Python Common Interview Questions and Answers

Some common yet very important Python interview questions that you will be asked during technical interviews.

5 min readJan 12, 2022

Python is one of the most loved and widely used programming languages in the tech world. It was developed by Guido van Rossum and was officially released on February 20, 1991.

Multiple functionalities can easily be achieved in a few lines of code using Python, and this is the reason behind its tremendous popularity. And the best thing, it is a free and open-source language with very simple and easy-to-understand syntax.

Python is present in almost every field of technology such as machine learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI), web scraping, web development, and many other domains. It has the ability to anchor powerful computation using powerful literature.

If you are a programmer and aspiring to build a career in Python, then you have to prepare yourself with every fundamental question about the topic that the interviewer may ask.

Here, you will come across the most frequently asked interview questions on Python. Not just the questions but the most appropriate answers too.

Let’s get started…

We’ve also compiled a PDF containing 100s of these questions that you can get at the end of this article.

Python Interview Questions

1. How can you define Python?

There can’t be a better definition than what’s on the official website:

Python is an interpreted, object-oriented, high-level programming language with dynamic semantics. Its high-level built-in data structures, combined with dynamic typing and dynamic binding, make it very attractive for Rapid Application Development, as well as for use as a scripting or glue language to connect existing components together.

Currently, Python is being widely used in fields like web development, data analysis & visualization, task automation, machine learning, artificial intelligence, etc.

2. List all the different types of operators in Python.

Python has the following 7 types of operators:

Comparison operator
Arithmetic operator
Logical operator
Assignment operator
Bitwise operator
Identity operator
Membership operator

3. Mention the distinct features of Python.

Followings are the distinct features of Python:

Python supports Structured and Functional programming.
The larger application can be created by compiling it to byte-code.
Python can develop high-level dynamic data types.
Python can effectively and conveniently be used along with other programming languages such as C, C++, ActiveX, and COM.
Python applies automated garbage collection.

4. Define PYTHONPATH.

PYTHONPATH is one of the environment variables of python which greatly influences its behavior. It establishes the path for the user-defined modules for their direct import to a Python program. PYTHONPATH includes both the Python source code directory and source library directory.

5. Mention the supported standard data types in Python?

Following are the supported standard data types in Python:

Tuple — immutable data type that holds ordered collection of values
List — ordered collection of values, but mutable
Number — holds numerical values
String — holds a sequence of characters
Dictionary — holds key-value pairs

6. List the limitations of Python.

Some of the commonly known limitations of Python are:

It has design limitations.
It is slower than other programming languages like C and C++ or Java.
Inefficient in mobile computing.
It’s not very memory efficient.
Two different versions are incompatible.

7. Mention the applications of Python.

It is used in many software domains, a few of them are mentioned below:

Games
Operating systems
Web development
Computational and scientific applications
Graphic design and image processing
Business applications development
Language development

The most commonly known python web frameworks are Pyramid, Flask, and Django.

8. What are some advantages of Python? Mention them.

Interpreted language so it needs no prior compilation of codes and can execute instructions directly.
Free and open-source so it is easily accessible by everyone for free of cost.
Extensible and flexible with any module.
Allows the implementation of object-oriented concepts for creating application solutions.
List, Tuple, and Dictionary are crucial integrated data structures provided by the language.
Better readability
High-level language
Cross-platform

9. What is PEP 8?

PEP stands for Python Enhancement Proposal, it is a document that helps to provide guidelines on writing the python codes.

Basically, it is a set of rules specifying the formatting of Python codes.

10. Define Scope in Python.

A scope is a block of code where an object remains relevant. Following are some of the examples of scope that are created during code execution in Python:

Local Scope- local objects available in the current function.
Global Scope- objects available throughout the code execution since their inception.
Module-level scope- global objects of the current module accessible in the program.
Outermost scope refers to all the built-in names callable in the program.

11. Show an example to remove white spaces from a string?

We can use the Python strip() method that removes any kinds of white spaces from a string.

string1 = "NextStacks "
string2 = " Python "noSpaceString1 = string1.strip() 
noSpaceString2 = string2.strip()print(noSpaceString1) # output: NextStacks
print(noSpaceString2) # output: Python

This strip() method removes spaces from the start as well from the end of strings and outputs "NextStacks" and "Python" instead of "NextStacks " and " Python " (in the above example).

12. Differentiate between break, continue, and pass.

break — used to terminate a loop
continue — used to terminate the current iteration of the statement
pass — a null statement that results in no operation

13. How memory is managed in Python?

Python Memory Manager manages all the memory by involving a private heap space that contains all the Python objects and data structure.

Python also has an inbuilt garbage collector that keeps recycling the unused memory.

14. Write a program to generate random integers between 50 to 99.

We can take the help of the Python random() function. Here's an example program:

import random
random.randint(50,99)

15. Define PIP.

PIP stands for Python Installer Package and it is a command-line package manager tool to install various Python packages or modules. PIP is included by default in Python 3.4 or higher versions.

For example, clean-text is a Python package that helps you clean and format messy text and if you have to install it on your computer just run the command pip install clean-text and it'll get installed immediately.

👉 Related: 10 Python Projects for Beginners

Conclusion

Even though these are just a few basic questions, they will make you feel more prepared for your future endeavors to build a career in Python.

We have also prepared a PDF containing 100s of important Python interview questions that you can download for free by clicking the link below:

⚡ Download the PDF Now!

That’s it.

If you have a related query, feel free to let us know in the comments below.

Also, kindly share the information with your aspiring developer friends who you think might be interested in reading it.

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Originally published at https://blog.nextstacks.com on January 12, 2022.