C++ Interview Questions

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Contents

C++ Interview Questions For Freshers

1. What are the different data types present in C++?
2. What is the difference between C and C++?
3. What are class and object in C++?
4. What is the difference between struct and class?
5. What is operator overloading?
6. What is polymorphism in C++?
7. Explain constructor in C++
8. Tell me about virtual function
9. Compare compile time polymorphism and Runtime polymorphism
10. What do you know about friend class and friend function?
11. What are the C++ access specifiers?
12. Define inline function
13. What is a reference in C++?
14. What do you mean by abstraction in C++?
15. Is deconstructor overloading possible? If yes then explain and if no then why?
16. What do you mean by call by value and call by reference?
17. What is an abstract class and when do you use it?
18. What are destructors in C++?
19. What are the static members and static member functions?
20. Explain inheritance

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 C++ Interview Questions

C++ Interview Questions For Experienced

21. What is a copy constructor?
22. What is the difference between shallow copy and deep copy?
23. What is the difference between virtual functions and pure virtual functions?
24. If class D is derived from a base class B. When creating an object of type D in
what order would the constructors of these classes get called?
25. Can we call a virtual function from a constructor?
26. What are void pointers?
27. What is this pointer in C++?
28. How do you allocate and deallocate memory in C++?

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Let's get Started
C++ is a powerful and all-purpose programming tool developed by Bjarne
Stroustrup at Bell Labs. This language is an extension of C and is by far one of the
fastest object-oriented programming languages. C++ is super popular because of its
high speed and compatibility.
It is widely used in the development of games and servers while some of the real-
world applications of C++ are as follows
Operating systems
GUI based applications
Distributed systems
Database so ware
Banking applications
Advanced computations and graphics
Embedded systems
So, today, well understand the different C++ questions asked in an interview at a
basic, intermediate and advanced level.

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 C++ Interview Questions

Top 28 CPP Interview Questions Solved Step by Step | C++ …

C++ Interview Questions For Freshers

1. What are the different data types present in C++?
The 4 data types in C++ are given below:
Primitive Datatype(basic datatype). Example- char, short, int, float, long, double,
bool, etc.
Derived datatype. Example- array, pointer, etc.
Enumeration. Example- enum
User-defined data types. Example- structure, class, etc.

2. What is the difference between C and C++?

The main difference between C and C++ are provided in the table below:

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 C++ Interview Questions

C C++

C is a procedure-oriented C++ is an object-oriented

programming language. programming language.

Data is hidden by
encapsulation to ensure
C does not support data hiding. that data structures and
operators are used as
intended.

C is a subset of C++ C++ is a superset of C.

Function and operator Function and operator

overloading are not supported overloading is supported
in C in C++

Namespace is used by C++,

Namespace features are not
which avoids name
present in C
collisions.

Functions can not be defined Functions can be defined

inside structures. inside structures.

calloc() and malloc() functions new operator is used for

are used for memory allocation memory allocation and
and free() function is used for deletes operator is used
memory deallocation. for memory deallocation.

3. What are class and object in C++?

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 C++ Interview Questions

A class is a user-defined data type that has data members and member functions.
Data members are the data variables and member functions are the functions that
are used to perform operations on these variables.
An object is an instance of a class. Since a class is a user-defined data type so an
object can also be called a variable of that data type.
A class is defined as-

class A{
private:
int data;
public:
void fun(){

}
};

Class and Object in C++

For example, the following is a class car that can have properties like name, color,
etc. and they can have methods like speed().

4. What is the difference between struct and class?

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 C++ Interview Questions

In C++ a structure is the same as a class except for a few differences like security. The
difference between struct and class are given below:

Structure Class

Members of the
Members of the structure are public
class are private by
by default.
default.

When deriving a
When deriving a struct from a
class, default access
class/struct, default access specifiers
specifiers are
for base class/struct are public.
private.

5. What is operator overloading?

Operator Overloading is a very essential element to perform the operations on user-
defined data types. By operator overloading we can modify the default meaning to
the operators like +, -, *, /, <=, etc.
For example -
The following code is for adding two complex number using operator overloading-

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 C++ Interview Questions

class complex{
private:
float r, i;
public:
complex(float r, float i){
this->r=r;
this->i=i;
}
complex(){}
void displaydata(){
cout<<”real part = “<<r<<endl;
cout<<”imaginary part = “<<i<<endl;
}
complex operator+(complex c){
return complex(r+c.r, i+c.i);
}
};
int main(){
complex a(2,3);
complex b(3,4);
complex c=a+b;
c.displaydata();
return 0;
}

6. What is polymorphism in C++?

Polymorphism in simple means having many forms. Its behavior is different in
different situations. And this occurs when we have multiple classes that are related to
each other by inheritance.
For example, think of a base class called a car that has a method called car brand().
Derived classes of cars could be Mercedes, BMW, Audi - And they also have their own
implementation of a cars
The two types of polymorphism in c++ are:
Compile Time Polymorphism
Runtime Polymorphism

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 C++ Interview Questions

Polymorphism in C++

7. Explain constructor in C++

The constructor is a member function that is executed automatically whenever an
object is created. Constructors have the same name as the class of which they are
members so that compiler knows that the member function is a constructor. And no
return type is used for constructors.
Example:

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 C++ Interview Questions

class A{
private:
int val;
public:
A(int x){ //one argument constructor
val=x;
}
A(){ //zero argument constructor
}
}
int main(){
A a(3);

return 0;
}

8. Tell me about virtual function

Virtual function is a member function in the base class that you redefine in a derived
class. A virtual function is declared using the virtual keyword. When the function is
made virtual, C++ determines which function is to be invoked at the runtime based
on the type of the object pointed by the base class pointer.

9. Compare compile time polymorphism and Runtime

polymorphism
The main difference between compile-time and runtime polymorphism is provided
below:

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 C++ Interview Questions

Compile-time polymorphism Run time polymorphism

In this method, we would come In this method, we come to know

to know at compile time which at run time which method will be
method will be called. And the called. The call is not resolved by
call is resolved by the compiler. the compiler.

It provides slow execution

It provides fast execution
compared to compile-time
because it is known at the
polymorphism because it is known
compile time.
at the run time.

It is achieved by function
It can be achieved by virtual
overloading and operator
functions and pointers.
overloading.

Example -
Example -
class A{
int add(int a, int b){ public:
return a+b; virtual void fun(){
} cout<<"base ";
int add(int a, int b, int c){ }
return a+b+c; };
} class B: public A{
public:
int main(){ void fun(){
cout<<add(2,3)<<endl; cout<<"derived ";
cout<<add(2,3,4)<<endl; }
};
int main(){
return 0; A *a=new B;
} a->fun();

return 0;
}

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 C++ Interview Questions

10. What do you know about friend class and friend function?
A friend class can access private, protected, and public members of other classes in
which it is declared as friends.
Like friend class, friend function can also access private, protected, and public
members. But, Friend functions are not member functions.
For example -

class A{
private:
int data_a;
public:
A(int x){
data_a=x;
}
friend int fun(A, B);
}
class B{
private:
int data_b;
public:
A(int x){
data_b=x;
}
friend int fun(A, B);
}
int fun(A a, B b){
return a.data_a+b.data_b;
}
int main(){
A a(10);
B b(20);
cout<<fun(a,b)<<endl;
return 0;
}

Here we can access the private data of class A and class B.

11. What are the C++ access specifiers?

In C++ there are the following access specifiers:
Public: All data members and member functions are accessible outside the class.

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 C++ Interview Questions

Protected: All data members and member functions are accessible inside the class
and to the derived class.
Private: All data members and member functions are not accessible outside the
class.

12. Define inline function

If a function is inline, the compiler places a copy of the code of that function at each
point where the function is called at compile time. One of the important advantages
of using an inline function is that it eliminates the function calling overhead of a
traditional function.

13. What is a reference in C++?

A reference is like a pointer. It is another name of an already existing variable. Once a
reference name is initialized with a variable, that variable can be accessed by the
variable name or reference name both.
For example-

int x=10;
int &ref=x; //reference variable

If we change the value of ref it will be reflected in x. Once a reference variable is

initialized it cannot refer to any other variable. We can declare an array of pointers
but an array of references is not possible.

14. What do you mean by abstraction in C++?

Abstraction is the process of showing the essential details to the user and hiding the
details which we don’t want to show to the user or hiding the details which are
irrelevant to a particular user.

15. Is deconstructor overloading possible? If yes then explain

and if no then why?

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 C++ Interview Questions

No destructor overloading is not possible. Destructors take no arguments, so there’s

only one way to destroy an object. That’s the reason destructor overloading is not
possible.

16. What do you mean by call by value and call by reference?

In call by value method, we pass a copy of the parameter is passed to the functions.
For these copied values a new memory is assigned and changes made to these values
do not reflect the variable in the main function.
In call by reference method, we pass the address of the variable and the address is
used to access the actual argument used in the function call. So changes made in the
parameter alter the passing argument.

17. What is an abstract class and when do you use it?

A class is called an abstract class whose objects can never be created. Such a class
exists as a parent for the derived classes. We can make a class abstract by placing a
pure virtual function in the class.

18. What are destructors in C++?

A constructor is automatically called when an object is first created. Similarly when
an object is destroyed a function called destructor automatically gets called. A
destructor has the same name as the constructor (which is the same as the class
name) but is preceded by a tilde.
Example:

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 C++ Interview Questions

class A{
private:
int val;
public:
A(int x){
val=x;
}
A(){
}
~A(){ //destructor
}
}
int main(){
A a(3);
return 0;
}

19. What are the static members and static member functions?
When a variable in a class is declared static, space for it is allocated for the lifetime of
the program. No matter how many objects of that class have been created, there is
only one copy of the static member. So same static member can be accessed by all
the objects of that class.
A static member function can be called even if no objects of the class exist and the
static function are accessed using only the class name and the scope resolution
operator ::

20. Explain inheritance

Inheritance is the process of creating new classes, called derived classes, from
existing classes. These existing classes are called base classes. The derived classes
inherit all the capabilities of the base class but can add new features and refinements
of their own.
Example-

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 C++ Interview Questions

Inheritance in C++

Class Bus, Class Car, and Class Truck inherit the properties of Class Vehicle.
The most important thing about inheritance is that it permits code reusability.

C++ Interview Questions For Experienced

21. What is a copy constructor?
A copy constructor is a member function that initializes an object using another
object of the same class.
Example-

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 C++ Interview Questions

class A{
int x,y;
A(int x, int y){
this->x=x;
this->y=y;
}

};
int main(){
A a1(2,3);
A a2=a1; //default copy constructor is called
return 0;
}

We can define our copy constructor. If we don’t define a copy constructor then the
default copy constructor is called.

22. What is the difference between shallow copy and deep copy?
The difference between shallow copy and a deep copy is given below:

Shallow Copy Deep Copy

Shallow copy stores the Deep copy makes a new and

references of objects to separate copy of an entire
the original memory object with its unique memory
address. address.

Deep copy is comparatively

Shallow copy is faster.
slower.

Shallow copy reflects Deep copy doesn’t reflect

changes made to the changes made to the
new/copied object in the new/copied object in the
original object. original object

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 C++ Interview Questions

23. What is the difference between virtual functions and pure

virtual functions?
A virtual function is a member function in the base class that you redefine in a
derived class. It is declared using the virtual keyword.
Example-

class base{
public:
virtual void fun(){

}
};

A pure virtual function is a function that has no implementation and is declared by

assigning 0. It has no body.
Example-

class base{
public:
virtual void fun()=0;
};

Here, = sign has got nothing to do with the assignment, and value 0 is not assigned to
anything. It is used to simply tell the compiler that a function will be pure and it will
not have anybody.

24. If class D is derived from a base class B. When creating an

object of type D in what order would the constructors of
these classes get called?

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 C++ Interview Questions

The derived class has two parts, a base part, and a derived part. When C++ constructs
derived objects, it does so in phases. First, the most-base class(at the top of the
inheritance tree) is constructed. Then each child class is constructed in order until
the most-child class is constructed last.
So the first Constructor of class B will be called and then the constructor of class D
will be called.
During the destruction exactly reverse order is followed. That is destructor starts at
the most-derived class and works its way down to base class.
So the first destructor of class D will be called and then the destructor of class B will
be called.

25. Can we call a virtual function from a constructor?

Yes, we can call a virtual function from a constructor. But the behavior is a little
different in this case. When a virtual function is called, the virtual call is resolved at
runtime. It is always the member function of the current class that gets called. That is
the virtual machine doesn’t work within the constructor.
For example-

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 C++ Interview Questions

class base{
private:
int value;
public:
base(int x){
value=x;
}
virtual void fun(){

}
}

class derived{
private:
int a;
public:
derived(int x, int y):base(x){
base *b;
b=this;
b->fun(); //calls derived::fun()
}
void fun(){
cout<<”fun inside derived class”<<endl;
}
}

26. What are void pointers?

A void pointer is a pointer which is having no datatype associated with it. It can hold
addresses of any type.
For example-

void *ptr;
char *str;
p=str; // no error
str=p; // error because of type mismatch

We can assign a pointer of any type to a void pointer but the reverse is not true unless
you typecast it as

str=(char*) ptr;

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 C++ Interview Questions

27. What is this pointer in C++?

The member functions of every object have a pointer named this, which points to the
object itself. The value of this is set to the address of the object for which it is called. It
can be used to access the data in the object it points to.
Example

class A{
private:
int value;
public:
void setvalue(int x){
this->value=x;
}
};

int main(){
A a;
a.setvalue(5);
return 0;
}

28. How do you allocate and deallocate memory in C++?

The new operator is used for memory allocation and deletes operator is used for
memory deallocation in C++.
For example-

int value=new int; //allocates memory for storing 1 integer

delete value; // deallocates memory taken by value

int *arr=new int[10]; //allocates memory for storing 10 int

delete []arr; // deallocates memory occupied by arr

Additional Resources
Practice Coding
C++ MCQ
C++ Tutorials

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 C++ Interview Questions

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Features of C++

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