Sample Machine Coding Interview Questions With Approach

Sample Machine Coding Interview Questions With Approach

Here are sample machine coding questions with how to approach each, so you can practice before your interview.

Question 1: Build a Tabs Component

Approach: State holds the active tab index. Render tab buttons and the active panel. Style the active tab differently. Handle keyboard navigation between tabs for accessibility.

Question 2: Build an Autocomplete Search

Approach: An input with debounced search, a dropdown of suggestions, keyboard navigation with up and down arrows, and selection on Enter. Filter the data source on the query.

Question 3: Build a Nested Comments Section

Approach: A recursive Comment component that renders replies as nested Comment components, with replies and likes. Store comments in a tree, and manage state for adding new comments.

Question 4: Build a Todo List With Filters

Approach: State for todos with id, text, and done. Add, toggle, and delete actions. Filter buttons for all, active, and done, showing a filtered list during render.

Question 5: Build a Modal With Focus Trap

Approach: A modal component with a backdrop, focus trap that cycles focus within the modal, escape to close, and return focus to the trigger on close.

How to Practice

Time yourself building each of these from scratch. Once you can build any of them in under 30 minutes, you are prepared for most machine coding interviews.

The Takeaway

Practice building common machine coding components from scratch under time: tabs, autocomplete, nested comments, todo with filters, and a modal with focus trap. Once these are fast, you are prepared for most interviews.