Irrespective of the source you pick a list of 

best programming languages to learn in

2021 from, one name that will always find its place there is Python.
So, the answer is yes, if you are asking whether a lucrative career is possible by
dedicating yourself to the interpreted, high-level, general-purpose programming
language i.e. learning Python.
Let's get started with top interview questions on Python.

Top Python Interview Questions and Answers

Once you’ve had enough understanding of the various concepts of Python, it’s time to
give a shot at some interviews. To increase your chances of clearing them, here is a list
of top Python interview questions that you must know answers to:

Basic Level Python Interview Questions for Freshers and

Beginners
Question: Explain Python?
Answer: Python is a highly comprehensive, interactive, and object-oriented scriptwriting
language. It is specifically developed with the purpose of making the content highly
readable among the net surfers. Python makes use of various English keywords other
than just punctuations. It also has lesser syntactical constructions like in other
languages.

Question: What are the distinct features of Python?

Answer: The distinct features of Python include the following.

1. Structured and functional programmings are supported.

2. It can be compiled to byte-code for creating larger applications.
3. Develops high-level dynamic data types.
4. Supports checking of dynamic data types.
5. Applies automated garbage collection.
6. It could be used effectively along with Java, COBRA, C, C++, ActiveX, and COM.

Question: What is Pythonpath?

Answer: A Pythonpath tells the Python interpreter to locate the module files that can be
imported into the program. It includes the Python source library directory and source
code directory.

Question: Can we preset Pythonpath?

Answer: Yes, we can preset Pythonpath as a Python installer.

Question: Why do we use Pythonstartup environment variable?

Answer: We use the Pythonstartup environment variable because it consists of the
path in which the initialization file carrying Python source code can be executed to start
the interpreter. 

Question: What is the Pythoncaseok environment variable?

Answer: Pythoncaseok environment variable is applied in Windows with the purpose to
direct Python to find the first case insensitive match in an import statement.

Question: What are the supported standard data types in Python?

Answer: The supported standard data types in Python include the following.

1. List.
2. Number.
3. String.
4. Dictionary.
5. Tuples.

Question: Define tuples in Python?

Answer: Tuples is a sequence data type in Python. The number of values in tuples are
separated by commas.

Question: What is the major difference between tuples and lists in

Python?
Answer: There are several major differences between tuples and lists in Python, which
include the following:

Tuples Lists

Tuples are similar to a list, but they are enclosed within

The list is used to create a sequence.
parenthesis, unlike the list.

The element and size cannot be

The element and size can be changed.
changed.

They cannot be updated. They can be updated.

They act as read-only lists. They act as a changeable list.

Tuples are surrounded by ( ) Lists are surrounded by [ ]

Example of Tuple Code is, tup = (1, "a", "string", 1+2) Example of Lists Code is, L = [1, "a" ,
 "string" , 1+2]

Question: What are the positive and negative indices?

Answer:  In the positive indices are applied the search beings from left to the right. In
the case of the negative indices, the search begins from right to left. For example, in the
array list of size n the positive index, the first index is 0, then comes 1 and until the last
index is n-1. However, in the negative index, the first index is -n, then -(n-1) until the last
index will be -1.

Question: What can be the length of the identifier in Python?

Answer: The length of the identifier in Python can be of any length. The longest
identifier will violate from PEP – 8 and PEP – 20.

Question: Define Pass statement in Python?

Answer: A Pass statement in Python is used when we cannot decide what to do in our
code, but we must type something for making syntactically correct.

Question: What are the limitations of Python?

Answer: There are certain limitations of Python, which include the following:

1. It has design restrictions.

2. It is slower when compared with C and C++ or Java.
3. It is inefficient in mobile computing.
4. It consists of an underdeveloped database access layer.

Question: Do runtime errors exist in Python? Give an example?

Answer: Yes, runtime errors exist in Python. For example, if you are duck typing and
things look like a duck, then it is considered as a duck even if that is just a flag or stamp
or any other thing. The code, in this case, would be A Run-time error. For example,
Print “Hackr io”, then the runtime error would be the missing parenthesis that is required
by print ( ).

Question: Can we reverse a list in Python?

Answer: Yes, we can reserve a list in Python using the reverse() method. The code can
be depicted as follows.

def reverse(s):
 str = "" 
 for i in s: 
   str = i + str
  return str
Question: Why do we need a break in Python?
Answer: Break helps in controlling the Python loop by breaking the current loop from
execution and transfer the control to the next block.

Question: Why do we need a continue in Python?

Answer: A continue also helps in controlling the Python loop but by making jumps to
the next iteration of the loop without exhausting it.

Question: Can we use a break and continue together in Python? How?

Answer:  Break and continue can be used together in Python. The break will stop the
current loop from execution, while jump will take to another loop.

Question: Does Python support an intrinsic do-while loop?

Answer: No Python does not support an intrinsic do-while loop.

Question: How many ways can be applied for applying reverse string?
Answer: There are five ways in which the reverse string can be applied which include
the following.

1. Loop
2. Recursion
3. Stack
4. Extended Slice Syntax
5. Reversed

Question: What are the different stages of the Life Cycle of a Thread?
Answer: The different stages of the Life Cycle of a Thread can be stated as follows.

 Stage 1: Creating a class where we can override the run method of the Thread
class.
 Stage 2: We make a call to start() on the new thread. The thread is taken
forward for scheduling purposes.
 Stage 3: Execution takes place wherein the thread starts execution, and it
reaches the running state.
 Stage 4: Thread wait until the calls to methods including join() and sleep() takes
place. 
 Stage 5: After the waiting or execution of the thread, the waiting thread is sent
for scheduling.
 Stage 6: Running thread is done by executing the terminates and reaches the
dead state.

Question: What is the purpose of relational operators in Python?

Answer: The purpose of relational operators in Python is to compare values.
Question: What are assignment operators in Python?
Answer: The assignment operators in Python can help in combining all the arithmetic
operators with the assignment symbol.

Question: Why do we need membership operators in Python?

Answer:  We need membership operators in Python with the purpose to confirm if the
value is a member in another or not.

Question: How are identity operators different than the membership

operators?
Answer: Unlike membership operators, the identity operators compare the values to
find out if they have the same value or not.

Question: Describe how multithreading is achieved in Python.

Answer: Even though Python comes with a multi-threading package, if the motive
behind multithreading is to speed the code then using the package is not the go-to
option.
The package has something called the GIL or Global Interpreter Lock, which is a
construct. It ensures that one and only one of the threads execute at any given time. A
thread acquires the GIL and then do some work before passing it to the next thread.
This happens so fast that to a user it seems that threads are executing in parallel.
Obviously, this is not the case as they are just taking turns while using the same CPU
core. Moreover, GIL passing adds to the overall overhead to the execution.
Hence, if you intend to use the threading package for speeding up the execution, using
the package is not recommended.

Question: Draw a comparison between the range and xrange in Python.

Answer: In terms of functionality, both range and xrange are identical. Both allow for
generating a list of integers. The main difference between the two is that while range
returns a Python list object, xrange returns an xrange object.
Xrange is not able to generate a static list at runtime the way range does. On the
contrary, it creates values along with the requirements via a special technique called
yielding. It is used with a type of object known as generators.
If you have a very enormous range for which you need to generate a list, then xrange is
the function to opt for. This is especially relevant for scenarios dealing with a memory-
sensitive system, such as a smartphone.
The range is a memory beast. Using it requires much more memory, especially if the
requirement is gigantic. Hence, in creating an array of integers to suit the needs, it can
result in a Memory Error and ultimately lead to crashing the program.

Question: Explain Inheritance and its various types in Python?

Answer: Inheritance enables a class to acquire all the members of another class.
These members can be attributes, methods, or both. By providing reusability,
inheritance makes it easier to create as well as maintain an application.
The class which acquires is known as the child class or the derived class. The one that
it acquires from is known as the superclass or base class or the parent class. There are
4 forms of inheritance supported by Python:

 Single Inheritance – A single derived class acquires from on single superclass.

 Multi-Level Inheritance – At least 2 different derived classes acquire from two
distinct base classes.
 Hierarchical Inheritance – A number of child classes acquire from one superclass
 Multiple Inheritance – A derived class acquires from several superclasses.

Question: Explain how is it possible to Get the Google cache age of any URL
or webpage using Python.
Answer: In order to Get the Google cache age of any URL or webpage using Python,
the following URL format is used:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:URLGOESHERE
Simply replace URLGOESHERE with the web address of the website or webpage
whose cache you need to retrieve and see in Python.

Question: Give a detailed explanation about setting up the database in

Django.
Answer: The process of setting up a database is initiated by using the command edit
mysite/setting.py. This is a normal Python module with a module-level representation of
Django settings. Django relies on SQLite by default, which is easy to be used as it
doesn’t require any other installation.
SQLite stores data as a single file in the filesystem. Now, you need to tell Django how to
use the database. For this, the project’s setting.py file needs to be used. Following code
must be added to the file for making the database workable with the Django project:

DATABASES = {

'default': {

'ENGINE' : 'django.db.backends.sqlite3',

'NAME' : os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'db.sqlite3'),

}
}

If you need to use a database server other than the SQLite, such as MS SQL, MySQL,
and PostgreSQL, then you need to use the database’s administration tools to create a
brand new database for your Django project.
You have to modify the following keys in the DATABASE ‘default’ item to make the new
database work with the Django project:

 ENGINE – For example, when working with a MySQL database replace

‘django.db.backends.sqlite3’ with ‘django.db.backends.mysql’
 NAME – Whether using SQLite or some other database management system,
the database is typically a file on the system. The NAME should contain the full
path to the file, including the name of that particular file.

NOTE: - Settings like Host, Password, and User needs to be added when not choosing
SQLite as the database.
Check out the advantages and disadvantages of Django.
 

Advanced Level Python Interview Questions for Experienced and

Professionals
Question: How will you differentiate between deep copy and shallow copy?
Answer: We use a shallow copy when a new instance type gets created. It keeps the
values that are copied in the new instance. Just like it copies the values, the shallow
copy also copies the reference pointers.
Reference points copied in the shallow copy reference to the original objects. Any
changes made in any member of the class affect the original copy of the same. Shallow
copy enables faster execution of the program.
Deep copy is used for storing values that are already copied. Unlike shallow copy, it
doesn’t copy the reference pointers to the objects. Deep copy makes the reference to
an object in addition to storing the new object that is pointed by some other object.
Changes made to the original copy will not affect any other copy that makes use of the
referenced or stored object. Contrary to the shallow copy, deep copy makes execution
of a program slower. This is due to the fact that it makes some copies for each object
that is called.

Question: How will you distinguish between NumPy and SciPy?

Answer: Typically, NumPy contains nothing but the array data type and the most basic
operations, such as basic element-wise functions, indexing, reshaping, and sorting. All
the numerical code resides in SciPy.
As one of NumPy’s most important goals is compatibility, the library tries to retain all
features supported by either of its predecessors. Hence, NumPy contains a few linear
algebra functions despite the fact that these more appropriately belong to the SciPy
library.
SciPy contains fully-featured versions of the linear algebra modules available to NumPy
in addition to several other numerical algorithms.

Question: Observe the following code:

A0 = dict(zip(('a','b','c','d','e'),(1,2,3,4,5)))

A1 = range(10)A2 = sorted([i for i in A1 if i in A0])

A3 = sorted([A0[s] for s in A0])

A4 = [i for i in A1 if i in A3]

A5 =

A6 = [[i,i*i] for i in A1]

print(A0,A1,A2,A3,A4,A5,A6)

Write down the output of the code.

Answer:
A0 = {'a': 1, 'c': 3, 'b': 2, 'e': 5, 'd': 4} # the order may vary
A1 = range(0, 10)
A2 = []
A3 = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
A4 = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
A5 =
A6 = [[0, 0], [1, 1], [2, 4], [3, 9], [4, 16], [5, 25], [6, 36], [7, 49], [8, 64], [9, 81]]

Question: Python has something called the dictionary. Explain using an

example.
Answer: A dictionary in Python programming language is an unordered collection of
data values such as a map. Dictionary holds key:value pair. It helps in defining a one-to-
one relationship between keys and values. Indexed by keys, a typical dictionary
contains a pair of keys and corresponding values.
Let us take an example with three keys, namely Website, Language, and Offering. Their
corresponding values are hackr.io, Python, and Tutorials. The code for the example will
be:

dict={‘Website’:‘hackr.io’,‘Language’:‘Python’:‘Offering’:‘Tutorials’}

print dict[Website] #Prints hackr.io

print dict[Language] #Prints Python

print dict[Offering] #Prints Tutorials

Question: Python supports negative indexes. What are they and why are they
used?
Answer: The sequences in Python are indexed. It consists of positive and negative
numbers. Positive numbers use 0 as the first index, 1 as the second index, and so on.
Hence, any index for a positive number n is n-1.
Unlike positive numbers, index numbering for the negative numbers start from -1 and it
represents the last index in the sequence. Likewise, -2 represents the penultimate
index. These are known as negative indexes. Negative indexes are used for:

 Removing any new-line spaces from the string, thus allowing the string to except
the last character, represented as S[:-1]
 Showing the index to representing the string in the correct order

Question: Suppose you need to collect and print data from IMDb top 250
Movies page. Write a program in Python for doing so. (NOTE: - You can limit
the displayed information for 3 fields; namely movie name, release year, and
rating.)
Answer:

from bs4 import BeautifulSoup

import requests

import sys

url = 'http://www.imdb.com/chart/top'

response = requests.get(url)

soup = BeautifulSoup(response.text)
tr = soup.findChildren("tr")

tr = iter(tr)

next(tr)

for movie in tr:

title = movie.find('td', {'class': 'titleColumn'} ).find('a').contents[0]

year = movie.find('td', {'class': 'titleColumn'} ).find('span', {'class':

'secondaryInfo'}).contents[0]

rating = movie.find('td', {'class': 'ratingColumn

imdbRating'} ).find('strong').contents[0]

row = title + ' - ' + year + ' ' + ' ' + rating

print(row)

Question: Take a look at the following code:

try: if '1' != 1:
raise "someError"
else: print("someError has not occured")
except "someError": pr
int ("someError has occured")

What will be the output?

Answer: The output of the program will be “invalid code.” This is because a new
exception class must inherit from a BaseException.

Question: What do you understand by monkey patching in Python?

Answer: The dynamic modifications made to a class or module at runtime are termed
as monkey patching in Python. Consider the following code snippet:

# m.py

class MyClass:

def f(self):

print "f()"
We can monkey-patch the program something like this:

import m

def monkey_f(self):

print "monkey_f()"

m.MyClass.f = monkey_f

obj = m.MyClass()

obj.f()

The output for the program will be monkey_f().

The examples demonstrate changes made in the behavior of f() in MyClass using the
function we defined i.e. monkey_f() outside of the module m.

Question: What do you understand by the process of compilation and linking

in Python?
Answer: In order to compile new extensions without any error, compiling and linking is
used in Python. Linking initiates only and only when the compilation is complete.
In the case of dynamic loading, the process of compilation and linking depends on the
style that is provided with the concerned system. In order to provide dynamic loading of
the configuration setup files and rebuilding the interpreter, the Python interpreter is
used.

Question: What is Flask and what are the benefits of using it?
Answer: Flask is a web microframework for Python with Jinja2 and Werkzeug as its
dependencies. As such, it has some notable advantages:

 Flask has little to no dependencies on external libraries

 Because there is a little external dependency to update and fewer security bugs,
the web microframework is lightweight to use.
 Features an inbuilt development server and a fast debugger.

Question: What is the map() function used for in Python?

Answer: The map() function applies a given function to each item of an iterable. It then
returns a list of the results. The value returned from the map() function can then be
passed on to functions to the likes of the list() and set().
Typically, the given function is the first argument and the iterable is available as the
second argument to a map() function. Several tables are given if the function takes in
more than one arguments.

Question: What is Pickling and Unpickling in Python?

Answer: The Pickle module in Python allows accepting any object and then converting
it into a string representation. It then dumps the same into a file by means of the dump
function. This process is known as pickling.
The reverse process of pickling is known as unpickling i.e. retrieving original Python
objects from a stored string representation.

Question: Whenever Python exits, all the memory isn’t deallocated. Why is it
so?
Answer: Upon exiting, Python’s built-in effective cleanup mechanism comes into play
and try to deallocate or destroy every other object.
However, Python modules that are having circular references to other objects or the
objects that are referenced from the global namespaces aren’t always deallocated or
destroyed.
This is because it is not possible to deallocate those portions of the memory that are
reserved by the C library.

Question: Write a program in Python for getting indices of N maximum values

in a NumPy array.
Answer:

import numpy as np

arr = np.array([1, 3, 2, 4, 5])

print(arr.argsort()[-3:][::-1])

Output:

[4 3 1]

Question: Write code to show randomizing the items of a list in place in

Python along with the output.
Answer:

from random import shuffle

x = ['hackr.io', 'Is', 'The', 'Best', 'For', 'Learning', 'Python']

shuffle(x)

print(x)

Output:

['For', 'Python', 'Learning', 'Is', 'Best', 'The', 'hackr.io']

Question: Explain memory managed in Python?

Answer: Python private heap space takes place of memory management in Python. It
contains all Python objects and data structures. The interpreter is responsible to take
care of this private heap and the programmer does not have access to it. The Python
memory manager is responsible for the allocation of Python heap space for Python
objects. The programmer may access some tools for the code with the help of the core
API. Python also provides an inbuilt garbage collector, which recycles all the unused
memory and frees the memory and makes it available to heap space.

Question: What is the lambda function?

Answer: An anonymous function is known as a lambda function. This function can have
only one statement but can have any number of parameters.

a = lambda x,y : x+y

print(a(5, 6))

Question: What are Python decorators?

Answer: A specific change made in Python syntax to alter the functions easily are
termed as Python decorators.

Question: Differentiate between list and tuple.

Answer: Tuple is not mutable it can be hashed eg. key for dictionaries. On the other
hand, lists are mutable.

Question: How are arguments passed in Python? By value or by reference?

Answer: All of the Python is an object and all variables hold references to the object.
The reference values are according to the functions; as a result, the value of the
reference cannot be changed.

Question: What are the built-in types provided by the Python?

Answer:
Mutable built-in types:

 Lists
 Sets
 Dictionaries

Immutable built-in types:

 Strings
 Tuples
 Numbers

Question: How a file is deleted in Python?

Answer: The file can be deleted by either of these commands:

os.remove(filename)
os.unlink(filename)

Question: What are Python modules?

Answer: A file containing Python code like functions and variables is a Python module.
A Python module is an executable file with a .py extension.
Python has built-in modules some of which are:

 os
 sys
 math
 random
 data time
 JSON

Question: What is the // operator? What is its use?

Answer: The // is a Floor Divisionoperator used for dividing two operands with the result
as quotient displaying digits before the decimal point. For instance, 10//5 = 2 and
10.0//5.0 = 2.0.

Question: What is the split function used for?

Answer: The split function breaks the string into shorter strings using the defined
separator. It returns the list of all the words present in the string.

Question: Explain the Dogpile effect.

Answer: The event when the cache expires and websites are hit by multiple requests
made by the client at the same time. Using a semaphore lock prevents the Dogpile
effect. In this system when value expires, the first process acquires the lock and starts
generating new value.

Question: What is a pass in Python?

Answer: No-operation Python statement refers to pass. It is a place holder in the
compound statement, where there should have a blank left or nothing written there.

Question: Is Python a case sensitive language?

Answer: Yes Python is a case sensitive language.

Question: Define slicing in Python.

Answer: Slicing refers to the mechanism to select the range of items from sequence
types like lists, tuples, strings.

Question: What are docstring?

Answer: Docstring is a Python documentation string, it is a way of documenting Python
functions, classes and modules.

Question: What is [::-1} used for?

Answer: [::-1} reverses the order of an array or a sequence. However, the original array
or the list remains unchanged.

import array as arr

Num_Array=arr.array('k',[1,2,3,4,5])
Num_Array[::-1]

Question: Define Python Iterators.

Answer: Group of elements, containers or objects that can be traversed.

Question: How are comments written in Python?

Answer: Comments in Python start with a # character, they can also be written within
docstring(String within triple quotes)

Question: How to capitalize the first letter of string?

Answer: Capitalize() method capitalizes the first letter of the string, and if the letter is
already capital it returns the original string

Question: What is, not and in operators?

Answer: Operators are functions that take two or more values and returns the
corresponding result.
  is: returns true when two operands are true
 not: returns inverse of a boolean value
 in: checks if some element is present in some sequence.

Question: How are files deleted in Python?

Answer: To delete a file in Python:

1. Import OS module
2. Use os.remove() function

Question: How are modules imported in Python?

Answer: Modules are imported using the import keyword by either of the following three
ways:

import array
import array as arr
from array import *

Question: What is monkey patching?

Answer: Dynamic modifications of a class or module at run-time refers to a monkey
patch.

Question: Does Python supports multiple inheritances?

Answer: Yes, in Python a class can be derived from more than one parent class.

Question: What does the method object() do?

Answer: The method returns a featureless object that is base for all classes. This
method does not take any parameters.

Question: What is pep 8?

Answer: Python Enhancement Proposal or pep 8 is a set of rules that specify how to
format Python code for maximum readability.

Question: What is namespace in Python?

Answer: A naming system used to make sure that names are unique to avoid naming
conflicts refers to as Namespace.

Question: Is indentation necessary in Python?

Answer: Indentation is required in Python if not done properly the code is not executed
properly and might throw errors. Indentation is usually done using four space
characters.
Question: Define a function in Python
Answer: A block of code that is executed when it is called is defined as a function.
Keyword def is used to define a Python function.

Question: Define self in Python

Answer: An instance of a class or an object is self in Python. It is included as the first
parameter. It helps to differentiate between the methods and attributes of a class with
local variables.