The complete guide with code examples, evaluation rubrics, and follow-ups

Python Interview Questions

Whether you're preparing for a Python interview or building your hiring process, this guide covers everything from fundamentals to advanced topics. Each question includes code examples, what great answers look like, and red flags to watch for.

50+ Questions

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intermediate

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What's Covered in This Guide

Python Fundamentals

10 questions

Object-Oriented Python

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Python Fundamentals

10 questions

Object-Oriented Python

7 questions

Advanced Python

7 questions

Data Structures

5 questions

Practical Coding

11 questions

Web Development

5 questions

Testing

5 questions

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The complete guide with code examples, evaluation rubrics, and follow-ups

Python Interview Questions

What's Covered in This Guide

Python Fundamentals

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

Explain the difference between `==` and `is` in Python.

What are *args and **kwargs? When would you use them?

What is a Python decorator and how does it work?

Explain list comprehensions and when you would (or wouldn't) use them.

What are Python's mutable vs immutable types?

How do you handle file operations in Python?

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

Explain Python's string formatting options.

What is the `pass` statement used for?

Object-Oriented Python

Explain the difference between @staticmethod and @classmethod.

What are Python magic methods (dunder methods)? Give examples.

Explain Python's Method Resolution Order (MRO) and multiple inheritance.

What is a metaclass in Python?

Explain @property and how to use getters/setters in Python.

What is the difference between __new__ and __init__?

How do you implement an abstract base class in Python?

Advanced Python

Explain Python's context managers and the `with` statement.

What is the Global Interpreter Lock (GIL)?

What is asyncio and how does async/await work?

What are Python generators and how do they differ from regular functions?

Explain Python descriptors and how they work.

How does Python's garbage collection work?

Explain the difference between shallow copy and deep copy.

Data Structures

What is a Python dictionary's time complexity for common operations?

Explain collections.defaultdict and collections.Counter.

What is a set in Python and when would you use it?

What are namedtuples and dataclasses?

What is a deque and when would you use it over a list?

Practical Coding

How would you handle exceptions in Python? What's the best practice?

Write a function to find the two numbers in a list that add up to a target sum.

How do you read and parse JSON in Python?

How do you make HTTP requests in Python?

How do you work with dates and times in Python?

How do you write and run tests in Python?

How do you use regular expressions in Python?

How do you handle environment variables and configuration in Python?

How do you profile and optimize Python code?

Implement a function to check if a string has balanced parentheses.

How do you implement a simple REST API in Python?

Web Development

What is WSGI and how does it relate to Python web frameworks?

How do you handle database connections in a web application?

How do you design RESTful API endpoints in Python?

How do you implement authentication and authorization in a Python API?

What is FastAPI and how does it differ from Flask?

Testing

What's the difference between unit tests, integration tests, and end-to-end tests?

How do you mock external dependencies in tests?

How do you use pytest fixtures effectively?

How do you write parameterized tests in pytest?

How do you measure and improve test coverage in Python?

Test Python skills with real coding challenges

Go Beyond Interview Questions

What is the difference between new and init?