GEEKSFORGEEKS

Top 50+ Python Interview Questions and Answers (Latest

2024)
Pyt hon is t he most used language in t op companies such as Int el, IBM, NASA, Pixar, Net flix,
Facebook, JP Morgan Chase, Spot ify, and many more because of it s performance and it s
powerful libraries. To get int o t hese companies and organizat ions as a Pyt hon developer, you
need t o mast er some import ant Python Interview Questions t o crack t heir Pyt hon Online
Assessment Round and Pyt hon Int erview Round. We have prepared a list of t he Top 50 Python
Interview Questions along wit h t heir answers t o ace in int erviews.

Pyt hon Int erview Quest ions

Table of Content
Basic Pyt hon Int erview Quest ions for Freshers
Int ermediat e Pyt hon Int erview Quest ions
Advanced Pyt hon Int erview Quest ions & Answers

What is Python?

Pyt hon is one of t he most widely-used and popular programming languages, was developed by
Guido van Rossum and released first on February 20, 1991. Pyt hon is a free and open-source
language wit h a very simple and clean synt ax which makes it easy for developers t o learn Pyt hon.
It support s object -orient ed programming and is most commonly used t o perform general-
purpose programming. Pyt hon is used in several domains like Dat a Science, Machine Learning,
Deep Learning, Art ificial Int elligence, Scient ific Comput ing Script ing, Net working, Game
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Development Web Development , Web Scraping, andApp
various ot her domains.
Pyt hon grows exponent ially due t o it s simplist ic nat ure and t he abilit y t o perform several
funct ions in just a few lines of code. Due t o it s abilit y t o support powerful comput at ions using
powerful libraries, it is used in various domains and it become t he reason for t he huge demand for
Pyt hon developers across t he world. Companies are willing t o offer amazing Packages and
benefit s t o t hese developers.

Basic Python Interview Questions for Freshers

1. What is Python? List some popular applications of Python in the world of

technology.

Pyt hon is a widely-used general-purpose, high-level programming language. It was creat ed by

Guido van Rossum in 1991 and furt her developed by t he Pyt hon Soft ware Foundat ion. It was
designed wit h an emphasis on code readabilit y, and it s synt ax allows programmers t o express
t heir concept s in fewer lines of code.
It is used for:

Syst em Script ing

Web Development
Game Development
Soft ware Development
Complex Mat hemat ics

2. What are the benefits of using Python language as a tool in the present
scenario?

The following are t he benefit s of using Pyt hon language:

Object -Orient ed Language

High-Level Language
Dynamically Typed language
Ext ensive support Libraries
Presence of t hird-part y modules
Open source and communit y development
Port able and Int eract ive
Port able across Operat ing syst ems

3. Is Python a compiled language or an interpreted language?

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Act ually, Pyt hon is a part ially compiled language and part ially int erpret ed language. The
compilat ion part is done first when we execut e our code and t his will generat e byt e code
int ernally t his byt e code get s convert ed by t he Pyt hon virt ual machine(p.v.m) according t o t he
underlying plat form(machine+operat ing syst em).

4. What does the ‘#’ symbol do in Python?

‘#’ is used t o comment on everyt hing t hat comes aft er on t he line.

5. What is the difference between a Mutable datatype and an Immutable data

type?

Mut able dat a t ypes can be edit ed i.e., t hey can change at runt ime. Eg – List , Dict ionary, et c.
Immut able dat a t ypes can not be edit ed i.e., t hey can not change at runt ime. Eg – St ring, Tuple,
et c.

6. How are arguments passed by value or by reference in Python?

Everyt hing in Pyt hon is an object and all variables hold references t o t he object s. The reference
values are according t o t he funct ions; as a result , you cannot change t he value of t he references.
However, you can change t he object s if it is mut able.

7. What is the difference between a Set and Dictionary?

The set is an unordered collect ion of dat a t ypes t hat is it erable, mut able and has no duplicat e
element s.
A dict ionary in Pyt hon is an ordered collect ion of dat a values, used t o st ore dat a values like a
map.

8. What is List Comprehension? Give an Example.

List comprehension is a synt ax const ruct ion t o ease t he creat ion of a list based on exist ing
it erable.

For Example:

my_list = [i for i in range(1, 10)]

9. What is a lambda function?

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A lambda funct ion is an anonymous funct ion. This funct ion can have any number of paramet ers
but , can have just one st at ement . For Example:

a = lambda x, y : x*y

print(a(7, 19))

10. What is a pass in Python?

Pass means performing no operat ion or in ot her words, it is a placeholder in t he compound

st at ement , where t here should be a blank left and not hing has t o be writ t en t here.

11. What is the difference between / and // in Python?

/ represent s precise division (result is a float ing point number) whereas // represent s floor division
(result is an int eger). For Example:

5//2 = 2

5/2 = 2.5

12. How is Exceptional handling done in Python?

There are 3 main keywords i.e. t ry, except , and finally which are used t o cat ch except ions and
handle t he recovering mechanism accordingly. Try is t he block of a code t hat is monit ored for
errors. Except block get s execut ed when an error occurs.

The beaut y of t he final block is t o execut e t he code aft er t rying for an error. This block get s
execut ed irrespect ive of whet her an error occurred or not . Finally, block is used t o do t he required
cleanup act ivit ies of object s/variables.

13. What is swapcase function in Python?

It is a st ring’s funct ion t hat convert s all uppercase charact ers int o lowercase and vice versa. It is
used t o alt er t he exist ing case of t he st ring. This met hod creat es a copy of t he st ring which
cont ains all t he charact ers in t he swap case. For Example:

string = "GeeksforGeeks"

string.swapcase() ---> "gEEKSFORgEEKS"

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14. Difference between for loop and while loop in Python

The “for” Loop is generally used t o it erat e t hrough t he element s of various collect ion t ypes such
as List , Tuple, Set , and Dict ionary. Developers use a “for” loop where t hey have bot h t he
condit ions st art and t he end. Whereas, t he “while” loop is t he act ual looping feat ure t hat is used
in any ot her programming language. Programmers use a Pyt hon while loop where t hey just have
t he end condit ions.

15. Can we Pass a function as an argument in Python?

Yes, Several argument s can be passed t o a funct ion, including object s, variables (of t he same or
dist inct dat a t ypes), and funct ions. Funct ions can be passed as paramet ers t o ot her funct ions
because t hey are object s. Higher-order funct ions are funct ions t hat can t ake ot her funct ions as
argument s.

To read more, refer t o t he art icle: Passing funct ion as an argument in Pyt hon

16. What are *args and *kwargs?

To pass a variable number of argument s t o a funct ion in Pyt hon, use t he special synt ax *args and
**kwargs in t he funct ion specificat ion. It is used t o pass a variable-lengt h, keyword-free
argument list . By using t he *, t he variable we associat e wit h t he * becomes it erable, allowing you
t o do operat ions on it such as it erat ing over it and using higher-order operat ions like map and
filt er.

17. Is Indentation Required in Python?

Yes, indent at ion is required in Pyt hon. A Pyt hon int erpret er can be informed t hat a group of
st at ement s belongs t o a specific block of code by using Pyt hon indent at ion. Indent at ions make
t he code easy t o read for developers in all programming languages but in Pyt hon, it is very
import ant t o indent t he code in a specific order.

18. What is Scope in Python?

The locat ion where we can find a variable and also access it if required is called t he scope of a
variable.

Python Local variable: Local variables are t hose t hat are init ialized wit hin a funct ion and are
unique t o t hat funct ion. It cannot be accessed out side of t he funct ion.
Python Global variables: Global variables are t he ones t hat are defined and declared out side
any funct ion and are not specified t o anyOpen
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 Module-level scope: It refers t o t he global object s of t he current module accessible in t he
program.
Outermost scope: It refers t o any built -in names t hat t he program can call. The name
referenced is locat ed last among t he object s in t his scope.

19. What is docstring in Python?

Pyt hon document at ion st rings (or docst rings) provide a convenient way of associat ing
document at ion wit h Pyt hon modules, funct ions, classes, and met hods.

Declaring Docstrings: The docst rings are declared using ”’t riple single quot es”’ or “””t riple
double quot es””” just below t he class, met hod, or funct ion declarat ion. All funct ions should
have a docst ring.
Accessing Docstrings: The docst rings can be accessed using t he _ _ doc_ _ met hod of t he
object or using t he help funct ion.

20. What is a dynamically typed language?

Typed languages are t he languages in which we define t he t ype of dat a t ype and it will be known
by t he machine at t he compile-t ime or at runt ime. Typed languages can be classified int o t wo
cat egories:

Statically typed languages: In t his t ype of language, t he dat a t ype of a variable is known at
t he compile t ime which means t he programmer has t o specify t he dat a t ype of a variable at
t he t ime of it s declarat ion.
Dynamically typed languages: These are t he languages t hat do not require any pre-defined
dat a t ype for any variable as it is int erpret ed at runt ime by t he machine it self. In t hese
languages, int erpret ers assign t he dat a t ype t o a variable at runt ime depending on it s value.

21. What is a break, continue, and pass in Python?

The break st at ement is used t o t erminat e t he loop or st at ement in which it is present . Aft er t hat ,
t he cont rol will pass t o t he st at ement s t hat are present aft er t he break st at ement , if available.

Cont inue is also a loop cont rol st at ement just like t he break st at ement . cont inue st at ement is
opposit e t o t hat of t he break st at ement , inst ead of t erminat ing t he loop, it forces t o execut e
t he next it erat ion of t he loop.

Pass means performing no operat ion or in ot her words, it is a placeholder in t he compound

st at ement , where t here should be a blank left and not hing has t o be writ t en t here.
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22. What are Built-in data types in Python?

The following are t he st andard or built -in dat a t ypes in Pyt hon:

Numeric: The numeric dat a t ype in Pyt hon represent s t he dat a t hat has a numeric value. A
numeric value can be an int eger, a float ing number, a Boolean, or even a complex number.
Sequence Type: T he sequence Dat a Type in Pyt hon is t he ordered collect ion of similar or
different dat a t ypes. There are several sequence t ypes in Pyt hon:
Pyt hon St ring
Pyt hon List
Pyt hon Tuple
Pyt hon range

Mapping Types: In Pyt hon, hashable dat a can be mapped t o random object s using a mapping
object . There is current ly only one common mapping t ype, t he dict ionary, and mapping object s
are mut able.
Pyt hon Dict ionary

Set Types: In Pyt hon, a Set is an unordered collect ion of dat a t ypes t hat is it erable, mut able,
and has no duplicat e element s. The order of element s in a set is undefined t hough it may
consist of various element s.

23. How do you floor a number in Python?

The Pyt hon mat h module includes a met hod t hat can be used t o calculat e t he floor of a number.

floor() met hod in Pyt hon ret urns t he floor of x i.e., t he largest int eger not great er t han x.
Also, The met hod ceil(x) in Pyt hon ret urns a ceiling value of x i.e., t he smallest int eger great er
t han or equal t o x.

Intermediate Python Interview Questions

24. What is the difference between xrange and range functions?

range() and xrange() are t wo funct ions t hat could be used t o it erat e a cert ain number of t imes in
for loops in Pyt hon. In Pyt hon 3, t here is no xrange, but t he range funct ion behaves like xrange in
Pyt hon 2.

range() – This ret urns a list of numbers creat ed using t he range() funct ion.
xrange() – This funct ion ret urns t he generat or object t hat can be used t o display numbers only
by looping. The only part icular range is displayed
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25. What is Dictionary Comprehension? Give an Example

Dict ionary Comprehension is a synt ax const ruct ion t o ease t he creat ion of a dict ionary based on
t he exist ing it erable.

For Example: my_dict = {i:1+7 for i in range(1, 10)}

26. Is Tuple Comprehension? If yes, how, and if not why?

(i for i in (1, 2, 3))

Tuple comprehension is not possible in Pyt hon because it will end up in a generat or, not a t uple
comprehension.

27. Differentiate between List and Tuple?

Let ’s analyze t he differences bet ween List and Tuple:

List

List s are Mut able dat at ype.

List s consume more memory
The list is bet t er for performing operat ions, such as insert ion and delet ion.
The implicat ion of it erat ions is Time-consuming

Tuple

Tuples are Immut able dat at ype.

Tuple consumes less memory as compared t o t he list
A Tuple dat a t ype is appropriat e for accessing t he element s
The implicat ion of it erat ions is comparat ively Fast er

28. What is the difference between a shallow copy and a deep copy?

Shallow copy is used when a new inst ance t ype get s creat ed and it keeps values t hat are copied
whereas deep copy st ores values t hat are already copied.

A shallow copy has fast er program execut ion whereas a deep coy makes it slow.
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29. Which sorting technique is used by sort() and sorted() functions of
python?

Pyt hon uses t he Tim Sor t algorit hm for sort ing. It ’s a st able sort ing whose worst case is O(N log
N). It ’s a hybrid sort ing algorit hm, derived from merge sort and insert ion sort , designed t o perform
well on many kinds of real-world dat a.

30. What are Decorators?

Decorat ors are a very powerful and useful t ool in Pyt hon as t hey are t he specific change t hat we
make in Pyt hon synt ax t o alt er funct ions easily.

31. How do you debug a Python program?

By using t his command we can debug a Pyt hon program:

$ python -m pdb python-script.py

32. What are Iterators in Python?

In Pyt hon, it erat ors are used t o it erat e a group of element s, cont ainers like a list . It erat ors are
collect ions of it ems, and t hey can be a list , t uples, or a dict ionary. Pyt hon it erat or implement s
_ _ it r_ _ and t he next () met hod t o it erat e t he st ored element s. We generally use loops t o it erat e
over t he collect ions (list , t uple) in Pyt hon.

33. What are Generators in Python?

In Pyt hon, t he generat or is a way t hat specifies how t o implement it erat ors. It is a normal
funct ion except t hat it yields expression in t he funct ion. It does not implement _ _ it r_ _ and
next () met hod and reduces ot her overheads as well.

If a funct ion cont ains at least a yield st at ement , it becomes a generat or. The yield keyword
pauses t he current execut ion by saving it s st at es and t hen resumes from t he same when
required.

34. Does Python supports multiple Inheritance?

Pyt hon does support mult iple inherit ances, unlike Java. Mult iple inherit ances mean t hat a class
can be derived from more t han one parent class.

35. What is Polymorphism in Python?

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Polymorphism means t he abilit y t o t ake mult iple forms. So, for inst ance, if t he parent class has a
met hod named ABC t hen t he child class also can have a met hod wit h t he same name ABC having
it s own paramet ers and variables. Pyt hon allows polymorphism.

36. Define encapsulation in Python?

Encapsulat ion means binding t he code and t he dat a t oget her. A Pyt hon class is an example of
encapsulat ion.

37. How do you do data abstraction in Python?

Dat a Abst ract ion is providing only t he required det ails and hides t he implement at ion from t he
world. It can be achieved in Pyt hon by using int erfaces and abst ract classes.

38. How is memory management done in Python?

Pyt hon uses it s privat e heap space t o manage t he memory. Basically, all t he object s and dat a
st ruct ures are st ored in t he privat e heap space. Even t he programmer can not access t his privat e
space as t he int erpret er t akes care of t his space. Pyt hon also has an inbuilt garbage collect or,
which recycles all t he unused memory and frees t he memory and makes it available t o t he heap
space.

39. How to delete a file using Python?

We can delet e a file using Pyt hon by following approaches:

os.remove()
os.unlink()

40. What is slicing in Python?

Pyt hon Slicing is a st ring operat ion for ext ract ing a part of t he st ring, or some part of a list . Wit h
t his operat or, one can specify where t o st art t he slicing, where t o end, and specify t he st ep. List
slicing ret urns a new list from t he exist ing list .

Syntax: Lst[ Initial : End : IndexJump ]

41. What is a namespace in Python?

A namespace is a naming syst em used t o make sure t hat names are unique t o avoid naming
conflict s.
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Advanced Python Interview Questions & Answers

42. What is PIP?

PIP is an acronym for Pyt hon Inst aller Package which provides a seamless int erface t o inst all
various Pyt hon modules. It is a command-line t ool t hat can search for packages over t he int ernet
and inst all t hem wit hout any user int eract ion.

43. What is a zip function?

Pyt hon zip() funct ion ret urns a zip object , which maps a similar index of mult iple cont ainers. It
t akes an it erable, convert s it int o an it erat or and aggregat es t he element s based on it erables
passed. It ret urns an it erat or of t uples.

44. What are Pickling and Unpickling?

The Pickle module accept s any Pyt hon object and convert s it int o a st ring represent at ion and
dumps it int o a file by using t he dump funct ion, t his process is called pickling. While t he process
of ret rieving original Pyt hon object s from t he st ored st ring represent at ion is called unpickling.

45. What is monkey patching in Python?

In Pyt hon, t he t erm monkey pat ch only refers t o dynamic modificat ions of a class or module at
run-t ime.

# g.py

class GeeksClass:

def function(self):

print "function()"

import m

def monkey_function(self):

print "monkey_function()"

m.GeeksClass.function = monkey_function

obj = m.GeeksClass()

obj.function()

46. What is _ _ init_ _ () in Python?

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Equivalent t o const ruct ors in OOP t erminology, _ _ init _ _ is a reserved met hod in Pyt hon classes.
The _ _ init _ _ met hod is called aut omat ically whenever a new object is init iat ed. This met hod
allocat es memory t o t he new object as soon as it is creat ed. This met hod can also be used t o
init ialize variables.

47. Write a code to display the current time?

currenttime= time.localtime(time.time())

print (“Current time is”, currenttime)

48. What are Access Specifiers in Python?

Pyt hon uses t he ‘_ ’ symbol t o det ermine t he access cont rol for a specific dat a member or a
member funct ion of a class. A Class in Pyt hon has t hree t ypes of Pyt hon access modifiers:

Public Access Modifier: The members of a class t hat are declared public are easily
accessible from any part of t he program. All dat a members and member funct ions of a class
are public by default .
Protected Access Modifier: The members of a class t hat are declared prot ect ed are only
accessible t o a class derived from it . All dat a members of a class are declared prot ect ed by
adding a single underscore ‘_ ’ symbol before t he dat a members of t hat class.
Private Access Modifier: The members of a class t hat are declared privat e are accessible
wit hin t he class only, t he privat e access modifier is t he most secure access modifier. Dat a
members of a class are declared privat e by adding a double underscore ‘_ _ ’ symbol before t he
dat a member of t hat class.

49. What are unit tests in Python?

Unit Test ing is t he first level of soft ware t est ing where t he smallest t est able part s of t he
soft ware are t est ed. This is used t o validat e t hat each unit of t he soft ware performs as
designed. The unit t est framework is Pyt hon’s xUnit st yle framework. The Whit e Box Test ing
met hod is used for Unit t est ing.

50. Python Global Interpreter Lock (GIL)?

Pyt hon Global Int erpret er Lock (GIL) is a t ype of process lock t hat is used by Pyt hon whenever it
deals wit h processes. Generally, Pyt hon only uses only one t hread t o execut e t he set of writ t en
st at ement s. The performance of t he single-t hreaded process and t he mult i-t hreaded process
will be t he same in Pyt hon and t his is because of GIL in Pyt hon. We can not achieve
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mult it hreading in Pyt hon because we have a global int erpret er lock t hat rest rict s t he t hreads and
works as a single t hread.

51. What are Function Annotations in Python?

Funct ion Annot at ion is a feat ure t hat allows you t o add met adat a t o funct ion paramet ers and
ret urn values. This way you can specify t he input t ype of t he funct ion paramet ers and t he ret urn
t ype of t he value t he funct ion ret urns.

Funct ion annot at ions are arbit rary Pyt hon expressions t hat are associat ed wit h various part s of
funct ions. These expressions are evaluat ed at compile t ime and have no life in Pyt hon’s runt ime
environment . Pyt hon does not at t ach any meaning t o t hese annot at ions. They t ake life when
int erpret ed by t hird-part y libraries, for example, mypy.

52. What are Exception Groups in Python?

The lat est feat ure of Pyt hon 3.11, Except ion Groups. The Except ionGroup can be handled using a
new except * synt ax. The * symbol indicat es t hat mult iple except ions can be handled by each
except * clause.

Except ionGroup is a collect ion/group of different kinds of Except ion. Wit hout creat ing Mult iple
Except ions we can group t oget her different Except ions which we can lat er fet ch one by one
whenever necessary, t he order in which t he Except ions are st ored in t he Except ion Group doesn’t
mat t er while calling t hem.

Pyt hon3

try:
raise ExceptionGroup('Example ExceptionGroup', (
TypeError('Example TypeError'),
ValueError('Example ValueError'),
KeyError('Example KeyError'),
AttributeError('Example AttributeError')
))
except* TypeError:
...
except* ValueError as e:
...
except* (KeyError, AttributeError) as e:
...
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53. What is Python Switch Statement

From version 3.10 upward, Pyt hon has implement ed a swit ch case feat ure called “st ruct ural
pat t ern mat ching”. You can implement t his feat ure wit h t he mat ch and case keywords. Not e t hat
t he underscore symbol is what you use t o define a default case for t he swit ch st at ement in
Pyt hon.

Note : Before Pyt hon 3.10 Pyt hon doesn’t support mat ch St at ement s.

Pyt hon3

match term:
case pattern-1:
action-1
case pattern-2:
action-2
case pattern-3:
action-3
case _:
action-default

54. What is Walrus Operator?

The Walrus Operat or allows you t o assign a value t o a variable wit hin an expression. This can be
useful when you need t o use a value mult iple t imes in a loop, but don’t want t o repeat t he
calculat ion.

The Walrus Operat or is represent ed by t he `:=` synt ax and can be used in a variet y of cont ext s
including while loops and if st at ement s.

Note: Pyt hon versions before 3.8 doesn’t support Walrus Operat or.

Pyt hon3

names = ["Jacob", "Joe", "Jim"]

if (name := input("Enter a name: ")) in names:

print(f"Hello, {name}!")
else:
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