Java Interview Questions
Strings & Arrays — Explanations, Code, Logic & Output
A Quick-Reference Practice Guide
Table of Contents
1. Reverse a String
2. Check Whether a String is Palindrome
3. Remove Duplicate Characters
4. Count Frequency of Each Character
5. Find First Non-Repeated Character
6. Check Whether Two Strings are Anagrams
7. Reverse Each Word in a Sentence
8. Find Duplicate Characters in a String
9. Find Missing Number from a Sorted Array
10. Find the Second Largest Element in an Array
1. Reverse a String
Reverse the characters of a given string without changing the original string. This is one of the most frequently asked beginner
Java interview questions.
Java Code
public class ReverseString {
public static void main(String[] args) {
String str = "Infosys";
String rev = "";
for(int i = [Link]()-1; i >= 0; i--) {
rev = rev + [Link](i);
}
[Link]("Reversed String = " + rev);
}
}
Logic
1. Store the string in str.
2. Start from the last character.
3. Append each character to rev.
4. Continue until index becomes 0.
5. Print the reversed string.
Output
Reversed String = sysofnI
Time Complexity: O(n)
2. Check Whether a String is Palindrome
A palindrome reads the same forward and backward.
madam ✔
level ✔
java ✘
Java Code
public class Palindrome {
public static void main(String[] args) {
String str = "madam";
String rev = "";
for(int i = [Link]()-1; i >= 0; i--) {
rev += [Link](i);
}
if([Link](rev))
[Link]("Palindrome");
else
[Link]("Not Palindrome");
}
}
Logic
1. Reverse the string.
2. Compare original and reversed strings using equals().
3. If equal → Palindrome.
4. Else → Not palindrome.
Time Complexity: O(n)
3. Remove Duplicate Characters
Remove repeated characters while preserving the order.
Example
Programming
Output: Progamin
Java Code
import [Link];
public class RemoveDuplicates {
public static void main(String[] args) {
String str = "Programming";
LinkedHashSet<Character> set = new LinkedHashSet<>();
for(char ch : [Link]()) {
[Link](ch);
}
for(char ch : set) {
[Link](ch);
}
}
}
Logic
1. Convert string into characters.
2. Store characters inside LinkedHashSet.
3. Set automatically removes duplicates.
4. LinkedHashSet preserves insertion order.
5. Print all elements.
Output
Progamin
Time Complexity: O(n)
4. Count Frequency of Each Character
Find how many times every character appears in a string.
Example
apple
Output:
a = 1
p = 2
l = 1
e = 1
Java Code
import [Link];
public class Frequency {
public static void main(String[] args) {
String str = "apple";
HashMap<Character,Integer> map = new HashMap<>();
for(char ch : [Link]()) {
if([Link](ch))
[Link](ch, [Link](ch)+1);
else
[Link](ch,1);
}
[Link](map);
}
}
Logic
1. Read one character.
2. If character already exists in map, increase count.
3. Otherwise insert with count = 1.
4. Continue until string ends.
Output
{a=1, p=2, l=1, e=1}
Time Complexity: O(n)
5. Find First Non-Repeated Character
Find the first character that appears exactly once.
Example
stress
Output: t
Java Code
import [Link];
public class FirstNonRepeated {
public static void main(String[] args) {
String str = "stress";
LinkedHashMap<Character,Integer> map = new LinkedHashMap<>();
for(char ch : [Link]()) {
[Link](ch, [Link](ch,0)+1);
}
for(char ch : [Link]()) {
if([Link](ch)==1) {
[Link](ch);
break;
}
}
}
}
Logic
1. Store each character and its frequency in a LinkedHashMap.
2. LinkedHashMap maintains insertion order.
3. Traverse the map.
4. The first character with frequency 1 is the answer.
5. Break after finding it.
6. Check Whether Two Strings are Anagrams
Two strings are anagrams if they contain the same characters with the same frequency, but the order can be different.
listen → silent ✔
heart → earth ✔
java → lava ✘
Java Code
import [Link];
public class Anagram {
public static void main(String[] args) {
String s1 = "listen";
String s2 = "silent";
char[] a = [Link]();
char[] b = [Link]();
[Link](a);
[Link](b);
if([Link](a, b))
[Link]("Anagram");
else
[Link]("Not Anagram");
}
}
Logic
1. Convert both strings into character arrays.
2. Sort both arrays.
3. Compare the sorted arrays.
4. If both are equal, they are anagrams.
Time Complexity: O(n log n)
7. Reverse Each Word in a Sentence
Reverse every word individually while keeping the word order the same.
Example
Java Selenium
Output: avaJ muineleS
Java Code
public class ReverseWords {
public static void main(String[] args) {
String str = "Java Selenium";
String words[] = [Link](" ");
for(String word : words){
for(int i = [Link]()-1; i>=0; i--){
[Link]([Link](i));
}
[Link](" ");
}
}
}
Logic
1. Split the sentence using space.
2. Reverse each word individually.
3. Print a space after each reversed word.
Time Complexity: O(n)
8. Find Duplicate Characters in a String
Print all characters that appear more than once.
Example
Programming
Output:
r
g
m
Java Code
import [Link];
public class DuplicateCharacters {
public static void main(String[] args) {
String str = "Programming";
HashMap<Character,Integer> map = new HashMap<>();
for(char ch : [Link]()){
[Link](ch,[Link](ch,0)+1);
}
for(char ch : [Link]()){
if([Link](ch)>1)
[Link](ch);
}
}
}
Logic
1. Count the frequency of every character.
2. Traverse the map.
3. Print characters having frequency greater than 1.
Time Complexity: O(n)
9. Find Missing Number from a Sorted Array
Find the missing number when only one number is missing from a sorted sequence.
Example
1 2 3 4 6 7 8
Output: 5
Java Code
public class MissingNumber {
public static void main(String[] args) {
int arr[] = {1,2,3,4,6,7,8};
for(int i=0;i<[Link]-1;i++){
if(arr[i+1] != arr[i]+1){
[Link]("Missing Number = "+(arr[i]+1));
}
}
}
}
Logic
1. Compare every element with the next element.
2. If the difference is not 1, the missing number is current + 1.
3. Print the missing number.
Time Complexity: O(n)
10. Find the Second Largest Element in an Array
Find the second highest number without sorting the array.
Example
10 50 20 80 70
Output: 70
Java Code
public class SecondLargest {
public static void main(String[] args) {
int arr[] = {10,50,20,80,70};
int largest = Integer.MIN_VALUE;
int second = Integer.MIN_VALUE;
for(int num : arr){
if(num > largest){
second = largest;
largest = num;
}else if(num > second && num != largest){
second = num;
}
}
[Link]("Second Largest = " + second);
}
}
Logic
1. Initialize largest and second to the smallest integer value.
2. If the current number is greater than largest, update both largest and second.
3. Otherwise, if it's greater than second but not equal to largest, update second.
4. Print the second largest element.
End of Guide
