating cyberattacks, identifying vulnerabilities, and helping organizations improve their security measures.

Answer: A zero-day vulnerability is a security flaw in software that is unknown to the vendor, making it exploitable by attackers before a fix or patch is available.

Answer: Multi-factor authentication adds layers of security by requiring users to provide multiple forms of identification, such as passwords, tokens, or biometrics.

Answer: Data mining is the process of discovering patterns and information from large datasets using various techniques, including statistical analysis and machine learning.

Answer: Load balancing distributes network traffic across multiple servers to optimize resource utilization, enhance performance, and prevent overload on a single server.

Answer: Redundancy in data storage ensures data availability and fault tolerance by duplicating information across multiple storage locations or devices.

Answer: A data scientist analyzes and interprets complex data sets, extracts valuable insights, and helps organizations make data-driven decisions.

Answer: SDLC stands for Software Development Life Cycle. It is a structured process that outlines the phases involved in the development, maintenance, and eventual retirement of a software system

Answer: A file is a collection of data or information stored under a specific name on a computer or storage device.

Answer: A framework is a pre-built structure or set of tools that provides a foundation for developing software applications, simplifying the development process.

Answer: An interface defines a set of methods that a class must implement, facilitating communication between different parts of a program in object-oriented programming.

Answer: An array is a data structure that stores a collection of elements, each identified by an index or a key.

Answer: A constructor is a special method in a class used to initialize objects when they are created.

Answer: C++ is an extension of C with additional features, including classes and object-oriented programming capabilities.

Answer: In programming, a pointer is a variable that stores the memory address of another variable. It allows indirect access to the value stored at that address.

Answer: DBMS stands for Database Management System. It is software that facilitates the creation, management, and manipulation of databases, ensuring data integrity and security.

Answer: A debugger is a tool used in software development to identify and eliminate errors (bugs) in a program. It allows developers to inspect the code, set breakpoints, and step through the program’s execution.

Answer: A digital signature is a cryptographic technique used to verify the authenticity and integrity of a digital message, document, or software. It involves using a private key to create a unique digital signature, and the corresponding public key is used to verify that signature

Answer: Polymorphism is a concept in object-oriented programming where a single function or method can operate on different types of data or objects, adapting its behavior based on the context.

Answer: SDLC stands for Software Development Life Cycle. It is a systematic process for planning, creating, testing, deploying, and maintaining software. Common phases include requirements gathering, design, implementation, testing, deployment, and maintenance

Answer: A chipset is a set of integrated circuits on a computer motherboard that manages communication between the processor, memory, peripherals, and other hardware components.

Answer: Overriding occurs when a subclass provides a specific implementation for a method that is already defined in its superclass. Overloading, on the other hand, involves having multiple methods with the same name in a class, but with different parameter types or numbers of parameters.