30 Python Coding Interview Questions for Beginners

Understanding Python coding interview questions is crucial as they serve as a gateway to software development and data science career opportunities. Mastering these questions showcases problem-solving abilities and Python proficiency and enhances overall programming skills. By familiarizing themselves with common challenges and honing problem-solving strategies, candidates can confidently navigate technical interviews, demonstrating readiness for diverse roles in the tech industry. In this article, we will explore Python coding interview questions for beginners, which may help you prepare for your interviews.

Overview:

• Master fundamental coding questions to demonstrate your problem-solving and technical skills in Python.
• Get familiar with popular Python coding challenges frequently asked in interviews.
• Understand strategies and best practices for solving Python interview questions efficiently.
• Develop a solid understanding of programming concepts that are vital in technical interviews.
• Approach Python coding interviews with the confidence gained from tackling key questions and solutions.

Python Coding Interview Questions for Beginners

Now look into the top 30 Python coding interview questions for beginners.

You can also enrol in our free Python course today.

Question 1: Write a Python program to Reverse a String.

Solution:

With Indexing:

def reverse_string(s):
    return s[::-1]

# Example usage
input_string = "Hello, World!"
reversed_string = reverse_string(input_string)
print("Original string:", input_string)
print("Reversed string:", reversed_string)

Output:

Without Indexing:

def reverse_string(s):
    reversed_str = ""
    for char in s:
        reversed_str = char + reversed_str
    return reversed_str

# Example usage
input_string = "Hello, World!"
reversed_string = reverse_string(input_string)
print("Original string:", input_string)
print("Reversed string:", reversed_string)

Output:

Question 2: Write a Python program to Check Palindrome.

Solution:

For String:

def is_palindrome(s):
    # Remove spaces and convert to lowercase for case-insensitive comparison
    s = s.replace(" ", "").lower()
    return s == s[::-1]

# Example usage
input_string = "A man, a plan, a canal, Panama"
if is_palindrome(input_string):
    print("The string is a palindrome.")
else:
    print("The string is not a palindrome.")

Output:

For Number:

def is_palindrome(number):
    # Convert number to string for easy manipulation
    num_str = str(number)
    return num_str == num_str[::-1]

# Example usage
input_number = 12321
if is_palindrome(input_number):
    print("The number is a palindrome.")
else:
    print("The number is not a palindrome.")

Output:

Question 3: Write a Python program to Count Vowels in a String.

Solution:

def count_vowels(s):
    # Define vowels
    vowels = "aeiouAEIOU"
    # Initialize count
    count = 0
    # Count vowels
    for char in s:
        if char in vowels:
            count += 1
    return count

# Example usage
input_string = "Hello, World!"
vowel_count = count_vowels(input_string)
print("Number of vowels in the string:", vowel_count)

Output:

Question 4: Write a Python program to find Factorial with Recursion.

Solution:

With Function:

def factorial(n):
    if n == 0:
        return 1
    else:
        return n * factorial(n - 1)

# Example usage
number = 5
result = factorial(number)
print("Factorial of", number, "is", result)

Output:

Without Function:

number = 5
factorial = 1

if number < 0:
    print("Factorial is not defined for negative numbers.")
elif number == 0:
    print("Factorial of 0 is 1")
else:
    for i in range(1, number + 1):
        factorial *= i
    print("Factorial of", number, "is", factorial)

Output:

Question 5: Write a Python program to find Fibonacci Sequence.

Solution:

def fibonacci(n):
    fib_sequence = [0, 1]  # Initialize the sequence with the first two terms
    for i in range(2, n):
        next_term = fib_sequence[-1] + fib_sequence[-2]
        fib_sequence.append(next_term)
    return fib_sequence

# Example usage
num_terms = 10
fib_sequence = fibonacci(num_terms)
print("Fibonacci sequence up to", num_terms, "terms:", fib_sequence)

Output:

Question 6: Write a Python program to find the Maximum Element in a List.

Solution:

Using Built-in Function:

# Example list
my_list = [10, 23, 45, 67, 12, 89, 34]

# Find maximum element
max_element = max(my_list)

print("Maximum element in the list:", max_element)

Output:

Using User-defined Function:

def find_max_element(lst):
    if not lst:  # If the list is empty
        return None  # Return None since there is no maximum element
    max_element = lst[0]  # Initialize max_element with the first element of the list
    for num in lst:
        if num > max_element:
            max_element = num
    return max_element

# Example usage
my_list = [10, 23, 45, 67, 12, 89, 34]
max_element = find_max_element(my_list)
print("Maximum element in the list:", max_element)

Output:

Question 7: Write a Python program to find Anagram Check.

Solution:

def is_anagram(str1, str2):
    # Remove spaces and convert to lowercase for case-insensitive comparison
    str1 = str1.replace(" ", "").lower()
    str2 = str2.replace(" ", "").lower()
    # Check if the sorted forms of both strings are equal
    return sorted(str1) == sorted(str2)

# Example usage
string1 = "listen"
string2 = "silent"
if is_anagram(string1, string2):
    print(f"'{string1}' and '{string2}' are anagrams.")
else:
    print(f"'{string1}' and '{string2}' are not anagrams.")

Output:

Question 8: Write a Python program to find Prime Numbers.

Solution:

def is_prime(num):
    if num <= 1:
        return False
    for i in range(2, int(num ** 0.5) + 1):
        if num % i == 0:
            return False
    return True

def find_primes(start, end):
    primes = []
    for num in range(start, end + 1):
        if is_prime(num):
            primes.append(num)
    return primes

# Example usage
start_range = 1
end_range = 50
prime_numbers = find_primes(start_range, end_range)
print("Prime numbers between", start_range, "and", end_range, "are:", prime_numbers)

Output:

Question 9: Write a Python program to check for Pangram.

Solution:

import string

def is_pangram(sentence):
    # Convert sentence to lowercase for case-insensitive comparison
    sentence = sentence.lower()
    # Create a set of unique characters in the sentence
    unique_chars = set(sentence)
    # Remove non-alphabetic characters and spaces
    unique_chars.discard(" ")
    unique_chars.difference_update(set(string.punctuation))
    # Check if all letters of the alphabet are present
    return len(unique_chars) == 26

# Example usage
input_sentence = "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog"
if is_pangram(input_sentence):
    print("The sentence is a pangram.")
else:
    print("The sentence is not a pangram.")

Output:

Question10: Write a Python program to basic Data Structure Operations (e.g., list manipulation, string manipulation)?

Solution:

# List manipulation
my_list = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

# Append an element to the list
my_list.append(6)
print("After appending 6:", my_list)

# Remove an element from the list
my_list.remove(3)
print("After removing 3:", my_list)

# Access elements by index
print("Element at index 2:", my_list[2])

# String manipulation
my_string = "Hello, World!"

# Split the string into a list of words
words = my_string.split()
print("Split string into words:", words)

# Join elements of a list into a single string
new_string = "-".join(words)
print("Joined words with '-':", new_string)

# Convert string to uppercase
upper_string = my_string.upper()
print("Uppercase string:", upper_string)

# Replace a substring
replaced_string = my_string.replace("World", "Universe")
print("After replacing 'World' with 'Universe':", replaced_string)

Output:

Question 11: Write a Python program to find the Minimum Element in a List.

Solution:

Using User-defined:

def find_min_element(lst):
    if not lst:  # If the list is empty
        return None  # Return None since there is no minimum element
    min_element = lst[0]  # Initialize min_element with the first element of the list
    for num in lst:
        if num < min_element:
            min_element = num
    return min_element

# Example usage
my_list = [10, 23, 45, 67, 12, 89, 34]
min_element = find_min_element(my_list)
print("Minimum element in the list:", min_element)

Output:

Using Built-in Function:

my_list = [10, 23, 45, 67, 12, 89, 34]
min_element = min(my_list)
print("Minimum element in the list:", min_element)

Output:

Question 12: Write a Python program to calculate the Sum of Digits in a Number.

Solution:

def sum_of_digits(number):
    # Convert number to string to iterate through its digits
    num_str = str(number)
    # Initialize sum
    digit_sum = 0
    # Iterate through each digit and add it to the sum
    for digit in num_str:
        digit_sum += int(digit)
    return digit_sum

# Example usage
input_number = 12345
result = sum_of_digits(input_number)
print("Sum of digits in", input_number, "is", result)

Output:

Question 13: Write a Python program to check for Armstrong Number.

Solution:

def is_armstrong(number):
    # Convert number to string to get its length
    num_str = str(number)
    # Get the number of digits
    num_digits = len(num_str)
    # Initialize sum
    armstrong_sum = 0
    # Calculate the sum of digits raised to the power of the number of digits
    for digit in num_str:
        armstrong_sum += int(digit) ** num_digits
    # Check if the sum is equal to the original number
    return armstrong_sum == number

# Example usage
input_number = 153
if is_armstrong(input_number):
    print(input_number, "is an Armstrong number.")
else:
    print(input_number, "is not an Armstrong number.")

Output:

Question 14: Write a Python program to check for Leap Year.

Solution:

def is_leap_year(year):
    if (year % 4 == 0 and year % 100 != 0) or (year % 400 == 0):
        return True
    else:
        return False

# Example usage
input_year = 2024
if is_leap_year(input_year):
    print(input_year, "is a leap year.")
else:
    print(input_year, "is not a leap year.")

Output:

Question 15: Write a Python program to calculate Factorial without Recursion.

Solution:

def factorial(n):
    result = 1
    for i in range(1, n + 1):
        result *= i
    return result

# Example usage
number = 5
result = factorial(number)
print("Factorial of", number, "is", result)

Output:

Question 16: Write a Python program to find the Average Numbers in a List.

Solution:

def find_average(numbers):
    if not numbers:  # If the list is empty
        return None  # Return None since there are no numbers to average
    total = sum(numbers)  # Calculate the sum of numbers in the list
    average = total / len(numbers)  # Calculate the average
    return average

# Example usage
number_list = [10, 20, 30, 40, 50]
average = find_average(number_list)
if average is not None:
    print("Average of numbers in the list:", average)
else:
    print("The list is empty.")

Output:

Question 17: Write a Python program to Merge Two Sorted Lists.

Solution:

def merge_sorted_lists(list1, list2):
    merged_list = []
    i = j = 0
    
    while i < len(list1) and j < len(list2):
        if list1[i] < list2[j]:
            merged_list.append(list1[i])
            i += 1
        else:
            merged_list.append(list2[j])
            j += 1
    
    # Append remaining elements from list1, if any
    while i < len(list1):
        merged_list.append(list1[i])
        i += 1
    
    # Append remaining elements from list2, if any
    while j < len(list2):
        merged_list.append(list2[j])
        j += 1
    
    return merged_list

# Example usage
list1 = [1, 3, 5, 7, 9]
list2 = [2, 4, 6, 8, 10]
merged_list = merge_sorted_lists(list1, list2)
print("Merged sorted list:", merged_list)

Output:

Question 18: Write a Python program to Remove Duplicates from a String.

Solution:

def remove_duplicates(input_string):
    # Initialize an empty set to store unique characters
    unique_chars = set()
    # Initialize an empty string to store the result
    result = ""
    # Iterate through each character in the input string
    for char in input_string:
        # Add the character to the result string if it's not already in the set
        if char not in unique_chars:
            result += char
            unique_chars.add(char)
    return result

# Example usage
input_string = "hello world"
result = remove_duplicates(input_string)
print("String with duplicates removed:", result)

Output:

Question 19: Write a Python program to Check for Perfect Numbers.

Solution:

def is_perfect_number(number):
    if number <= 0:
        return False
    divisor_sum = 0
    # Find proper divisors and sum them up
    for i in range(1, number):
        if number % i == 0:
            divisor_sum += i
    # Check if the sum of proper divisors equals the number
    return divisor_sum == number

# Example usage
input_number = 28
if is_perfect_number(input_number):
    print(input_number, "is a perfect number.")
else:
    print(input_number, "is not a perfect number.")

Output:

Question 20: Write a Python program to Find the Maximum Difference between Two Elements in a List.

Solution:

def max_difference(nums):
    if len(nums) < 2:
        return None  # If the list has less than two elements, return None
    min_element = float('inf')  # Initialize min_element to positive infinity
    max_difference = float('-inf')  # Initialize max_difference to negative infinity
    for num in nums:
        min_element = min(min_element, num)
        max_difference = max(max_difference, num - min_element)
    return max_difference

# Example usage
numbers = [7, 1, 5, 3, 6, 4]
result = max_difference(numbers)
if result is not None:
    print("Maximum difference between two elements in the list:", result)
else:
    print("The list has less than two elements.")

Output:

Question 21: Write a Python program to check if a Number is Even or Odd.

Solution:

With User-defined Function:

def check_even_odd(number):
    if number % 2 == 0:
        return "Even"
    else:
        return "Odd"

# Example usage
input_number = 7
result = check_even_odd(input_number)
print(input_number, "is", result)

Output:

Without Function:

number = 7

if number % 2 == 0:
    print(number, "is Even")
else:
    print(number, "is Odd")

Output:

Question 22: Write a Python program to Count Words in a Sentence.

Solution:

def count_words(sentence):
    # Split the sentence into words using whitespace as the delimiter
    words = sentence.split()
    # Count the number of words
    return len(words)

# Example usage
input_sentence = "This is a sample sentence."
word_count = count_words(input_sentence)
print("Number of words in the sentence:", word_count)

Output:

With Built-in Function:

sentence = "This is a sample sentence."
word_count = len(sentence.split())
print("Number of words in the sentence:", word_count)

Output:

Without Built-in Function:

sentence = "This is a sample sentence."
word_count = 0
# Flag to indicate if the current character is part of a word
in_word = False
# Iterate through each character in the sentence
for char in sentence:
    # If the character is not a space and we are not already in a word
    if char != ' ' and not in_word:
        # Increment word count and set the flag to indicate we are in a word
        word_count += 1
        in_word = True
    # If the character is a space and we are in a word
    elif char == ' ' and in_word:
        # Set the flag to indicate we are not in a word
        in_word = False

print("Number of words in the sentence:", word_count)

Output:

Question 24: Write a Python program to Convert Decimal to Binary.

Solution:

def decimal_to_binary(decimal):
    binary = ""
    quotient = decimal
    while quotient > 0:
        remainder = quotient % 2
        binary = str(remainder) + binary
        quotient //= 2
    return binary

# Example usage
decimal_number = 10
binary_number = decimal_to_binary(decimal_number)
print("Binary representation of", decimal_number, "is", binary_number)

Output:

Question 25: Write a Python program to Find Second Largest Element in a List.

Solution:

def second_largest(nums):
    if len(nums) < 2:
        return None  # If the list has less than two elements, return None
    sorted_nums = sorted(nums, reverse=True)  # Sort the list in descending order
    return sorted_nums[1]  # Return the second element (index 1)

# Example usage
numbers = [10, 30, 20, 40, 50]
result = second_largest(numbers)
if result is not None:
    print("Second largest element in the list:", result)
else:
    print("The list has less than two elements.")

Output:

Question 26: Write a Python program to Reverse Words in a String.

Solution:

def reverse_words(input_string):
    # Split the string into words
    words = input_string.split()
    # Reverse the order of words
    reversed_words = words[::-1]
    # Join the reversed words back into a string
    reversed_string = " ".join(reversed_words)
    return reversed_string

# Example usage
input_string = "Hello World"
reversed_string = reverse_words(input_string)
print("Original string:", input_string)
print("Reversed string:", reversed_string)

Output:

Question 27: Write a Python program to check if a Number is a Prime Factor.

Solution:

def is_prime_factor(number, potential_factor):
    if number <= 1 or potential_factor <= 1:
        return False  # Numbers less than or equal to 1 are not considered prime factors
    return number % potential_factor == 0

# Example usage
number = 15
potential_factor = 3
if is_prime_factor(number, potential_factor):
    print(potential_factor, "is a prime factor of", number)
else:
    print(potential_factor, "is not a prime factor of", number)

Output:

Question 28: Write a Python program to check if a Number is a Power of Two.

Solution:

def is_power_of_two(number):
    if number <= 0:
        return False  # Numbers less than or equal to 0 are not powers of two
    while number > 1:
        if number % 2 != 0:
            return False  # If the number is not divisible by 2, it's not a power of two
        number //= 2
    return True

# Example usage
number = 16
if is_power_of_two(number):
    print(number, "is a power of two.")
else:
    print(number, "is not a power of two.")

Output:

Question 29: Write a Python program to convert Celsius to Fahrenheit.

Solution:

def celsius_to_fahrenheit(celsius):
    fahrenheit = (celsius * 9/5) + 32
    return fahrenheit

# Example usage
celsius_temperature = 25
fahrenheit_temperature = celsius_to_fahrenheit(celsius_temperature)
print("Celsius:", celsius_temperature, "Fahrenheit:", fahrenheit_temperature)

Output:

Question 30: Write a Python program to calculate the LCM (Least Common Multiple) of Two Numbers.

Solution:

import math

def lcm(a, b):
    return abs(a * b) // math.gcd(a, b)

# Example usage
num1 = 12
num2 = 18
result = lcm(num1, num2)
print("LCM of", num1, "and", num2, "is", result)

Output:

Conclusion

Completing practice with Python coding interview questions is essential for those who want to succeed in data science and software development positions. This extensive compilation addresses many basic ideas, from arithmetic operations and list manipulation to string manipulation. There are thorough answers for every query, complete with concise justifications and useful code samples. Candidates who actively engage with these questions demonstrate their mastery of Python and develop critical thinking abilities necessary for acing technical interviews and landing a variety of jobs in the tech sector.

Also Read: Top 12 Free Python Courses

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