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EPAM Coding Questions

Overview

Practice EPAM coding questions in the style students report for online assessments and technical interviews. Focus areas: DSA, CS fundamentals, communication. Languages commonly allowed: Java, JavaScript, Python, C#.

EPAM coding pattern

Item Typical expectation
Problems 1-3 coding tasks depending on drive
Skills DSA, CS fundamentals, communication
Languages Java, JavaScript, Python, C# (use what the assessment email lists)
What matters Correctness first, then speed and clear code

Practice problems

Question 1: two sum

Coding Q1: Two Sum

Problem: Given an array of integers and a target, return indices of two numbers that add up to the target. Assume exactly one solution and you may not use the same element twice.

Approach: Walk the array once. For each value x, check whether target − x was seen earlier in a hash map of value → index. If yes, return both indices; else store x.

Complexity: O(n) time, O(n) space

EPAM tip: Restate the problem, sketch a brute-force idea, then tighten it. Call out edge cases (empty input, single element, overflow) before you write code.

Question 2: longest substring without repeating characters

Coding Q2: Longest substring without repeating characters

Problem: Given a string s, find the length of the longest substring without repeating characters. Example: ‘abcabcbb’ → 3 (‘abc’).

Approach: Sliding window with a map (or last-seen index) of characters. Expand the right pointer; when a duplicate appears inside the window, move the left pointer past the previous occurrence.

Complexity: O(n) time

EPAM tip: Restate the problem, sketch a brute-force idea, then tighten it. Call out edge cases (empty input, single element, overflow) before you write code.

Question 3: merge overlapping intervals

Coding Q3: Merge overlapping intervals

Problem: Given a list of intervals [start, end], merge all overlapping intervals and return the non-overlapping set that covers the same ranges.

Approach: Sort by start time. Walk once, merging into the last interval in the result when the next start is ≤ current end; otherwise append a new interval.

Complexity: O(n log n) time from the sort

EPAM tip: Restate the problem, sketch a brute-force idea, then tighten it. Call out edge cases (empty input, single element, overflow) before you write code.

Question 4: top k frequent elements

Coding Q4: Top K frequent elements

Problem: Given an integer array and an integer k, return the k most frequent elements. Order among equals can be arbitrary unless the problem says otherwise.

Approach: Count frequencies with a hash map, then use a heap of size k (or bucket sort by frequency) to extract the top k keys.

Complexity: O(n log k) with a heap

EPAM tip: Restate the problem, sketch a brute-force idea, then tighten it. Call out edge cases (empty input, single element, overflow) before you write code.

Question 5: linked list cycle

Coding Q5: Linked list cycle

Problem: Given the head of a linked list, return true if there is a cycle and false otherwise.

Approach: Floyd’s tortoise and hare: move one pointer one step and another two steps. If they meet, a cycle exists. If the fast pointer hits null, there is no cycle.

Complexity: O(n) time, O(1) space

EPAM tip: Restate the problem, sketch a brute-force idea, then tighten it. Call out edge cases (empty input, single element, overflow) before you write code.

Question 6: binary tree level order

Coding Q6: Binary tree level order

Problem: Given the root of a binary tree, return the level-order traversal (breadth-first) as a list of levels.

Approach: Use a queue. For each level, drain the current queue size, collect values, and enqueue children for the next level.

Complexity: O(n) time, O(n) space

EPAM tip: Restate the problem, sketch a brute-force idea, then tighten it. Call out edge cases (empty input, single element, overflow) before you write code.

Question 7: coin change

Coding Q7: Coin change (min coins)

Problem: Given coin denominations and an amount, return the fewest coins needed to make that amount, or -1 if it is impossible.

Approach: Unbounded knapsack DP: let dp[x] be the minimum coins for amount x. For each coin, update dp[c..amount]. Initialize dp[0] = 0 and the rest to a large sentinel.

Complexity: O(amount × coins)

EPAM tip: Restate the problem, sketch a brute-force idea, then tighten it. Call out edge cases (empty input, single element, overflow) before you write code.

Coding Q8: Binary search

Problem: Given a sorted array of distinct integers and a target, return the index of target or -1 if missing.

Approach: Maintain lo/hi. Compare mid with target and shrink the half that cannot contain it. Careful with overflow-free mid and empty arrays.

Complexity: O(log n) time

EPAM tip: Restate the problem, sketch a brute-force idea, then tighten it. Call out edge cases (empty input, single element, overflow) before you write code.

Question 9: move zeros

Coding Q9: Move zeros

Problem: Move all zeros in an array to the end while keeping the relative order of non-zero elements.

Approach: Two pointers: write non-zeros toward the front, then fill the remainder with zeros. Or swap zeros as you scan.

Complexity: O(n) time, O(1) space

EPAM tip: Restate the problem, sketch a brute-force idea, then tighten it. Call out edge cases (empty input, single element, overflow) before you write code.

Question 10: rotate array

Coding Q10: Rotate array

Problem: Rotate an array to the right by k steps. Example: [1,2,3,4,5,6,7], k = 3 → [5,6,7,1,2,3,4].

Approach: Normalize k %= n. Reverse the whole array, reverse the first k elements, then reverse the rest. That yields the rotation in place.

Complexity: O(n) time, O(1) space

EPAM tip: Restate the problem, sketch a brute-force idea, then tighten it. Call out edge cases (empty input, single element, overflow) before you write code.

Pattern drill plan (2 weeks)

Day Drill
Mon Arrays + hashing (2 problems)
Tue Two pointers / sliding window
Wed Stacks / strings
Thu Trees or graphs basics
Fri Timed mock (1-2 problems)
Sat Re-solve misses cold
Sun Explain your project out loud + rest

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