18 Most Important Java Interview Questions and

Answers
Define Synchronization in Java
Synchronization in Java is a process in which the accessibility of shared
resources are controlled by making use of multiple threads in such a way
that only a single resource could be accessed at one time. A shared object
could be modified using a single thread whereas another thread would be
involved in the process of updating or using the value of the object in
non-synchronized multi-threaded application.
What is meant by JVM and why Java is considered as a Platform
Independent Programming Language?
JVM otherwise known as Java Virtual Machine is considered as an
interpreter that is capable of accepting and executing the Bytecode.
Because Java works on the basis of compile once, run everywhere, it has
been termed as a platform independent language.
The sequential steps that give an insight in to the platform independent
characteristics are as follows.

Non-executable codes known as Bytecode will be provided as an

output by Java Compiler

Bytecode is nothing but a set of highly optimized computer

instructions that could be executed by Java Virtual Machine

The programs could be executed easily across a wide range of

platforms by means of translation in to bytecode. This is because all
that is required is a JVM being tailored for that particular platform.

There could be a difference in configuration for different platforms in

JVM and the same set of bytecodes could be understood easily. All
this makes Java program a platform independent one.

Differentiate between JDK and JRE

This is a typical Java interview question that has confused most of the
Java developers and it is important for Java developers to understand the
difference between JDK and JRE which would help take their career to the
next level. JDK stands for Java Development Kit which is a comprehensive

package of software which can be used for creating Java based software.
On the other hand, JRE stands for Java Runtime Environment. It is
nothing but an implementation of Java Virtual Machine that is capable of
executing Java programs. Each of the JDK would be comprised of one or
more JREs in addition to different kind of development tools such as Java
source compilers, debuggers, development libraries and bundling as well
as deployment of tools etc.
What is the difference between Constructors, Copy Constructor
and Constructor Overloading in Java?
For beginners, Constructors is considered to be basics of OOPS.
Constructor Creating an instance of a class remains the most important
objective of having Constructors. Whenever an object of a class has been
created, the constructors would be invoked. Some of the key
characteristics of Java Constructors are as follows.

Constructors could be public, private and protected etc.

Default no-argument constructor could not be used whenever a

constructor with arguments has been defined in a class.

Whenever the classes are being instantiated, they would be called

only once.

Constructors would have the same name as that of the class.

Value is not returned and therefore they need not have to specify
the keyword void.

Java helps in creating a so called default no-argument constructor

whenever a constructor for the class is not created.

Constructor Overloading Constructor overloading can be defined as the

passing of various number as well as type of variables as arguments out
of which most of them are regarded as private variables of the class.
Copy Constructor A type of constructor that is capable of constructing
the object of class from another object of the same class is defined as
Copy Constructor. The reference of its own class is considered as a
parameter by the copy constructor.
Define Java Exception Handling and differentiate
Unchecked Exception, Checked Exception and Errors?

between

Exception is a method to point out the occurring of an abnormal condition

in Java. Exceptions are considered as objects in Java and whenever an
exception is thrown, the object is also thrown. It has to be understood
that it is not possible to simply throw any objection as an exception. The
throwable is considered as a base class for the entire family of classes
that has been declared in java.lang which your program can instantiate
and throw.
Unchecked Exception It is inherited from RunTimeException and the
RunTimeException is treated differently by JVM as the application code is
not required to deal with them explicitly.
Checked Exception It is basically inherited from the Exception-class. The
checked exceptions have to be handled by a client code either through a
try-catch clause or should be thrown for the Super class to catch the
same.
Errors Errors are popularly thrown for problems that deserve more
seriousness. The problems usually include OutOfMemoryError or OOM that
is not that easy to handle as well as manage.
It is desirable to set aside some time in improving the Java skills as
exception handling requires some special attention while designing of
huge applications.
Mention the key differences between Byte Streams and Character
Streams
Most of the Java programmers are very much familiar with the file
operations. The list of file operations ranges from generating user reports,
sending of attachments through mails as well as filling out the data files
from Java programs. Having an in-depth knowledge regarding file
operations is very essential for Java developers who are dealing with Java
interview questions.
Byte Stream
It is used for the reading as well as writing of binary data. The byte
streams are used by programs for performing the byte input as well as
byte output. Performing InputStreams operations as well as
OutputStream operations means the presence of a loop that is capable of
reading the input stream as well as writing the output stream one byte at
a time. The buffered I/O streams could be also used for an overhead
reduction if any.

Character Streams
Character streams work along with characters other than bytes. Unicode
conventions are considered while storing the characters in Java. During
such type of storage, characters usually become platform independent,
program independent as well as language independent.
Differentiate between the functions of Over-Riding and OverLoading in Java?
It is regarded as an important aspect in Object-Oriented Programming
and the concepts as well as functionalities of Over-Riding and OverLoading in Java has to be understood by every Java programmer.
Over-Riding
It is a function type that occurs in a class that is inherited by another
class. The functions that are inherited from the base class are replaced by
means of an Over-Ride function. However it is implemented in such a way
that it is called even though an instance of its class is pretending to be
different type through polymorphism.
Over-Loading
Whenever multiple methods with the same name along with different
parameters are defined through an action, then it can be defined as
overloading. However it is not at all related to overriding or
polymorphism. Two mechanisms are usually used for overloading the
functions in Java. The two mechanisms include varying the number of
arguments as well as varying the data type.
List the most common data types supported by Java
This is one of the most popular and fundamental questions that are asked
as part of Java interview questions.
The list of eight primitive data types supported by Java is as follows.

Byte

Short

Int

Long

Float

Double

Char

Boolean

What is the difference between Autoboxing and Unboxing?

Autoboxing is defined as the automatic transformation of primitive types
in to its object equivalents or wrapper types for making the compilation
easier. The automatic transformation is performed by a Java Compiler.
Unboxing can be defined as the automatic conversion of wrapper types in
to its primitive equivalent.
What are the key differences between interface and an abstract
class?
Abstract class is a partially implemented class by a programmer and it
could be comprised of more than one abstract techniques. However
interface is considered similar to an abstract class and it occupies the
same namespaces as that of classes as well as abstract classes. Therefore
it is not possible to define an interface with the same name as that of
classes. The interface is more of a fully abstract class. Similarly abstract
classes could be comprised of constants, members, defined methods and
method stubs at the same time interfaces consists of only constants as
well as method stubs. Methods of an interface should be defined as public
where as the methods of an abstract class can be defined with any
visibility.
Whether garbage collection is an automatic process?
Yes, garbage collection is an automatic process and it could be requested
by means of calling System.gc (). The immediate starting of Garbage
Collection however cannot be guaranteed by JVM. Garbage collection is
also considered to be the most relevant feature of Java and is also known
as automatic memory management. This is because the unused variables
or objects from the memory can be automatically removed by the JVM.
The object in the memory cannot be freed directly by the user program
whereas it is up to the garbage collector for automatically freeing the
objects that are no longer referenced by a program.
Define Memory Leak

Whenever an unreferenced object that is not of any use is still not

garbage collected and thereby still hangs around within the memory is
often referred to as a memory leak.
Define Instance Variables in Java
The variables that are defined at a class level are known as Instance
Variables. There is no need to initialize instance variables before making
use of them as it could be automatically initialized towards their default
values.
Differentiate between Path and Class-path
Both Path and Class-path are considered as operating system level
environment variables. Classpath is used for specifying the location .class
files whereas Path is used for defining where the executable files (.exe
files) could be used within the system.
Define Java Reflection
Java Reflection is commonly used by programs that require the ability to
examine as well as modify the runtime behaviour of applications that are
powered by the Java Virtual Machine.
When the interface or abstract class has to be used?
To declare the methods as well as members a class must have, Interface
is used. The methods listed by the interface have to be declared and
implemented by users implementing the interface. Abstract class is used
whenever users require a default implementation. Thus users can
implement any number of interfaces as they require, however they would
be able to extend only one class. Contract or Standard is defined by
Interfaces and those contracts or standard has to be followed during the
implementation of the interface.
What is the
StringBuilder?

major

difference

between

StringBuffer

and

The most important difference between StringBuffer and StringBuilder is

that the StringBuffer is synchronized where as the StringBuilder is
unsynchronized. If the text could be changed and the accessibility is
possible only from a single thread, then it is desirable to make use of
StringBuilder as it is unsynchronized. At the same time if the text can
change and it has to be accessed from multiple threads, then it is
desirable to make use of StringBuffer as it is synchronous.

Does Java support Pointers?

Pointer can be defined as a reference handle towards a memory location.
If the pointer is not handled properly, it can result in memory leaks as
well as reliability issues. This is the main reason why the usage of
pointers is not supported by Java.