Nagaraju

DATA STRUCTURES

1. What is data structure?

A data structure is a way of organizing data that considers not only the items stored, but also their relationship to each other. Advance knowledge about the relationship between data items allows designing of efficient algorithms for the manipulation of data.

2. List out the areas in which data structures are applied extensively?

1. Compiler Design, 2. Operating System, 3. Database Management System, 4. Statistical analysis package, 5. Numerical Analysis, 6. Graphics, 7. Artificial Intelligence, 8. Simulation

3. What are the major data structures used in the following areas : RDBMS, Network data model and Hierarchical data model.

1. RDBMS = Array (i.e. Array of structures) 2. Network data model = Graph 3. Hierarchical data model = Trees

4. If you are using C language to implement the heterogeneous linked list, what pointer type will you use?

The heterogeneous linked list contains different data types in its nodes and we need a link, pointer to connect them. It is not possible to use ordinary pointers for this. So we go for void pointer. Void pointer is capable of storing pointer to any type as it is a generic pointer type.

5. Minimum number of queues needed to implement the priority queue?

Two. One queue is used for actual storing of data and another for storing priorities.

6. What is the data structures used to perform recursion?

Stack. Because of its LIFO (Last In First Out) property it remembers its 'caller' so knows whom to return when the function has to return. Recursion makes use of system stack for storing the return addresses of the function calls.

Every recursive function has its equivalent iterative (non-recursive) function. Even when such equivalent iterative procedures are written, explicit stack is to be used.

7. What are the notations used in Evaluation of Arithmetic Expressions using prefix and postfix forms?

Polish and Reverse Polish notations.

8. Convert the expression ((A + B) * C - (D - E) ^ (F + G)) to equivalent Prefix and Postfix notations.

1. Prefix Notation: ^ - * +ABC - DE + FG 2. Postfix Notation: AB + C * DE - - FG + ^

9. Sorting is not possible by using which of the following methods? (Insertion, Selection, Exchange, Deletion)

Sorting is not possible in Deletion. Using insertion we can perform insertion sort, using selection we can perform selection sort, using exchange we can perform the bubble sort (and other similar sorting methods). But no sorting method can be done just using deletion.

10. What are the methods available in storing sequential files ?

1. Straight merging, 2. Natural merging, 3. Polyphase sort, 4. Distribution of Initial runs.

11. List out few of the Application of tree data-structure?

1. The manipulation of Arithmetic expression, 2. Symbol Table construction, 3. Syntax analysis.

12. List out few of the applications that make use of Multilinked Structures?

1. Sparse matrix, 2. Index generation.

13. In tree construction which is the suitable efficient data structure? (Array, Linked list, Stack, Queue)

Linked list is the suitable efficient data structure.

14. What is the type of the algorithm used in solving the 8 Queens problem?

Backtracking.

15. In an AVL tree, at what condition the balancing is to be done?

If the 'pivotal value' (or the 'Height factor') is greater than 1 or less than -1.

16. What is the bucket size, when the overlapping and collision occur at same time?

One. If there is only one entry possible in the bucket, when the collision occurs, there is no way to accommodate the colliding value. This results in the overlapping of values.

17. Classify the Hashing Functions based on the various methods by which the key value is found.

1. Direct method, 2. Subtraction method, 3. Modulo-Division method, 4. Digit-Extraction method, 5. Mid-Square method, 6. Folding method, 7. Pseudo-random method.

18. What are the types of Collision Resolution Techniques and the methods used in each of the type?

1. Open addressing (closed hashing), The methods used include: Overflow block. 2. Closed addressing (open hashing), The methods used include: Linked list,

Binary tree.

19. In RDBMS, what is the efficient data structure used in the internal storage representation?

B+ tree. Because in B+ tree, all the data is stored only in leaf nodes, that makes searching easier. This corresponds to the records that shall be stored in leaf nodes.

20. What is a spanning Tree?

A spanning tree is a tree associated with a network. All the nodes of the graph appear on the tree once. A minimum spanning tree is a spanning tree organized so that the total edge weight between nodes is minimized.

21. Does the minimum spanning tree of a graph give the shortest distance between any 2 specified nodes?

No. The Minimal spanning tree assures that the total weight of the tree is kept at its minimum. But it doesn't mean that the distance between any two nodes involved in the minimum-spanning tree is minimum.

22. Which is the simplest file structure? (Sequential, Indexed, Random)

Sequential is the simplest file structure.

23. Whether Linked List is linear or Non-linear data structure?

According to Access strategies Linked list is a linear one. According to Storage Linked List is a Non-linear one.

DATA BASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

1. What is database?

A database is a logically coherent collection of data with some inherent meaning, representing some aspect of real world and which is designed, built and populated with data for a specific purpose.

2. What is DBMS?

It is a collection of programs that enables user to create and maintain a database. In other words it is general-purpose software that provides the users with the processes of defining, constructing and manipulating the database for various applications.

3. What is a Database system?

The database and DBMS software together is called as Database system.

4. What are the advantages of DBMS?

1. Redundancy is controlled. 2. Unauthorised access is restricted. 3. Providing multiple user interfaces. 4. Enforcing integrity constraints. 5. Providing backup and recovery.

5. What are the disadvantage in File Processing System?

1. Data redundancy and inconsistency. 2. Difficult in accessing data. 3. Data isolation. 4. Data integrity. 5. Concurrent access is not possible. 6. Security Problems.

6. Describe the three levels of data abstraction?

The are three levels of abstraction:

1. Physical level: The lowest level of abstraction describes how data are stored. 2. Logical level: The next higher level of abstraction, describes what data are stored

in database and what relationship among those data. 3. View level: The highest level of abstraction describes only part of entire database.

7. Define the "integrity rules"?

There are two Integrity rules.

1. Entity Integrity: States that "Primary key cannot have NULL value" 2. Referential Integrity: States that "Foreign Key can be either a NULL value or

should be Primary Key value of other relation.

8. What is extension and intension?

1. Extension: It is the number of tuples present in a table at any instance. This is time dependent.

2. Intension: It is a constant value that gives the name, structure of table and the constraints laid on it.

9. What is System R? What are its two major subsystems?

System R was designed and developed over a period of 1974-79 at IBM San Jose Research Center. It is a prototype and its purpose was to demonstrate that it is possible to build a Relational System that can be used in a real life environment to solve real life problems, with performance at least comparable to that of existing system.Its two subsystems are

1. Research Storage 2. System Relational Data System.

10. How is the data structure of System R different from the relational structure?

Unlike Relational systems in System R

1. Domains are not supported 2. Enforcement of candidate key uniqueness is optional 3. Enforcement of entity integrity is optional 4. Referential integrity is not enforced

11. What is Data Independence?

Data independence means that "the application is independent of the storage structure and access strategy of data". In other words, The ability to modify the schema definition in one level should not affect the schema definition in the next higher level.Two types of Data Independence:

1. Physical Data Independence: Modification in physical level should not affect the logical level.

2. Logical Data Independence: Modification in logical level should affect the view level.

NOTE: Logical Data Independence is more difficult to achieve

12. What is a view? How it is related to data independence?

A view may be thought of as a virtual table, that is, a table that does not really exist in its own right but is instead derived from one or more underlying base table. In other words, there is no stored file that direct represents the view instead a definition of view is stored in data dictionary.

Growth and restructuring of base tables is not reflected in views. Thus the view can insulate users from the effects of restructuring and growth in the database. Hence accounts for logical data independence.

13. What is Data Model?

A collection of conceptual tools for describing data, data relationships data semantics and constraints.

14. What is E-R model?

This data model is based on real world that consists of basic objects called entities and of relationship among these objects. Entities are described in a database by a set of attributes.

15. What is Object Oriented model?

This model is based on collection of objects. An object contains values stored in instance variables with in the object. An object also contains bodies of code that operate on the object. These bodies of code are called methods. Objects that contain same types of values and the same methods are grouped together into classes.

16. What is an Entity?

It is a 'thing' in the real world with an independent existence.

17. What is an Entity type?

It is a collection (set) of entities that have same attributes.

18. What is an Entity set?

It is a collection of all entities of particular entity type in the database.

19. What is an Extension of entity type?

The collections of entities of a particular entity type are grouped together into an entity set.

20. What is Weak Entity set?

An entity set may not have sufficient attributes to form a primary key, and its primary key compromises of its partial key and primary key of its parent entity, then it is said to be Weak Entity set.

21. What is an attribute?

It is a particular property, which describes the entity.

22. What is a Relation Schema and a Relation?

A relation Schema denoted by R(A1, A2, ..., An) is made up of the relation name R and the list of attributes Ai that it contains. A relation is defined as a set of tuples. Let r be the relation which contains set tuples (t1, t2, t3, ..., tn). Each tuple is an ordered list of n-values t=(v1,v2, ..., vn).

23. What is degree of a Relation?

It is the number of attribute of its relation schema.

24. What is Relationship?

It is an association among two or more entities.

25. What is Relationship set?

The collection (or set) of similar relationships.

26. What is Relationship type?

Relationship type defines a set of associations or a relationship set among a given set of entity types.

27. What is degree of Relationship type?

It is the number of entity type participating.

28. What is DDL (Data Definition Language)?

A data base schema is specifies by a set of definitions expressed by a special language called DDL.

29. What is VDL (View Definition Language)?

It specifies user views and their mappings to the conceptual schema.

30. What is SDL (Storage Definition Language)?

This language is to specify the internal schema. This language may specify the mapping between two schemas.

31. What is Data Storage - Definition Language?

The storage structures and access methods used by database system are specified by a set of definition in a special type of DDL called data storage-definition language.

32. What is DML (Data Manipulation Language)?

This language that enable user to access or manipulate data as organised by appropriate data model.

1. Procedural DML or Low level: DML requires a user to specify what data are needed and how to get those data.

2. Non-Procedural DML or High level: DML requires a user to specify what data are needed without specifying how to get those data.

33. What is DML Compiler?

It translates DML statements in a query language into low-level instruction that the query evaluation engine can understand.

34. What is Query evaluation engine?

It executes low-level instruction generated by compiler.

35. What is DDL Interpreter?

It interprets DDL statements and record them in tables containing metadata.

36. What is Record-at-a-time?

The Low level or Procedural DML can specify and retrieve each record from a set of records. This retrieve of a record is said to be Record-at-a-time.

37. What is Set-at-a-time or Set-oriented?

The High level or Non-procedural DML can specify and retrieve many records in a single DML statement. This retrieve of a record is said to be Set-at-a-time or Set-oriented.

38. What is Relational Algebra?

It is procedural query language. It consists of a set of operations that take one or two relations as input and produce a new relation.

39. What is Relational Calculus?

It is an applied predicate calculus specifically tailored for relational databases proposed by E.F. Codd. E.g. of languages based on it are DSL ALPHA, QUEL.

40. How does Tuple-oriented relational calculus differ from domain-oriented relational calculus?

1. The tuple-oriented calculus uses a tuple variables i.e., variable whose only permitted values are tuples of that relation. E.g. QUEL

2. The domain-oriented calculus has domain variables i.e., variables that range over the underlying domains instead of over relation. E.g. ILL, DEDUCE.

41. What is normalization?

It is a process of analysing the given relation schemas based on their Functional Dependencies (FDs) and primary key to achieve the properties(1).Minimizing redundancy, (2). Minimizing insertion, deletion and update anomalies.

42. What is Functional Dependency?

A Functional dependency is denoted by X Y between two sets of attributes X and Y that are subsets of R specifies a constraint on the possible tuple that can form a relation state r of R. The constraint is for any two tuples t1 and t2 in r if t1[X] = t2[X] then they have t1[Y] = t2[Y]. This means the value of X component of a tuple uniquely determines the value of component Y.

43. What is Lossless join property?

It guarantees that the spurious tuple generation does not occur with respect to relation schemas after decomposition.

44. What is 1 NF (Normal Form)?

The domain of attribute must include only atomic (simple, indivisible) values.

45. What is Fully Functional dependency?

It is based on concept of full functional dependency. A functional dependency X Y is full functional dependency if removal of any attribute A from X means that the dependency does not hold any more.

46. What is 2NF?

A relation schema R is in 2NF if it is in 1NF and every non-prime attribute A in R is fully functionally dependent on primary key.

47. What is 3NF?

A relation schema R is in 3NF if it is in 2NF and for every FD X A either of the following is true

1. X is a Super-key of R. 2. A is a prime attribute of R.

In other words, if every non prime attribute is non-transitively dependent on primary key.

48. What is BCNF (Boyce-Codd Normal Form)?

A relation schema R is in BCNF if it is in 3NF and satisfies an additional constraint that for every FD X A, X must be a candidate key.

49. What is 4NF?

A relation schema R is said to be in 4NF if for every Multivalued dependency X Y that holds over R, one of following is true.1.) X is subset or equal to (or) XY = R.2.) X is a super key.

50. What is 5NF?

A Relation schema R is said to be 5NF if for every join dependency {R1, R2, ..., Rn} that holds R, one the following is true 1.) Ri = R for some i.2.) The join dependency is implied by the set of FD, over R in which the left side is key of R.

51. What is Domain-Key Normal Form?

A relation is said to be in DKNF if all constraints and dependencies that should hold on the the constraint can be enforced by simply enforcing the domain constraint and key constraint on the relation.

52. What are partial, alternate,, artificial, compound and natural key?

1. Partial Key: It is a set of attributes that can uniquely identify weak entities and that are related to same owner entity. It is sometime called as Discriminator.

2. Alternate Key: All Candidate Keys excluding the Primary Key are known as Alternate Keys.

3. Artificial Key: If no obvious key, either stand alone or compound is available, then the last resort is to simply create a key, by assigning a unique number to each record or occurrence. Then this is known as developing an artificial key.

4. Compound Key: If no single data element uniquely identifies occurrences within a construct, then combining multiple elements to create a unique identifier for the construct is known as creating a compound key.

5. Natural Key: When one of the data elements stored within a construct is utilized as the primary key, then it is called the natural key.

53. What is indexing and what are the different kinds of indexing?

Indexing is a technique for determining how quickly specific data can be found. Types:

1. Binary search style indexing 2. B-Tree indexing 3. Inverted list indexing 4. Memory resident table 5. Table indexing

54. What is system catalog or catalog relation? How is better known as?

A RDBMS maintains a description of all the data that it contains, information about every relation and index that it contains. This information is stored in a collection of relations maintained by the system called metadata. It is also called data dictionary.

55. What is meant by query optimization?

The phase that identifies an efficient execution plan for evaluating a query that has the least estimated cost is referred to as query optimization.

56. What is durability in DBMS?

Once the DBMS informs the user that a transaction has successfully completed, its effects should persist even if the system crashes before all its changes are reflected on disk. This property is called durability.

57. What do you mean by atomicity and aggregation?

1. Atomicity: Either all actions are carried out or none are. Users should not have to worry about the effect of incomplete transactions. DBMS ensures this by undoing the actions of incomplete transactions.

2. Aggregation: A concept which is used to model a relationship between a collection of entities and relationships. It is used when we need to express a relationship among relationships.

58. What is a Phantom Deadlock?

In distributed deadlock detection, the delay in propagating local information might cause the deadlock detection algorithms to identify deadlocks that do not really exist. Such situations are called phantom deadlocks and they lead to unnecessary aborts.

59. What is a checkpoint and When does it occur?

A Checkpoint is like a snapshot of the DBMS state. By taking checkpoints, the DBMS can reduce the amount of work to be done during restart in the event of subsequent crashes.

60. What are the different phases of transaction?

Different phases are1.) Analysis phase,2.) Redo Phase,3.) Undo phase.

61. What do you mean by flat file database?

It is a database in which there are no programs or user access languages. It has no cross-file capabilities but is user-friendly and provides user-interface management.

62. What is "transparent DBMS"?

It is one, which keeps its Physical Structure hidden from user.

63. What is a query?

A query with respect to DBMS relates to user commands that are used to interact with a data base. The query language can be classified into data definition language and data manipulation language.

64. What do you mean by Correlated subquery?

Subqueries, or nested queries, are used to bring back a set of rows to be used by the parent query. Depending on how the subquery is written, it can be executed once for the parent query or it can be executed once for each row returned by the parent query. If the subquery is executed for each row of the parent, this is called a correlated subquery.

A correlated subquery can be easily identified if it contains any references to the parent subquery columns in its WHERE clause. Columns from the subquery cannot be referenced anywhere else in the parent query. The following example demonstrates a non-correlated subquery.

Example: Select * From CUST Where '10/03/1990' IN (Select ODATE From ORDER Where CUST.CNUM = ORDER.CNUM)

65. What are the primitive operations common to all record management systems?

Addition, deletion and modification.

66. Name the buffer in which all the commands that are typed in are stored?

'Edit' Buffer.

67. What are the unary operations in Relational Algebra?

PROJECTION and SELECTION.

68. Are the resulting relations of PRODUCT and JOIN operation the same?

No.PRODUCT: Concatenation of every row in one relation with every row in another.JOIN: Concatenation of rows from one relation and related rows from another.

69. What is RDBMS KERNEL?

Two important pieces of RDBMS architecture are the kernel, which is the software, and the data dictionary, which consists of the system-level data structures used by the kernel to manage the database You might think of an RDBMS as an operating system (or set of subsystems), designed specifically for controlling data access; its primary functions are storing, retrieving, and securing data. An RDBMS maintains its own list of authorized users and their associated privileges; manages memory caches and paging; controls locking for concurrent resource usage; dispatches and schedules user requests; and manages space usage within its table-space structures.

70. Name the sub-systems of a RDBMS.

I/O, Security, Language Processing, Process Control, Storage Management, Logging and Recovery, Distribution Control, Transaction Control, Memory Management, Lock Management.

71. Which part of the RDBMS takes care of the data dictionary? How?

Data dictionary is a set of tables and database objects that is stored in a special area of the database and maintained exclusively by the kernel.

72. What is the job of the information stored in data-dictionary?

The information in the data dictionary validates the existence of the objects, provides access to them, and maps the actual physical storage location.

73. How do you communicate with an RDBMS?

You communicate with an RDBMS using Structured Query Language (SQL).

74. Define SQL and state the differences between SQL and other conventional programming Languages.

SQL is a nonprocedural language that is designed specifically for data access operations on normalized relational database structures. The primary difference between SQL and other conventional programming languages is that SQL statements specify what data operations should be performed rather than how to perform them.

75. Name the three major set of files on disk that compose a database in Oracle.

There are three major sets of files on disk that compose a database. All the files are binary. These are

1.) Database files 2.) Control files3.) Redo logs

The most important of these are the database files where the actual data resides. The control files and the redo logs support the functioning of the architecture itself. All three sets of files must be present, open, and available to Oracle for any data on the database to be useable. Without these files, you cannot access the database, and the database administrator might have to recover some or all of the database using a backup, if there is one.

76. What is database Trigger?

A database trigger is a PL/SQL block that can defined to automatically execute for insert, update, and delete statements against a table. The trigger can e defined to execute once for the entire statement or once for every row that is inserted, updated, or deleted. For any one table, there are twelve events for which you can define database triggers. A database trigger can call database procedures that are also written in PL/SQL.

77. What are stored-procedures? And what are the advantages of using them?

Stored procedures are database objects that perform a user defined operation. A stored procedure can have a set of compound SQL statements. A stored procedure executes the SQL commands and returns the result to the client. Stored procedures are used to reduce network traffic.

78. What is Storage Manager?

It is a program module that provides the interface between the low-level data stored in database, application programs and queries submitted to the system

79. What is Buffer Manager?

It is a program module, which is responsible for fetching data from disk storage into main memory and deciding what data to be cache in memory.

80. What is Transaction Manager?

It is a program module, which ensures that database, remains in a consistent state despite system failures and concurrent transaction execution proceeds without conflicting.

81. What is File Manager?

It is a program module, which manages the allocation of space on disk storage and data structure used to represent information stored on a disk.

82. What is Authorization and Integrity manager?

It is the program module, which tests for the satisfaction of integrity constraint and checks the authority of user to access data.

83. What are stand-alone procedures?

Procedures that are not part of a package are known as stand-alone because they independently defined. A good example of a stand-alone procedure is one written in a SQL*Forms application. These types of procedures are not available for reference from other Oracle tools. Another limitation of stand-alone procedures is that they are compiled at run time, which slows execution.

84. What are cursors give different types of cursors?

PL/SQL uses cursors for all database information accesses statements. The language supports the use two types of cursors1.) Implicit2.) Explicit

85. What is cold backup and hot backup (in case of Oracle)?

1. Cold Backup: It is copying the three sets of files (database files, redo logs, and control file) when the instance is shut down. This is a straight file copy, usually from the disk directly to tape. You must shut down the instance to guarantee a consistent copy. If a cold backup is performed, the only option available in the event of data file loss is restoring all the files from the latest backup. All work performed on the database since the last backup is lost.

2. Hot Backup: Some sites (such as worldwide airline reservations systems) cannot shut down the database while making a backup copy of the files. The cold backup is not an available option.

86. What is meant by Proactive, Retroactive and Simultaneous Update.

1. Proactive Update: The updates that are applied to database before it becomes effective in real world.

2. Retroactive Update: The updates that are applied to database after it becomes effective in real world.

3. Simulatneous Update: The updates that are applied to database at the same time when it becomes effective in real world.

CORE JAVA

1. What is the most important feature of Java?

Java is a platform independent language.

2. What do you mean by platform independence?

Platform independence means that we can write and compile the java code in one platform (eg Windows) and can execute the class in any other supported platform eg (Linux,Solaris,etc).

3. What is a JVM?

JVM is Java Virtual Machine which is a run time environment for the compiled java class files.

4. Are JVM's platform independent?

JVM's are not platform independent. JVM's are platform specific run time implementation provided by the vendor.

5. What is the difference between a JDK and a JVM?

JDK is Java Development Kit which is for development purpose and it includes execution environment also. But JVM is purely a run time environment and hence you will not be able to compile your source files using a JVM.

6. What is a pointer and does Java support pointers?

Pointer is a reference handle to a memory location. Improper handling of pointers leads to memory leaks and reliability issues hence Java doesn't support the usage of pointers.

7. What is the base class of all classes?

java.lang.Object

8. Does Java support multiple inheritance?

Java doesn't support multiple inheritance.

9. Is Java a pure object oriented language?

Java uses primitive data types and hence is not a pure object oriented language.

10. Are arrays primitive data types?

In Java, Arrays are objects.

11. What is difference between Path and Classpath?

Path and Classpath are operating system level environment variales. Path is used define where the system can find the executables(.exe) files and classpath is used to specify the location .class files.

12. What are local variables?

Local varaiables are those which are declared within a block of code like methods. Local variables should be initialised before accessing them.

13. What are instance variables?

Instance variables are those which are defined at the class level. Instance variables need not be initialized before using them as they are automatically initialized to their default values.

14. How to define a constant variable in Java?

The variable should be declared as static and final. So only one copy of the variable exists for all instances of the class and the value can't be changed also.static final int PI = 2.14; is an example for constant.

15. Should a main() method be compulsorily declared in all java classes?

No not required. main() method should be defined only if the source class is a java application.

16. What is the return type of the main() method?

Main() method doesn't return anything hence declared void.

17. Why is the main() method declared static?

main() method is called by the JVM even before the instantiation of the class hence it is declared as static.

18. What is the arguement of main() method?

main() method accepts an array of String object as arguement.

19. Can a main() method be overloaded?

Yes. You can have any number of main() methods with different method signature and implementation in the class.

20. Can a main() method be declared final?

Yes. Any inheriting class will not be able to have it's own default main() method.

21. Does the order of public and static declaration matter in main() method?

No. It doesn't matter but void should always come before main().

22. Can a source file contain more than one class declaration?

Yes a single source file can contain any number of Class declarations but only one of the class can be declared as public.

23. What is a package?

Package is a collection of related classes and interfaces. package declaration should be first statement in a java class.

24. Which package is imported by default?

java.lang package is imported by default even without a package declaration.

25. Can a class declared as private be accessed outside it's package?

Not possible.

26. Can a class be declared as protected?

A class can't be declared as protected. only methods can be declared as protected.

27. What is the access scope of a protected method?

A protected method can be accessed by the classes within the same package or by the subclasses of the class in any package.

28. What is the purpose of declaring a variable as final?

A final variable's value can't be changed. final variables should be initialized before using them.

29. What is the impact of declaring a method as final?

A method declared as final can't be overridden. A sub-class can't have the same method signature with a different implementation.

30. I don't want my class to be inherited by any other class. What should i do?

You should declared your class as final. But you can't define your class as final, if it is an abstract class. A class declared as final can't be extended by any other class.

31. Can you give few examples of final classes defined in Java API?

java.lang.String, java.lang.Math are final classes.

32. How is final different from finally and finalize()?

final is a modifier which can be applied to a class or a method or a variable. final class can't be inherited, final method can't be overridden and final variable can't be changed.

finally is an exception handling code section which gets executed whether an exception is raised or not by the try block code segment.

finalize() is a method of Object class which will be executed by the JVM just before garbage collecting object to give a final chance for resource releasing activity.

33. Can a class be declared as static?

No a class cannot be defined as static. Only a method, a variable or a block of code can be declared as static.

34. When will you define a method as static?

When a method needs to be accessed even before the creation of the object of the class then we should declare the method as static.

35. What are the restriction imposed on a static method or a static block of code?

A static method should not refer to instance variables without creating an instance and cannot use "this" operator to refer the instance.

36. I want to print "Hello" even before main() is executed. How will you acheive that?

Print the statement inside a static block of code. Static blocks get executed when the class gets loaded into the memory and even before the creation of an object. Hence it will be executed before the main() method. And it will be executed only once.

37. What is the importance of static variable?

static variables are class level variables where all objects of the class refer to the same variable. If one object changes the value then the change gets reflected in all the objects.

38. Can we declare a static variable inside a method?

Static varaibles are class level variables and they can't be declared inside a method. If declared, the class will not compile.

39. What is an Abstract Class and what is it's purpose?

A Class which doesn't provide complete implementation is defined as an abstract class. Abstract classes enforce abstraction.

40. Can a abstract class be declared final?

Not possible. An abstract class without being inherited is of no use and hence will result in compile time error.

41. What is use of a abstract variable?

Variables can't be declared as abstract. only classes and methods can be declared as abstract.

42. Can you create an object of an abstract class?

Not possible. Abstract classes can't be instantiated

43. Can a abstract class be defined without any abstract methods?

Yes it's possible. This is basically to avoid instance creation of the class.

44. Class C implements Interface I containing method m1 and m2 declarations. Class C has provided implementation for method m2. Can i create an object of Class C?

No not possible. Class C should provide implementation for all the methods in the Interface I. Since Class C didn't provide implementation for m1 method, it has to be declared as abstract. Abstract classes can't be instantiated.

45. Can a method inside a Interface be declared as final?

No not possible. Doing so will result in compilation error. public and abstract are the only applicable modifiers for method declaration in an interface.

46. Can an Interface implement another Interface?

Intefaces doesn't provide implementation hence a interface cannot implement another interface.

47. Can an Interface extend another Interface?

Yes an Interface can inherit another Interface, for that matter an Interface can extend more than one Interface.

48. Can a Class extend more than one Class?

Not possible. A Class can extend only one class but can implement any number of Interfaces.

49. Why is an Interface be able to extend more than one Interface but a Class can't extend more than one Class?

Basically Java doesn't allow multiple inheritance, so a Class is restricted to extend only one Class. But an Interface is a pure abstraction model and doesn't have inheritance hierarchy like classes(do remember that the base class of all classes is Object). So an Interface is allowed to extend more than one Interface.

50. Can an Interface be final?

Not possible. Doing so so will result in compilation error.

51. Can a class be defined inside an Interface?

Yes it's possible.

52. Can an Interface be defined inside a class?

Yes it's possible.

53. What is a Marker Interface?

An Interface which doesn't have any declaration inside but still enforces a mechanism.

54. Which object oriented Concept is achieved by using overloading and overriding?

Polymorphism.

55. Why does Java not support operator overloading?

Operator overloading makes the code very difficult to read and maintain. To maintain code simplicity, Java doesn't support operator overloading.

56. Can we define private and protected modifiers for variables in interfaces?

No.

57. What is Externalizable?

Externalizable is an Interface that extends Serializable Interface. And sends data into Streams in Compressed Format. It has two methods, writeExternal(ObjectOuput out) and readExternal(ObjectInput in)

58. What modifiers are allowed for methods in an Interface?

Only public and abstract modifiers are allowed for methods in interfaces.

59. What is a local, member and a class variable?

Variables declared within a method are "local" variables.

Variables declared within the class i.e not within any methods are "member" variables (global variables).

Variables declared within the class i.e not within any methods and are defined as "static" are class variables.

60. What is an abstract method?

An abstract method is a method whose implementation is deferred to a subclass.

61. What value does read() return when it has reached the end of a file?

The read() method returns -1 when it has reached the end of a file.

62. Can a Byte object be cast to a double value?

No, an object cannot be cast to a primitive value.

63. What is the difference between a static and a non-static inner class?

A non-static inner class may have object instances that are associated with instances of the class's outer class. A static inner class does not have any object instances.

64. What is an object's lock and which object's have locks?

An object's lock is a mechanism that is used by multiple threads to obtain synchronized access to the object. A thread may execute a synchronized method of an object only after it has acquired the object's lock. All objects and classes have locks. A class's lock is acquired on the class's Class object.

65. What is the % operator?

It is referred to as the modulo or remainder operator. It returns the remainder of dividing the first operand by the second operand.

66. When can an object reference be cast to an interface reference?

An object reference be cast to an interface reference when the object implements the referenced interface.

67. Which class is extended by all other classes?

The Object class is extended by all other classes.

68. Which non-Unicode letter characters may be used as the first character of an identifier?

The non-Unicode letter characters $ and _ may appear as the first character of an identifier

69. What restrictions are placed on method overloading?

Two methods may not have the same name and argument list but different return types.

70. What is casting?

There are two types of casting, casting between primitive numeric types and casting between object references. Casting between numeric types is used to convert larger values, such as double values, to smaller values, such as byte values. Casting between object references is used to refer to an object by a compatible class, interface, or array type reference.

71. What is the return type of a program's main() method?

void.

72. If a variable is declared as private, where may the variable be accessed?

A private variable may only be accessed within the class in which it is declared.

73. What do you understand by private, protected and public?

These are accessibility modifiers. Private is the most restrictive, while public is the least restrictive. There is no real difference between protected and the default type (also known as package protected) within the context of the same package, however the protected keyword allows visibility to a derived class in a different package.

74. What is Downcasting ?

Downcasting is the casting from a general to a more specific type, i.e. casting down the hierarchy

75. What modifiers may be used with an inner class that is a member of an outer class?

A (non-local) inner class may be declared as public, protected, private, static, final, or abstract.

76. How many bits are used to represent Unicode, ASCII, UTF-16, and UTF-8 characters?

Unicode requires 16 bits and ASCII require 7 bits Although the ASCII character set uses only 7 bits, it is usually represented as 8 bits.

UTF-8 represents characters using 8, 16, and 18 bit patterns.

UTF-16 uses 16-bit and larger bit patterns.

77. What restrictions are placed on the location of a package statement within a source code file?

A package statement must appear as the first line in a source code file (excluding blank lines and comments).

78. What is a native method?

A native method is a method that is implemented in a language other than Java.

79. What are order of precedence and associativity, and how are they used?

Order of precedence determines the order in which operators are evaluated in expressions. Associatity determines whether an expression is evaluated left-to-right or right-to-left.

80. Can an anonymous class be declared as implementing an interface and extending a class?

An anonymous class may implement an interface or extend a superclass, but may not be declared to do both.

81. What is the range of the char type?

The range of the char type is 0 to 216 - 1 (i.e. 0 to 65535.)

82. What is the range of the short type?

The range of the short type is -(215) to 215 - 1. (i.e. -32,768 to 32,767)

83. Why isn't there operator overloading?

Because C++ has proven by example that operator overloading makes code almost impossible to maintain.

84. What does it mean that a method or field is "static"?

Static variables and methods are instantiated only once per class. In other words they are class variables, not instance variables. If you change the value of a static variable in a particular object, the value of that variable changes for all instances of that class. Static methods can be referenced with the name of the class rather than the name of a particular object of the class (though that works too). That's how library methods like System.out.println() work. out is a static field in the java.lang.System class.

85. Is null a keyword?

The null value is not a keyword.

86. Which characters may be used as the second character of an identifier, but not as the first character of an identifier?

The digits 0 through 9 may not be used as the first character of an identifier but they may be used after the first character of an identifier.

87. Is the ternary operator written x : y ? z or x ? y : z ?

It is written x ? y : z.

88. How is rounding performed under integer division?

The fractional part of the result is truncated. This is known as rounding toward zero.

89. If a class is declared without any access modifiers, where may the class be accessed?

A class that is declared without any access modifiers is said to have package access. This means that the class can only be accessed by other classes and interfaces that are defined within the same package.

90. Does a class inherit the constructors of its superclass?

A class does not inherit constructors from any of its superclasses.

91. Name the eight primitive Java types.

The eight primitive types are byte, char, short, int, long, float, double, and boolean.

92. What restrictions are placed on the values of each case of a switch statement?

During compilation, the values of each case of a switch statement must evaluate to a value that can be promoted to an int value.

93. What is the difference between a while statement and a do while statement?

A while statement checks at the beginning of a loop to see whether the next loop iteration should occur. A do while statement checks at the end of a loop to see whether the next iteration of a loop should occur. The do whilestatement will always execute the body of a loop at least once.

94. What modifiers can be used with a local inner class?

A local inner class may be final or abstract.

95. When does the compiler supply a default constructor for a class?

The compiler supplies a default constructor for a class if no other constructors are provided.

96. If a method is declared as protected, where may the method be accessed?

A protected method may only be accessed by classes or interfaces of the same package or by subclasses of the class in which it is declared.

97. What are the legal operands of the instanceof operator?

The left operand is an object reference or null value and the right operand is a class, interface, or array type.

98. Are true and false keywords?

The values true and false are not keywords.

99. What happens when you add a double value to a String?

The result is a String object.

100. What is the diffrence between inner class and nested class?

When a class is defined within a scope od another class, then it becomes inner class. If the access modifier of the inner class is static, then it becomes nested class.

101. Can an abstract class be final?

An abstract class may not be declared as final.

102. What is numeric promotion?

Numeric promotion is the conversion of a smaller numeric type to a larger numeric type, so that integer and floating-point operations may take place. In numerical promotion, byte, char, and short values are converted to int values. The int values are also converted to long values, if necessary. The long and float values are converted to double values, as required.

103. What is the difference between a public and a non-public class?

A public class may be accessed outside of its package. A non-public class may not be accessed outside of its package.

104. To what value is a variable of the boolean type automatically initialized?

The default value of the boolean type is false.

105. What is the difference between the prefix and postfix forms of the ++ operator?

The prefix form performs the increment operation and returns the value of the increment operation. The postfix form returns the current value all of the expression and then performs the increment operation on that value.

106. What restrictions are placed on method overriding?

Overridden methods must have the same name, argument list, and return type. The overriding method may not limit the access of the method it overrides. The overriding method may not throw any exceptions that may not be thrown by the overridden method.

107. What is a Java package and how is it used?

A Java package is a naming context for classes and interfaces. A package is used to create a separate name space for groups of classes and interfaces. Packages are also used to organize related classes and interfaces into a single API unit and to control accessibility to these classes and interfaces.

108. What modifiers may be used with a top-level class?

A top-level class may be public, abstract, or final.

109. What is the difference between an if statement and a switch statement?

The if statement is used to select among two alternatives. It uses a boolean expression to decide which alternative should be executed. The switch statement is used to select among multiple alternatives. It uses an int expression to determine which alternative should be executed.

110. What are the practical benefits, if any, of importing a specific class rather than an entire package (e.g. import java.net.* versus import java.net.Socket)?

It makes no difference in the generated class files since only the classes that are actually used are referenced by the generated class file. There is another practical benefit to importing single classes, and this arises when two (or more) packages have classes with the same name. Take java.util.Timer and javax.swing.Timer, for example. If I import java.util.* and javax.swing.* and then try to use "Timer", I get an error while compiling (the class name is ambiguous between both packages). Let's say what you really wanted was the javax.swing.Timer class, and the only classes you plan on using in java.util are Collection and HashMap. In this case, some people will prefer to import java.util.Collection and import java.util.HashMap instead of importing java.util.*. This

will now allow them to use Timer, Collection, HashMap, and other javax.swing classes without using fully qualified class names in.

111. Can a method be overloaded based on different return type but same argument type ?

No, because the methods can be called without using their return type in which case there is ambiquity for the compiler.

112. What happens to a static variable that is defined within a method of a class ?

Can't do it. You'll get a compilation error.

113. How many static initializers can you have ?

As many as you want, but the static initializers and class variable initializers are executed in textual order and may not refer to class variables declared in the class whose declarations appear textually after the use, even though these class variables are in scope.

114. What is the difference between method overriding and overloading?

Overriding is a method with the same name and arguments as in a parent, whereas overloading is the same method name but different arguments

115. What is constructor chaining and how is it achieved in Java ?

A child object constructor always first needs to construct its parent (which in turn calls its parent constructor.). In Java it is done via an implicit call to the no-args constructor as the first statement.

116. What is the difference between the Boolean & operator and the && operator?

If an expression involving the Boolean & operator is evaluated, both operands are evaluated. Then the & operator is applied to the operand. When an expression involving the && operator is evaluated, the first operand is evaluated. If the first operand returns a value of true then the second operand is evaluated. The && operator is then applied to the first and second operands. If the first operand evaluates to false, the evaluation of the second operand is skipped.

117. Which Java operator is right associative?

The = operator is right associative.

118. Can a double value be cast to a byte?

Yes, a double value can be cast to a byte.

119. What is the difference between a break statement and a continue statement?

A break statement results in the termination of the statement to which it applies (switch, for, do, or while). A continue statement is used to end the current loop iteration and return control to the loop statement.

120. Can a for statement loop indefinitely?

Yes, a for statement can loop indefinitely. For example, consider the following: for(;;);

121. To what value is a variable of the String type automatically initialized?

The default value of an String type is null.

122. What is the difference between a field variable and a local variable?

A field variable is a variable that is declared as a member of a class. A local variable is a variable that is declared local to a method.

123. How are this() and super() used with constructors?

this() is used to invoke a constructor of the same class. super() is used to invoke a superclass constructor.

124. What does it mean that a class or member is final?

A final class cannot be inherited. A final method cannot be overridden in a subclass. A final field cannot be changed after it's initialized, and it must include an initializer statement where it's declared.

125. What does it mean that a method or class is abstract?

An abstract class cannot be instantiated. Abstract methods may only be included in abstract classes. However, an abstract class is not required to have any abstract methods, though most of them do. Each subclass of an abstract class must override the abstract methods of its superclasses or it also should be declared abstract.

126. What is a transient variable?

Transient variable is a variable that may not be serialized.

127. How does Java handle integer overflows and underflows?

It uses those low order bytes of the result that can fit into the size of the type allowed by the operation.

128. What is the difference between the >> and >>> operators?

The >> operator carries the sign bit when shifting right. The >>> zero-fills bits that have been shifted out.

129. Is sizeof a keyword?

The sizeof operator is not a keyword.

JAVA BASICS

1. What is the difference between a constructor and a method?

A constructor is a member function of a class that is used to create objects of that class. It has the same name as the class itself, has no return type, and is invoked using the new operator.

A method is an ordinary member function of a class. It has its own name, a return type (which may be void), and is invoked using the dot operator.

2. What is the purpose of garbage collection in Java, and when is it used?

The purpose of garbage collection is to identify and discard objects that are no longer needed by a program so that their resources can be reclaimed and reused.

A Java object is subject to garbage collection when it becomes unreachable to the program in which it is used.

3. Describe synchronization in respect to multithreading.

With respect to multithreading, synchronization is the capability to control the access of multiple threads to shared resources.

Without synchonization, it is possible for one thread to modify a shared variable while another thread is in the process of using or updating same shared variable. This usually leads to significant errors.

4. What is an abstract class?

Abstract class must be extended/subclassed (to be useful). It serves as a template. A class that is abstract may not be instantiated (ie. you may not call its constructor), abstract class may contain static data.

Any class with an abstract method is automatically abstract itself, and must be declared as such. A class may be declared abstract even if it has no abstract methods. This prevents it from being instantiated.

5. What is the difference between an Interface and an Abstract class?

An abstract class can have instance methods that implement a default behavior. An Interface can only declare constants and instance methods, but cannot implement default behavior and all methods are implicitly abstract.

An interface has all public members and no implementation. An abstract class is a class which may have the usual flavors of class members (private, protected, etc.), but has some abstract methods.

6. Explain different way of using thread?

The thread could be implemented by using runnable interface or by inheriting from the Thread class. The former is more advantageous, 'cause when you are going for multiple inheritance, the only interface can help.

7. What is an Iterator?

Some of the collection classes provide traversal of their contents via a java.util.Iterator interface. This interface allows you to walk through a collection of objects, operating on each object in turn.

Remember when using Iterators that they contain a snapshot of the collection at the time the Iterator was obtained; generally it is not advisable to modify the collection itself while traversing an Iterator.

8. State the significance of public, private, protected, default modifiers both singly and in combination and state the effect of package relationships on declared items qualified by these modifiers.

public: Public class is visible in other packages, field is visible everywhere (class must be public too)

private : Private variables or methods may be used only by an instance of the same class that declares the variable or method, A private feature may only be accessed by the class that owns the feature.

protected : Is available to all classes in the same package and also available to all subclasses of the class that owns the protected feature. This access is provided even to subclasses that reside in a different package from the class that owns the protected feature.

What you get by default ie, without any access modifier (ie, public private or protected). It means that it is visible to all within a particular package.

9. What is static in java?

Static means one per class, not one for each object no matter how many instance of a class might exist. This means that you can use them without creating an instance of a class.Static methods are implicitly final, because overriding is done based on the type of the object, and static methods are attached to a class, not an object.

A static method in a superclass can be shadowed by another static method in a subclass, as long as the original method was not declared final. However, you can't override a static method with a nonstatic method. In other words, you can't change a static method into an instance method in a subclass.

10. What is final class?

A final class can't be extended ie., final class may not be subclassed. A final method can't be overridden when its class is inherited. You can't change value of a final variable (is a constant).

11. What if the main() method is declared as private?

The program compiles properly but at runtime it will give "main() method not public." message.

12. What if the static modifier is removed from the signature of the main() method?

Program compiles. But at runtime throws an error "NoSuchMethodError".

13. What if I write static public void instead of public static void?

Program compiles and runs properly.

14. What if I do not provide the String array as the argument to the method?

Program compiles but throws a runtime error "NoSuchMethodError".

15. What is the first argument of the String array in main() method?

The String array is empty. It does not have any element. This is unlike C/C++ where the first element by default is the program name.

16. If I do not provide any arguments on the command line, then the String array of main() method will be empty or null?

It is empty. But not null.

17. How can one prove that the array is not null but empty using one line of code?

Print args.length. It will print 0. That means it is empty. But if it would have been null then it would have thrown a NullPointerException on attempting to print args.length.

18. What environment variables do I need to set on my machine in order to be able to run Java programs?

CLASSPATH and PATH are the two variables.

19. Can an application have multiple classes having main() method?

Yes it is possible. While starting the application we mention the class name to be run. The JVM will look for the Main method only in the class whose name you have mentioned.

Hence there is not conflict amongst the multiple classes having main() method.

20. Can I have multiple main() methods in the same class?

No the program fails to compile. The compiler says that the main() method is already defined in the class.

21. Do I need to import java.lang package any time? Why ?

No. It is by default loaded internally by the JVM.

22. Can I import same package/class twice? Will the JVM load the package twice at runtime?

One can import the same package or same class multiple times. Neither compiler nor JVM complains about it. And the JVM will internally load the class only once no matter how many times you import the same class.

23. What are Checked and UnChecked Exception?

A checked exception is some subclass of Exception (or Exception itself), excluding class RuntimeException and its subclasses. Making an exception checked forces client programmers to deal with the possibility that the exception will be thrown.

Example: IOException thrown by java.io.FileInputStream's read() method·

Unchecked exceptions are RuntimeException and any of its subclasses. Class Error and its subclasses also are unchecked. With an unchecked exception, however, the compiler doesn't force client programmers either to catch the exception or declare it in a throws clause. In fact, client programmers may not even know that the exception could be thrown.

Example: StringIndexOutOfBoundsException thrown by String's charAt() method· Checked exceptions must be caught at compile time. Runtime exceptions do not need to be. Errors often cannot be.

24. What is Overriding?

When a class defines a method using the same name, return type, and arguments as a method in its superclass, the method in the class overrides the method in the superclass.

When the method is invoked for an object of the class, it is the new definition of the method that is called, and not the method definition from superclass. Methods may be overridden to be more public, not more private.

25. Are the imports checked for validity at compile time? Example: will the code containing an import such as java.lang.ABCD compile?

Yes the imports are checked for the semantic validity at compile time. The code containing above line of import will not compile. It will throw an error saying, can not resolve symbol

symbol : class ABCD

location: package io

import java.io.ABCD;

26. Does importing a package imports the subpackages as well? Example: Does importing com.MyTest.* also import com.MyTest.UnitTests.*?

No you will have to import the subpackages explicitly. Importing com.MyTest.* will import classes in the package MyTest only. It will not import any class in any of it's subpackage.

27. What is the difference between declaring a variable and defining a variable?

In declaration we just mention the type of the variable and it's name. We do not initialize it. But defining means declaration + initialization.

Example: String s; is just a declaration while String s = new String ("abcd"); Or String s = "abcd"; are both definitions.

28. What is the default value of an object reference declared as an instance variable?

The default value will be null unless we define it explicitly.

29. Can a top level class be private or protected?

No. A top level class cannot be private or protected. It can have either "public" or no modifier. If it does not have a modifier it is supposed to have a default access.

If a top level class is declared as private the compiler will complain that the "modifier private is not allowed here". This means that a top level class can not be private. Same is the case with protected.

30. What type of parameter passing does Java support?

In Java the arguments are always passed by value.

31. Primitive data types are passed by reference or pass by value?

Primitive data types are passed by value.

32. Objects are passed by value or by reference?

Java only supports pass by value. With objects, the object reference itself is passed by value and so both the original reference and parameter copy both refer to the same object.

33. What is serialization?

Serialization is a mechanism by which you can save the state of an object by converting it to a byte stream.

34. How do I serialize an object to a file?

The class whose instances are to be serialized should implement an interface Serializable. Then you pass the instance to the ObjectOutputStream which is connected to a fileoutputstream. This will save the object to a file.

35. Which methods of Serializable interface should I implement?

The serializable interface is an empty interface, it does not contain any methods. So we do not implement any methods.

36. How can I customize the seralization process? i.e. how can one have a control over the serialization process?

Yes it is possible to have control over serialization process. The class should implement Externalizable interface. This interface contains two methods namely readExternal and writeExternal.

You should implement these methods and write the logic for customizing the serialization process.

37. What is the common usage of serialization?

Whenever an object is to be sent over the network, objects need to be serialized. Moreover if the state of an object is to be saved, objects need to be serilazed.

38. What is Externalizable interface?

Externalizable is an interface which contains two methods readExternal and writeExternal. These methods give you a control over the serialization mechanism.

Thus if your class implements this interface, you can customize the serialization process by implementing these methods.

39. When you serialize an object, what happens to the object references included in the object?

The serialization mechanism generates an object graph for serialization. Thus it determines whether the included object references are serializable or not. This is a recursive process.

Thus when an object is serialized, all the included objects are also serialized alongwith the original obect.

40. What one should take care of while serializing the object?

One should make sure that all the included objects are also serializable. If any of the objects is not serializable then it throws a NotSerializableException.

41. What happens to the static fields of a class during serialization?

There are three exceptions in which serialization doesnot necessarily read and write to the stream. These are

1. Serialization ignores static fields, because they are not part of ay particular state state.

2. Base class fields are only hendled if the base class itself is serializable.

3. Transient fields.

42. Does Java provide any construct to find out the size of an object?

No, there is not sizeof operator in Java. So there is not direct way to determine the size of an object directly in Java.

43. What are wrapper classes?

Java provides specialized classes corresponding to each of the primitive data types. These are called wrapper classes.

They are example: Integer, Character, Double etc.

44. Why do we need wrapper classes?

It is sometimes easier to deal with primitives as objects. Moreover most of the collection classes store objects and not primitive data types. And also the wrapper classes provide many utility methods also.

Because of these resons we need wrapper classes. And since we create instances of these classes we can store them in any of the collection classes and pass them around as a collection. Also we can pass them around as method parameters where a method expects an object.

45. What are checked exceptions?

Checked exception are those which the Java compiler forces you to catch.

Example: IOException are checked exceptions.

46. What are runtime exceptions?

Runtime exceptions are those exceptions that are thrown at runtime because of either wrong input data or because of wrong business logic etc. These are not checked by the compiler at compile time.

47. What is the difference between error and an exception?

An error is an irrecoverable condition occurring at runtime. Such as OutOfMemory error.

These JVM errors and you can not repair them at runtime. While exceptions are conditions that occur because of bad input etc. Example: FileNotFoundException will be thrown if the specified file does not exist. Or a NullPointerException will take place if you try using a null reference.

In most of the cases it is possible to recover from an exception (probably by giving user a feedback for entering proper values etc.).

48. How to create custom exceptions?

Your class should extend class Exception, or some more specific type thereof.

49. If I want an object of my class to be thrown as an exception object, what should I do?

The class should extend from Exception class. Or you can extend your class from some more precise exception type also.

50. If my class already extends from some other class what should I do if I want an instance of my class to be thrown as an exception object?

One can not do anytihng in this scenarion. Because Java does not allow multiple inheritance and does not provide any exception interface as well.

51. How does an exception permeate through the code?

An unhandled exception moves up the method stack in search of a matching When an exception is thrown from a code which is wrapped in a try block followed by one or more catch blocks, a search is made for matching catch block. If a matching type is found then that block will be invoked. If a matching type is not found then the exception moves up the method stack and reaches the caller method.

Same procedure is repeated if the caller method is included in a try catch block. This process continues until a catch block handling the appropriate type of exception is found. If it does not find such a block then finally the program terminates.

52. What are the different ways to handle exceptions?

There are two ways to handle exceptions,

1. By wrapping the desired code in a try block followed by a catch block to catch the exceptions. and

2. List the desired exceptions in the throws clause of the method and let the caller of the method hadle those exceptions.

53. Is it necessary that each try block must be followed by a catch block?

It is not necessary that each try block must be followed by a catch block. It should be followed by either a catch block or a finally block. And whatever exceptions are likely to be thrown should be declared in the throws clause of the method.

54. If I write return at the end of the try block, will the finally block still execute?

Yes even if you write return as the last statement in the try block and no exception occurs, the finally block will execute. The finally block will execute and then the control return.

55. If I write System.exit(0); at the end of the try block, will the finally block still execute?

No. In this case the finally block will not execute because when you say System.exit(0); the control immediately goes out of the program, and thus finally never executes.

56. How are Observer and Observable used?

Objects that subclass the Observable class maintain a list of observers. When an Observable object is updated it invokes the update() method of each of its observers to notify the observers that it has changed state. The Observer interface is implemented by objects that observe Observable objects.

57. What is synchronization and why is it important?

With respect to multithreading, synchronization is the capability to control the access of multiple threads to shared resources.

Without synchronization, it is possible for one thread to modify a shared object while another thread is in the process of using or updating that object's value. This often leads to significant errors.

58. How does Java handle integer overflows and underflows?

It uses those low order bytes of the result that can fit into the size of the type allowed by the operation.

59. Does garbage collection guarantee that a program will not run out of memory?

Garbage collection does not guarantee that a program will not run out of memory. It is possible for programs to use up memory resources faster than they are garbage collected. It is also possible for programs to create objects that are not subject to garbage collection.

60. What is the difference between preemptive scheduling and time slicing?

Under preemptive scheduling, the highest priority task executes until it enters the waiting or dead states or a higher priority task comes into existence.

Under time slicing, a task executes for a predefined slice of time and then reenters the pool of ready tasks. The scheduler then determines which task should execute next, based on priority and other factors.

61. When a thread is created and started, what is its initial state?

A thread is in the ready state after it has been created and started.

62. What is the purpose of finalization?

The purpose of finalization is to give an unreachable object the opportunity to perform any cleanup processing before the object is garbage collected.

63. What is the Locale class?

The Locale class is used to tailor program output to the conventions of a particular geographic, political, or cultural region.

64. What is the difference between a while statement and a do statement?

A while statement checks at the beginning of a loop to see whether the next loop iteration should occur.

A do statement checks at the end of a loop to see whether the next iteration of a loop should occur. The do statement will always execute the body of a loop at least once.

65. What is the difference between static and non-static variables?

A static variable is associated with the class as a whole rather than with specific instances of a class. Non-static variables take on unique values with each object instance.

66. How are this() and super() used with constructors?

this() is used to invoke a constructor of the same class. super() is used to invoke a superclass constructor.

67. What is daemon thread and which method is used to create the daemon thread?

Daemon thread is a low priority thread which runs intermittently in the back ground doing the garbage collection operation for the java runtime system.setDaemon method is used to create a daemon thread.

68. Can applets communicate with each other?

At this point in time applets may communicate with other applets running in the same virtual machine. If the applets are of the same class, they can communicate via shared static variables. If the applets are of different classes, then each will need a reference to the same class with static variables. In any case the basic idea is to pass the information back and forth through a static variable.

An applet can also get references to all other applets on the same page using the getApplets() method of java.applet.AppletContext. Once you get the reference to an applet, you can communicate with it by using its public members.

It is conceivable to have applets in different virtual machines that talk to a server somewhere on the Internet and store any data that needs to be serialized there. Then, when another applet needs this data, it could connect to this same server. Implementing this is non-trivial.

69. What are the steps in the JDBC connection?

While making a JDBC connection we go through the following steps :

Step 1 : Register the database driver by using :

Class.forName(\" driver classs for that specific database\" );

Step 2 : Now create a database connection using :

Connection con = DriverManager.getConnection(url,username,password);

Step 3: Now Create a query using :

Statement stmt = Connection.Statement(\"select * from TABLE NAME\");

Step 4 : Exceute the query :

stmt.exceuteUpdate();

70. How does a try statement determine which catch clause should be used to handle an exception?

When an exception is thrown within the body of a try statement, the catch clauses of the try statement are examined in the order in which they appear. The first catch clause that is capable of handling the exceptionis executed. The remaining catch clauses are ignored.

71. Can an unreachable object become reachable again?

An unreachable object may become reachable again. This can happen when the object's finalize() method is invoked and the object performs an operation which causes it to become accessible to reachable objects.

72. What method must be implemented by all threads?

All tasks must implement the run() method, whether they are a subclass of Thread or implement the Runnable interface.

73. What are synchronized methods and synchronized statements?

Synchronized methods are methods that are used to control access to an object. A thread only executes a synchronized method after it has acquired the lock for the method's object or class.

Synchronized statements are similar to synchronized methods. A synchronized statement can only be executed after a thread has acquired the lock for the object or class referenced in the synchronized statement.

74. What is Externalizable?

Externalizable is an Interface that extends Serializable Interface. And sends data into Streams in Compressed Format. It has two methods, writeExternal(ObjectOuput out) and readExternal(ObjectInput in).

75. What modifiers are allowed for methods in an Interface?

Only public and abstract modifiers are allowed for methods in interfaces.

76. What are some alternatives to inheritance?

Delegation is an alternative to inheritance.

Delegation means that you include an instance of another class as an instance variable, and forward messages to the instance. It is often safer than inheritance because it forces you to think about each message you forward, because the instance is of a known class, rather than a new class, and because it doesn't force you to accept all the methods of the super class: you can provide only the methods that really make sense. On the other hand, it makes you write more code, and it is harder to re-use (because it is not a subclass).

77. What does it mean that a method or field is "static"?

Static variables and methods are instantiated only once per class. In other words they are class variables, not instance variables. If you change the value of a static variable in a particular object, the value of that variable changes for all instances of that class.

Static methods can be referenced with the name of the class rather than the name of a particular object of the class (though that works too). That's how library methods like System.out.println() work out is a static field in the java.lang.System class.

78. What is the difference between preemptive scheduling and time slicing?

Under preemptive scheduling, the highest priority task executes until it enters the waiting or dead states or a higher priority task comes into existence. Under time slicing, a task executes for a predefined slice of time and then reenters the pool of ready tasks.

The scheduler then determines which task should execute next, based on priority and other factors.

79. What is the catch or declare rule for method declarations?

If a checked exception may be thrown within the body of a method, the method must either catch the exception or declare it in its throws clause.

80. Is Empty .java file a valid source file?

Yes. An empty .java file is a perfectly valid source file.

81. Can a .java file contain more than one java classes?

Yes. A .java file contain more than one java classes, provided at the most one of them is a public class.

82. Is String a primitive data type in Java?

No. String is not a primitive data type in Java, even though it is one of the most extensively used object. Strings in Java are instances of String class defined in java.lang package.

83. Is main a keyword in Java?

No. main is not a keyword in Java.

84. Is next a keyword in Java?

No. next is not a keyword.

85. Is delete a keyword in Java?

No. delete is not a keyword in Java. Java does not make use of explicit destructors the way C++ does.

86. Is exit a keyword in Java?

No. To exit a program explicitly you use exit method in System object.

87. What happens if you dont initialize an instance variable of any of the primitive types in Java?

Java by default initializes it to the default value for that primitive type. Thus an int will be initialized to 0(zero), a boolean will be initialized to false.

88. What will be the initial value of an object reference which is defined as an instance variable?

The object references are all initialized to null in Java. However in order to do anything useful with these references, you must set them to a valid object, else you will get NullPointerExceptions everywhere you try to use such default initialized references.

89. What are the different scopes for Java variables?

The scope of a Java variable is determined by the context in which the variable is declared. Thus a java variable can have one of the three scopes at any given point in time.

1. Instance : - These are typical object level variables, they are initialized to default values at the time of creation of object, and remain accessible as long as the object accessible.

2. Local : - These are the variables that are defined within a method. They remain accessbile only during the course of method excecution. When the method finishes execution, these variables fall out of scope.

3. Static: - These are the class level variables. They are initialized when the class is loaded in JVM for the first time and remain there as long as the class remains loaded. They are not tied to any particular object instance.

90. What is the default value of the local variables?

The local variables are not initialized to any default value, neither primitives nor object references. If you try to use these variables without initializing them explicitly, the java compiler will not compile the code. It will complain abt the local varaible not being initilized.

91. How many objects are created in the following piece of code?MyClass c1, c2, c3;c1 = new MyClass ();c3 = new MyClass ();

Only 2 objects are created, c1 and c3. The reference c2 is only declared and not initialized.

92. Can a public class MyClass be defined in a source file named YourClass.java?

No. The source file name, if it contains a public class, must be the same as the public class name itself with a .java extension.

93. Can main() method be declared final?

Yes, the main() method can be declared final, in addition to being public static.

94. What is HashMap and Map?

Map is an Interface and Hashmap is the class that implements Map.

95. Difference between HashMap and HashTable?

The HashMap class is roughly equivalent to Hashtable, except that it is unsynchronized and permits nulls. (HashMap allows null values as key and value whereas Hashtable doesnt allow).

HashMap does not guarantee that the order of the map will remain constant over time. HashMap is unsynchronized and Hashtable is synchronized.

96. Difference between Vector and ArrayList?

Vector is synchronized whereas arraylist is not.

97. Difference between Swing and Awt?

AWT are heavy-weight componenets. Swings are light-weight components. Hence swing works faster than AWT.

98. What will be the default values of all the elements of an array defined as an instance variable?

If the array is an array of primitive types, then all the elements of the array will be initialized to the default value corresponding to that primitive type.

Example: All the elements of an array of int will be initialized to 0(zero), while that of boolean type will be initialized to false. Whereas if the array is an array of references (of any type), all the elements will be initialized to null.

ADVANCED JAVA

. What is a transient variable?

A transient variable is a variable that may not be serialized.

2. Which containers use a border Layout as their default layout?

The Window, Frame and Dialog classes use a border layout as their default layout.

3. Why do threads block on I/O?

Threads block on I/O (that is enters the waiting state) so that other threads may execute while the I/O Operation is performed.

4. How are Observer and Observable used?

Objects that subclass the Observable class maintain a list of observers. When an Observable object is updated it invokes the update() method of each of its observers to notify the observers that it has changed state. The Observer interface is implemented by objects that observe Observable objects.

5. What is synchronization and why is it important?

With respect to multithreading, synchronization is the capability to control the access of multiple threads to shared resources. Without synchronization, it is possible for one thread to modify a shared object while another thread is in the process of using or updating that object's value. This often leads to significant errors.

6. Can a lock be acquired on a class?

Yes, a lock can be acquired on a class. This lock is acquired on the class's Class object..

7. What's new with the stop(), suspend() and resume() methods in JDK 1.2?

The stop(), suspend() and resume() methods have been deprecated in JDK 1.2.

8. Is null a keyword?

The null is not a keyword.

9. What is the preferred size of a component?

The preferred size of a component is the minimum component size that will allow the component to display normally.

10. What method is used to specify a container's layout?

The setLayout() method is used to specify a container's layout.

11. Which containers use a FlowLayout as their default layout?

The Panel and Applet classes use the FlowLayout as their default layout.

12. What state does a thread enter when it terminates its processing?

When a thread terminates its processing, it enters the dead state.

13. What is the Collections API?

The Collections API is a set of classes and interfaces that support operations on collections of objects.

14. Which characters may be used as the second character of an identifier, but not as the first character of an identifier?

The digits 0 through 9 may not be used as the first character of an identifier but they may be used after the first character of an identifier.

15. What is the List interface?

The List interface provides support for ordered collections of objects.

16. How does Java handle integer overflows and underflows?

It uses those low order bytes of the result that can fit into the size of the type allowed by the operation.

17. What is the Vector class?

The Vector class provides the capability to implement a growable array of objects

18. What modifiers may be used with an inner class that is a member of an outer class?

A (non-local) inner class may be declared as public, protected, private, static, final, or abstract

19. What is an Iterator interface?

The Iterator interface is used to step through the elements of a Collection.

20. What is the difference between the >> and >>> operators?

The >> operator carries the sign bit when shifting right. The >>> zero-fills bits that have been shifted out.

21. Which method of the Component class is used to set the position and size of a component?

setBounds() method is used to set the position and size of a component.

22. What is the difference between yielding and sleeping?

When a task invokes its yield() method, it returns to the ready state. When a task invokes its sleep() method, it returns to the waiting state.

23. Which java.util classes and interfaces support event handling?

The EventObject class and the EventListener interface support event processing.

24. Is sizeof a keyword?

The sizeof operator is not a keyword

25. What are wrapped classes?

Wrapped classes are classes that allow primitive types to be accessed as objects.

26. Does garbage collection guarantee that a program will not run out of memory?

Garbage collection does not guarantee that a program will not run out of memory. It is possible for programs to use up memory resources faster than they are garbage collected. It is also possible for programs to create objects that are not subject to garbage collection.

27. What restrictions are placed on the location of a package statement within a source code file?

A package statement must appear as the first line in a source code file (excluding blank lines and comments).

28. Can an object's finalize() method be invoked while it is reachable?

An object's finalize() method cannot be invoked by the garbage collector while the object is still reachable. However, an object's finalize() method may be invoked by other objects.

29. What is the immediate superclass of the Applet class?

Panel.

30. What is the difference between preemptive scheduling and time slicing?

Under preemptive scheduling, the highest priority task executes until it enters the waiting or dead states or a higher priority task comes into existence. Under time slicing, a task executes for a predefined slice of time and then reenters the pool of ready tasks.

The scheduler then determines which task should execute next, based on priority and other factors.

31. Name three Component subclasses that support painting.

The Canvas, Frame, Panel, and Applet classes support painting.

32. What value does readLine() return when it has reached the end of a file?

The readLine() method returns null when it has reached the end of a file.

33. What is the immediate superclass of the Dialog class?

Window.

34. What is clipping?

Clipping is the process of confining paint operations to a limited area or shape.

35. What is a native method?

A native method is a method that is implemented in a language other than Java.

36. Can a for statement loop indefinitely?

Yes, a for statement can loop indefinitely. For example, consider the following:

for(;;) ;

37. What are order of precedence and associativity, and how are they used?

Order of precedence determines the order in which operators are evaluated in expressions.

Associatity determines whether an expression is evaluated left-to-right or right-to-left.

38. When a thread blocks on I/O, what state does it enter?

A thread enters the waiting state when it blocks on I/O.

39. To what value is a variable of the String type automatically initialized?

The default value of an String type is null.

40. What is the catch or declare rule for method declarations?

If a checked exception may be thrown within the body of a method, the method must either catch the exception or declare it in its throws clause.

41. What is the difference between a MenuItem and a CheckboxMenuItem?

The CheckboxMenuItem class extends the MenuItem class to support a menu item that may be checked or unchecked.

42. What is a task's priority and how is it used in scheduling?

A task's priority is an integer value that identifies the relative order in which it should be executed with respect to other tasks. The scheduler attempts to schedule higher priority tasks before lower priority tasks.

43. What class is the top of the AWT event hierarchy?

The java.awt.AWTEvent class is the highest-level class in the AWT event-class hierarchy.

44. When a thread is created and started, what is its initial state?

A thread is in the ready state after it has been created and started.

45. Can an anonymous class be declared as implementing an interface and extending a class?

An anonymous class may implement an interface or extend a superclass, but may not be declared to do both.

46. What is the immediate superclass of Menu?

MenuItem.

47. What is the purpose of finalization?

The purpose of finalization is to give an unreachable object the opportunity to perform any cleanup processing before the object is garbage collected.

48. Which class is the immediate superclass of the MenuComponent class?

Object.

49. What invokes a thread's run() method?

After a thread is started, via its start() method or that of the Thread class, the JVM invokes the thread's run() method when the thread is initially executed.

50. What is the difference between the Boolean & operator and the && operator?

If an expression involving the Boolean & operator is evaluated, both operands are evaluated. Then the & operator is applied to the operand. When an expression involving the && operator is evaluated, the first operand is evaluated.

If the first operand returns a value of true then the second operand is evaluated. The && operator is then applied to the first and second operands. If the first operand evaluates to false, the evaluation of the second operand is skipped.

51. Name three subclasses of the Component class.

Box.Filler, Button, Canvas, Checkbox, Choice, Container, Label, List, Scrollbar, or TextComponent.

52. What is the GregorianCalendar class?

The GregorianCalendar class provides support for traditional Western calendars.

53. Which Container method is used to cause a container to be laid out and redisplayed?

validate() method is used to cause a container to be laid out and redisplayed.

54. What is the purpose of the Runtime class?

The purpose of the Runtime class is to provide access to the Java runtime system.

55. How many times may an object's finalize() method be invoked by the garbage collector?

An object's finalize() method may only be invoked once by the garbage collector.

56. What is the purpose of the finally clause of a try-catch-finally statement?

The finally clause is used to provide the capability to execute code no matter whether or not an exception is thrown or caught.

57. What is the argument type of a program's main() method?

A program's main() method takes an argument of the String[] type.

58. Which Java operator is right associative?

The = operator is right associative.

59. Can a double value be cast to a byte?

Yes, a double value can be cast to a byte.

60. What must a class do to implement an interface?

It must provide all of the methods in the interface and identify the interface in its implements clause.

61. What method is invoked to cause an object to begin executing as a separate thread?

The start() method of the Thread class is invoked to cause an object to begin executing as a separate thread.

62. Name two subclasses of the TextComponent class.

TextField and TextArea.

63. Which containers may have a MenuBar?

Frame.

64. How are commas used in the intialization and iteration parts of a for statement?

Commas are used to separate multiple statements within the initialization and iteration parts of a for statement.

65. What is the purpose of the wait(), notify(), and notifyAll() methods?

The wait(), notify(), and notifyAll() methods are used to provide an efficient way for threads to wait for a shared resource. When a thread executes an object's wait() method, it enters the waiting state. It only enters the ready state after another thread invokes the object's notify() or notifyAll() methods..

66. What is an abstract method?

An abstract method is a method whose implementation is deferred to a subclass.

67. How are Java source code files named?

A Java source code file takes the name of a public class or interface that is defined within the file. A source code file may contain at most one public class or interface. If a public class or interface is defined within a source code file, then the source code file must take the name of the public class or interface.

If no public class or interface is defined within a source code file, then the file must take on a name that is different than its classes and interfaces. Source code files use the .java extension.

68. What is the relationship between the Canvas class and the Graphics class?

A Canvas object provides access to a Graphics object via its paint() method.

69. What are the high-level thread states?

The high-level thread states are ready, running, waiting, and dead.

70. What value does read() return when it has reached the end of a file?

The read() method returns -1 when it has reached the end of a file.

71. Can a Byte object be cast to a double value?

No. An object cannot be cast to a primitive value.

72. What is the difference between a static and a non-static inner class?

A non-static inner class may have object instances that are associated with instances of the class's outer class.

A static inner class does not have any object instances.

73. What is the difference between the String and StringBuffer classes?

String objects are constants. StringBuffer objects are not constants.

74. If a variable is declared as private, where may the variable be accessed?

A private variable may only be accessed within the class in which it is declared.

75. What is an object's lock and which object's have locks?

An object's lock is a mechanism that is used by multiple threads to obtain synchronized access to the object. A thread may execute a synchronized method of an object only after it has acquired the object's lock.

All objects and classes have locks. A class's lock is acquired on the class's Class object.

76. What is the Dictionary class?

The Dictionary class provides the capability to store key-value pairs.

77. How are the elements of a BorderLayout organized?

The elements of a BorderLayout are organized at the borders (North, South, East, and West) and the center of a container.

78. What is the % operator?

It is referred to as the modulo or remainder operator. It returns the remainder of dividing the first operand by the second operand.

79. When can an object reference be cast to an interface reference?

An object reference be cast to an interface reference when the object implements the referenced interface.

80. What is the difference between a Window and a Frame?

The Frame class extends Window to define a main application window that can have a menu bar.

81. Which class is extended by all other classes?

The Object class is extended by all other classes.

82. Can an object be garbage collected while it is still reachable?

A reachable object cannot be garbage collected. Only unreachable objects may be garbage collected..

83. Is the ternary operator written x : y ? z or x ? y : z ?

It is written x ? y : z.

84. What is the difference between the Font and FontMetrics classes?

The FontMetrics class is used to define implementation-specific properties, such as ascent and descent, of a Font object.

85. How is rounding performed under integer division?

The fractional part of the result is truncated. This is known as rounding toward zero.

86. What happens when a thread cannot acquire a lock on an object?

If a thread attempts to execute a synchronized method or synchronized statement and is unable to acquire an object's lock, it enters the waiting state until the lock becomes available.

87. What is the difference between the Reader/Writer class hierarchy and the InputStream/OutputStream class hierarchy?

The Reader/Writer class hierarchy is character-oriented, and the InputStream/OutputStream class hierarchy is byte-oriented.

88. What classes of exceptions may be caught by a catch clause?

A catch clause can catch any exception that may be assigned to the Throwable type. This includes the Error and Exception types.

89. If a class is declared without any access modifiers, where may the class be accessed?

A class that is declared without any access modifiers is said to have package access. This means that the class can only be accessed by other classes and interfaces that are defined within the same package.

90. What is the SimpleTimeZone class?

The SimpleTimeZone class provides support for a Gregorian calendar.

91. What is the Map interface?

The Map interface replaces the JDK 1.1 Dictionary class and is used associate keys with values.

92. Does a class inherit the constructors of its superclass?

A class does not inherit constructors from any of its superclasses.

93. For which statements does it make sense to use a label?

The only statements for which it makes sense to use a label are those statements that can enclose a break or continue statement.

94. What is the purpose of the System class?

The purpose of the System class is to provide access to system resources.

95. Which TextComponent method is used to set a TextComponent to the read-only state?

setEditable().

96. How are the elements of a CardLayout organized?

The elements of a CardLayout are stacked, one on top of the other, like a deck of cards.

97. Is &&= a valid Java operator?

No. It is not a valid java operator.

98. Name the eight primitive Java types.

The eight primitive types are byte, char, short, int, long, float, double, and boolean.

99. Which class should you use to obtain design information about an object?

The Class class is used to obtain information about an object's design.

100. What is the relationship between clipping and repainting?

When a window is repainted by the AWT painting thread, it sets the clipping regions to the area of the window that requires repainting.

101. Is "abc" a primitive value?

The String literal "abc" is not a primitive value. It is a String object.

102. What is the relationship between an event-listener interface and an event-adapter class?

An event-listener interface defines the methods that must be implemented by an event handler for a particular kind of event.

An event adapter provides a default implementation of an event-listener interface.

103. What restrictions are placed on the values of each case of a switch statement?

During compilation, the values of each case of a switch statement must evaluate to a value that can be promoted to an int value.

104. What modifiers may be used with an interface declaration?

An interface may be declared as public or abstract.

105. Is a class a subclass of itself?

A class is a subclass of itself.

106. What is the highest-level event class of the event-delegation model?

The java.util.EventObject class is the highest-level class in the event-delegation class hierarchy.

107. What event results from the clicking of a button?

The ActionEvent event is generated as the result of the clicking of a button.

108. How can a GUI component handle its own events?

A component can handle its own events by implementing the required event-listener interface and adding itself as its own event listener.

109. How are the elements of a GridBagLayout organized?

The elements of a GridBagLayout are organized according to a grid. However, the elements are of different sizes and may occupy more than one row or column of the grid. In addition, the rows and columns may have different sizes.

110. What advantage do Java's layout managers provide over traditional windowing systems?

Java uses layout managers to lay out components in a consistent manner across all windowing platforms. Since Java's layout managers aren't tied to absolute sizing and positioning, they are able to accomodate platform-specific differences among windowing systems.

111. What is the Collection interface?

The Collection interface provides support for the implementation of a mathematical bag - an unordered collection of objects that may contain duplicates.

112. What modifiers can be used with a local inner class?

A local inner class may be final or abstract.

113. What is the difference between static and non-static variables?

A static variable is associated with the class as a whole rather than with specific instances of a class.

Non-static variables take on unique values with each object instance.

114. What is the difference between the paint() and repaint() methods?

The paint() method supports painting via a Graphics object. The repaint() method is used to cause paint() to be invoked by the AWT painting thread.

115. What is the purpose of the File class?

The File class is used to create objects that provide access to the files and directories of a local file system.

116. Can an exception be rethrown?

Yes, an exception can be rethrown.

117. Which Math method is used to calculate the absolute value of a number?

The abs() method is used to calculate absolute values.

118. How does multithreading take place on a computer with a single CPU?

The operating system's task scheduler allocates execution time to multiple tasks. By quickly switching between executing tasks, it creates the impression that tasks execute sequentially.

119. When does the compiler supply a default constructor for a class?

The compiler supplies a default constructor for a class if no other constructors are provided.

120. When is the finally clause of a try-catch-finally statement executed?

The finally clause of the try-catch-finally statement is always executed unless the thread of execution terminates or an exception occurs within the execution of the finally clause.

121. Which class is the immediate superclass of the Container class?

Component.

122. If a method is declared as protected, where may the method be accessed?

A protected method may only be accessed by classes or interfaces of the same package or by subclasses of the class in which it is declared.

123. How can the Checkbox class be used to create a radio button?

By associating Checkbox objects with a CheckboxGroup.

124. Which non-Unicode letter characters may be used as the first character of an identifier?

The non-Unicode letter characters $ and _ may appear as the first character of an identifier

125. What restrictions are placed on method overloading?

Two methods may not have the same name and argument list but different return types.

126. What happens when you invoke a thread's interrupt method while it is sleeping or waiting?

When a task's interrupt() method is executed, the task enters the ready state. The next time the task enters the running state, an InterruptedException is thrown.

127. What is casting?

There are two types of casting, casting between primitive numeric types and casting between object references.

Casting between numeric types is used to convert larger values, such as double values, to smaller values, such as byte values.

Casting between object references is used to refer to an object by a compatible class, interface, or array type reference.

128. What is the return type of a program's main() method?

A program's main() method has a void return type.

129. Name four Container classes.

Window, Frame, Dialog, FileDialog, Panel, Applet, or ScrollPane.

130. What is the difference between a Choice and a List?

A Choice is displayed in a compact form that requires you to pull it down to see the list of available choices. Only one item may be selected from a Choice.

A List may be displayed in such a way that several List items are visible. A List supports the selection of one or more List items.

131. What class of exceptions are generated by the Java run-time system?

The Java runtime system generates RuntimeException and Error exceptions.

132. What class allows you to read objects directly from a stream?

The ObjectInputStream class supports the reading of objects from input streams.

133. What is the difference between a field variable and a local variable?

A field variable is a variable that is declared as a member of a class.

A local variable is a variable that is declared local to a method.

134. Under what conditions is an object's finalize() method invoked by the garbage collector?

The garbage collector invokes an object's finalize() method when it detects that the object has become unreachable.

135. What is the relationship between a method's throws clause and the exceptions that can be thrown during the method's execution?

A method's throws clause must declare any checked exceptions that are not caught within the body of the method.

136. What is the difference between the JDK 1.02 event model and the event-delegation model introduced with JDK 1.1?

The JDK 1.02 event model uses an event inheritance or bubbling approach. In this model, components are required to handle their own events. If they do not handle a particular event, the event is inherited by (or bubbled up to) the component's container. The container then either handles the event or it is bubbled up to its container and so on, until the highest-level container has been tried.

In the event-delegation model, specific objects are designated as event handlers for GUI components. These objects implement event-listener interfaces. The event-delegation model is more efficient than the event-inheritance model because it eliminates the processing required to support the bubbling of unhandled events.

137. How is it possible for two String objects with identical values not to be equal under the == operator?

The == operator compares two objects to determine if they are the same object in memory. It is possible for two String objects to have the same value, but located indifferent areas of memory.

138. Why are the methods of the Math class static?

So they can be invoked as if they are a mathematical code library.

139. What Checkbox method allows you to tell if a Checkbox is checked?

getState().

140. What state is a thread in when it is executing?

An executing thread is in the running state.

141. What are the legal operands of the instanceof operator?

The left operand is an object reference or null value and the right operand is a class, interface, or array type.

142. How are the elements of a GridBagLayout organized?

The elements of a GridBagLayout are of equal size and are laid out using the squares of a grid.

143. What an I/O filter?

An I/O filter is an object that reads from one stream and writes to another, usually altering the data in some way as it is passed from one stream to another.

144. If an object is garbage collected, can it become reachable again?

Once an object is garbage collected, it ceases to exist. It can no longer become reachable again.

145. What is the Set interface?

The Set interface provides methods for accessing the elements of a finite mathematical set. Sets do not allow duplicate elements.

146. What classes of exceptions may be thrown by a throw statement?

A throw statement may throw any expression that may be assigned to the Throwable type.

147. What are E and PI?

E is the base of the natural logarithm and PI is mathematical value pi.

148. Are true and false keywords?

The values true and false are not keywords.

149. What is a void return type?

A void return type indicates that a method does not return a value.

150. What is the purpose of the enableEvents() method?

The enableEvents() method is used to enable an event for a particular object. Normally, an event is enabled when a listener is added to an object for a particular event.

The enableEvents() method is used by objects that handle events by overriding their event-dispatch methods.

151. What is the difference between the File and RandomAccessFile classes?

The File class encapsulates the files and directories of the local file system.

The RandomAccessFile class provides the methods needed to directly access data contained in any part of a file.

152. What happens when you add a double value to a String?

The result is a String object.

153. What is your platform's default character encoding?

If you are running Java on English Windows platforms, it is probably Cp1252. If you are running Java on English Solaris platforms, it is most likely 8859_1.

154. Which package is always imported by default?

The java.lang package is always imported by default.

155. What interface must an object implement before it can be written to a stream as an object?

An object must implement the Serializable or Externalizable interface before it can be written to a stream as an object.

156. How are this and super used?

this is used to refer to the current object instance.

super is used to refer to the variables and methods of the superclass of the current object instance.

157. What is a compilation unit?

A compilation unit is a Java source code file.

158. What interface is extended by AWT event listeners?

All AWT event listeners extend the java.util.EventListener interface.

159. What restrictions are placed on method overriding?

Overridden methods must have the same name, argument list, and return type.

The overriding method may not limit the access of the method it overrides.

The overriding method may not throw any exceptions that may not be thrown by the overridden method.

160. How can a dead thread be restarted?

A dead thread cannot be restarted.

161. What happens if an exception is not caught?

An uncaught exception results in the uncaughtException() method of the thread's ThreadGroup being invoked, which eventually results in the termination of the program in which it is thrown.

162. What is a layout manager?

A layout manager is an object that is used to organize components in a container.

163. Which arithmetic operations can result in the throwing of an ArithmeticException?

Integer / and % can result in the throwing of an ArithmeticException.

164. What are three ways in which a thread can enter the waiting state?

A thread can enter the waiting state by invoking its sleep() method, by blocking on I/O, by unsuccessfully attempting to acquire an object's lock, or by invoking an object's wait() method. It can also enter the waiting state by invoking its (deprecated) suspend() method.

165. Can an abstract class be final?

An abstract class may not be declared as final.

166. What is the ResourceBundle class?

The ResourceBundle class is used to store locale-specific resources that can be loaded by a program to tailor the program's appearance to the particular locale in which it is being run.

167. What happens if a try-catch-finally statement does not have a catch clause to handle an exception that is thrown within the body of the try statement?

The exception propagates up to the next higher level try-catch statement (if any) or results in the program's termination.

168. What is numeric promotion?

Numeric promotion is the conversion of a smaller numeric type to a larger numeric type, so that integer and floating-point operations may take place. In numerical promotion, byte, char, and short values are converted to int values. The int values are also converted to long values, if necessary. The long and float values are converted to double values, as required.

169. What is the difference between a Scrollbar and a ScrollPane?

A Scrollbar is a Component, but not a Container. A ScrollPane is a Container.

A ScrollPane handles its own events and performs its own scrolling.

170. What is the difference between a public and a non-public class?

A public class may be accessed outside of its package.

A non-public class may not be accessed outside of its package.

171. To what value is a variable of the boolean type automatically initialized?

The default value of the boolean type is false.

172. Can try statements be nested?

Try statements may be tested.

173. What is the difference between the prefix and postfix forms of the ++ operator?

The prefix form performs the increment operation and returns the value of the increment operation.

The postfix form returns the current value all of the expression and then performs the increment operation on that value.

174. What is the purpose of a statement block?

A statement block is used to organize a sequence of statements as a single statement group.

175. What is a Java package and how is it used?

A Java package is a naming context for classes and interfaces. A package is used to create a separate name space for groups of classes and interfaces.

Packages are also used to organize related classes and interfaces into a single API unit and to control accessibility to these classes and interfaces.

176. What modifiers may be used with a top-level class?

A top-level class may be public, abstract, or final.

177. What are the Object and Class classes used for?

The Object class is the highest-level class in the Java class hierarchy. The Class class is used to represent the classes and interfaces that are loaded by a Java program..

178. How does a try statement determine which catch clause should be used to handle an exception?

When an exception is thrown within the body of a try statement, the catch clauses of the try statement are examined in the order in which they appear. The first catch clause that is capable of handling the exception is executed. The remaining catch clauses are ignored.

179. Can an unreachable object become reachable again?

An unreachable object may become reachable again. This can happen when the object's finalize() method is invoked and the object performs an operation which causes it to become accessible to reachable objects.

180. When is an object subject to garbage collection?

An object is subject to garbage collection when it becomes unreachable to the program in which it is used.

181. What method must be implemented by all threads?

All tasks must implement the run() method, whether they are a subclass of Thread or implement the Runnable interface.

182. What methods are used to get and set the text label displayed by a Button object?

getLabel() and setLabel().

183. Which Component subclass is used for drawing and painting?

Canvas.

184. What are synchronized methods and synchronized statements?

Synchronized methods are methods that are used to control access to an object. A thread only executes a synchronized method after it has acquired the lock for the method's object or class.

Synchronized statements are similar to synchronized methods. A synchronized statement can only be executed after a thread has acquired the lock for the object or class referenced in the synchronized statement.

185. What are the two basic ways in which classes that can be run as threads may be defined?

A thread class may be declared as a subclass of Thread, or it may implement the Runnable interface.

186. What are the problems faced by Java programmers who don't use layout managers?

Without layout managers, Java programmers are faced with determining how their GUI will be displayed across multiple windowing systems and finding a common sizing and positioning that will work within the constraints imposed by each windowing system.

NETWORKING :

1. Define Network?

A network is a set of devices connected by physical media links. A network is recursively is a connection of two or more nodes by a physical link or two or more networks connected by one or more nodes.

2. What is a Link?

At the lowest level, a network can consist of two or more computers directly connected by some physical medium such as coaxial cable or optical fiber. Such a physical medium is called as Link.

3. What is a node?

A network can consist of two or more computers directly connected by some physical medium such as coaxial cable or optical fiber. Such a physical medium is called as Links and the computer it connects is called as Nodes.

4. What is a gateway or Router?

A node that is connected to two or more networks is commonly called as router or Gateway. It generally forwards message from one network to another.

5. What is point-point link?

If the physical links are limited to a pair of nodes it is said to be point-point link.

6. What is Multiple Access?

If the physical links are shared by more than two nodes, it is said to be Multiple Access.

7. What are the advantages of Distributed Processing?

a. Security/Encapsulationb. Distributed databasec. Faster Problem solvingd. Security through redundancye. Collaborative Processing

8. What are the criteria necessary for an effective and efficient network?

a. Performance   It can be measured in many ways, including transmit time and response time. b. Reliability   It is measured by frequency of failure, the time it takes a link to recover from a failure, and the network's robustness.c. Security   Security issues includes protecting data from unauthorized access and virues.

9. Name the factors that affect the performance of the network?

a. Number of Usersb. Type of transmission mediumc. Hardwared. Software

10. Name the factors that affect the reliability of the network?

a. Frequency of failureb. Recovery time of a network after a failure

11. Name the factors that affect the security of the network?

a. Unauthorized Accessb. Viruses

12. What is Protocol?

A protocol is a set of rules that govern all aspects of information communication.

13. What are the key elements of protocols?

The key elements of protocols area. Syntax   It refers to the structure or format of the data, that is the order in which they are presented.b. Semantics   It refers to the meaning of each section of bits.c. Timing   Timing refers to two characteristics: When data should be sent and how fast they can be sent.

14. What are the key design issues of a computer Network?

a. Connectivityb. Cost-effective Resource Sharingc. Support for common Servicesd. Performance

15. Define Bandwidth and Latency?

Network performance is measured in Bandwidth (throughput) and Latency (Delay). Bandwidth of a network is given by the number of bits that can be transmitted over the network in a certain period of time. Latency corresponds to how long it t5akes a message to travel from one end off a network to the other. It is strictly measured in terms of time.

16. Define Routing?

The process of determining systematically hoe to forward messages toward the destination nodes based on its address is called routing.

17. What is a peer-peer process?

The processes on each machine that communicate at a given layer are called peer-peer process.

18. When a switch is said to be congested?

It is possible that a switch receives packets faster than the shared link can accommodate and stores in its memory, for an extended period of time, then the switch will eventually run out of buffer space, and some packets will have to be dropped and in this state is said to congested state.

19. What is semantic gap?

Defining a useful channel involves both understanding the applications requirements and recognizing the limitations of the underlying technology. The gap between what applications expects and what the underlying technology can provide is called semantic gap.

20. What is Round Trip Time?

The duration of time it takes to send a message from one end of a network to the other and back, is called RTT.

21. Define the terms Unicasting, Multiccasting and Broadcasting?

If the message is sent from a source to a single destination node, it is called Unicasting.If the message is sent to some subset of other nodes, it is called Multicasting.If the message is sent to all the m nodes in the network it is called Broadcasting.

22. What is Multiplexing?

Multiplexing is the set of techniques that allows the simultaneous transmission of multiple signals across a single data link.

23. Name the categories of Multiplexing?

a. Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM)b. Time Division Multiplexing (TDM)   i. Synchronous TDM

   ii. ASynchronous TDM Or Statistical TDM.c. Wave Division Multiplexing (WDM)

24. What is FDM?

FDM is an analog technique that can be applied when the bandwidth of a link is greater than the combined bandwidths of the signals to be transmitted.

25. What is WDM?

WDM is conceptually the same as FDM, except that the multiplexing and demultiplexing involve light signals transmitted through fiber optics channel.

26. What is TDM?

TDM is a digital process that can be applied when the data rate capacity of the transmission medium is greater than the data rate required by the sending and receiving devices.

27. What is Synchronous TDM?

In STDM, the multiplexer allocates exactly the same time slot to each device at all times, whether or not a device has anything to transmit.

28. List the layers of OSI

a. Physical Layerb. Data Link Layerc. Network Layerd. Transport Layere. Session Layerf. Presentation Layerg. Application Layer

29. Which layers are network support layers?

a. Physical Layerb. Data link Layer and c. Network Layers

30. Which layers are user support layers?

a. Session Layerb. Presentation Layer and c. Application Layer

31. Which layer links the network support layers and user support layers?

The Transport layer links the network support layers and user support layers.

32. What are the concerns of the Physical Layer?

Physical layer coordinates the functions required to transmit a bit stream over a physical medium.a. Physical characteristics of interfaces and mediab. Representation of bitsc. Data rated. Synchronization of bitse. Line configurationf. Physical topologyg. Transmission mode

33. What are the responsibilities of Data Link Layer?

The Data Link Layer transforms the physical layer, a raw transmission facility, to a reliable link and is responsible for node-node delivery.a. Framingb. Physical Addressingc. Flow Controld. Error Controle. Access Control

34. What are the responsibilities of Network Layer?

The Network Layer is responsible for the source-to-destination delivery of packet possibly across multiple networks (links).a. Logical Addressingb. Routing

35. What are the responsibilities of Transport Layer?

The Transport Layer is responsible for source-to-destination delivery of the entire message.a. Service-point Addressingb. Segmentation and reassemblyc. Connection Controld. Flow Controle. Error Control

36. What are the responsibilities of Session Layer?

The Session layer is the network dialog Controller. It establishes, maintains and synchronizes the interaction between the communicating systems.a. Dialog controlb. Synchronization

37. What are the responsibilities of Presentation Layer?

The Presentation layer is concerned with the syntax and semantics of the information exchanged between two systems.a. Translationb. Encryptionc. Compression

38. What are the responsibilities of Application Layer?

The Application Layer enables the user, whether human or software, to access the network. It provides user interfaces and support for services such as e-mail, shared database management and other types of distributed information services.a. Network virtual Terminalb. File transfer, access and Management (FTAM)c. Mail servicesd. Directory Services

39. What are the two classes of hardware building blocks?

Nodes and Links.

40. What are the different link types used to build a computer network?

a. Cablesb. Leased Linesc. Last-Mile Linksd. Wireless Links

41. What are the categories of Transmission media?

a. Guided Media  i. Twisted - Pair cable    1. Shielded TP    2. Unshielded TP  ii. Coaxial Cable  iii. Fiber-optic cableb. Unguided Media  i. Terrestrial microwave  ii. Satellite Communication

42. What are the types of errors?

a. Single-Bit error  In a single-bit error, only one bit in the data unit has changedb. Burst Error  A Burst error means that two or more bits in the data have changed

43. What is Error Detection? What are its methods?

Data can be corrupted during transmission. For reliable communication errors must be deducted and Corrected. Error Detection uses the concept of redundancy, which means adding extra bits for detecting errors at the destination. The common Error Detection methods are   a. Vertical Redundancy Check (VRC)  b. Longitudinal Redundancy Check (VRC)  c. Cyclic Redundancy Check (VRC)  d. Checksum

44. What is Redundancy?

The concept of including extra information in the transmission solely for the purpose of comparison. This technique is called redundancy.

45. What is VRC?

It is the most common and least expensive mechanism for Error Detection. In VRC, a parity bit is added to every data unit so that the total number of 1s becomes even for even parity. It can detect all single-bit errors. It can detect burst errors only if the total number of errors in each data unit is odd.

46. What is LRC?

In LRC, a block of bits is divided into rows and a redundant row of bits is added to the whole block. It can detect burst errors. If two bits in one data unit are damaged and bits in exactly the same positions in another data unit are also damaged, the LRC checker will not detect an error. In LRC a redundant data unit follows n data units.

47. What is CRC?

CRC, is the most powerful of the redundancy checking techniques, is based on binary division.

48. What is Checksum?

Checksum is used by the higher layer protocols (TCP/IP) for error detection

49. List the steps involved in creating the checksum.

a. Divide the data into sectionsb. Add the sections together using 1's complement arithmeticc. Take the complement of the final sum, this is the checksum.

50. What are the Data link protocols?

Data link protocols are sets of specifications used to implement the data link layer. The categories of Data Link protocols are 1. Asynchronous Protocols2. Synchronous Protocols  a. Character Oriented Protocols  b. Bit Oriented protocols

51. Compare Error Detection and Error Correction:

The correction of errors is more difficult than the detection. In error detection, checks only any error has occurred. In error correction, the exact number of bits that are corrupted and location in the message are known. The number of the errors and the size of the message are important factors.

52. What is Forward Error Correction?

Forward error correction is the process in which the receiver tries to guess the message by using redundant bits.

53. Define Retransmission?

Retransmission is a technique in which the receiver detects the occurrence of an error and asks the sender to resend the message. Resending is repeated until a message arrives that the receiver believes is error-freed.

54. What are Data Words?

In block coding, we divide our message into blocks, each of k bits, called datawords. The block coding process is one-to-one. The same dataword is always encoded as the same codeword.

55. What are Code Words?

"r" redundant bits are added to each block to make the length n = k + r. The resulting n-bit blocks are called codewords. 2n - 2k codewords that are not used. These codewords are invalid or illegal.

56. What is a Linear Block Code?

A linear block code is a code in which the exclusive OR (addition modulo-2) of two valid codewords creates another valid codeword.

57. What are Cyclic Codes?

Cyclic codes are special linear block codes with one extra property. In a cyclic code, if a codeword is cyclically shifted (rotated), the result is another codeword.

58. Define Encoder?

A device or program that uses predefined algorithms to encode, or compress audio or video data for storage or transmission use. A circuit that is used to convert between digital video and analog video.

59. Define Decoder?

A device or program that translates encoded data into its original format (e.g. it decodes the data). The term is often used in reference to MPEG-2 video and sound data, which must be decoded before it is output.

60. What is Framing?

Framing in the data link layer separates a message from one source to a destination, or from other messages to other destinations, by adding a sender address and a destination address. The destination address defines where the packet has to go and the sender address helps the recipient acknowledge the receipt.

61. What is Fixed Size Framing?

In fixed-size framing, there is no need for defining the boundaries of the frames. The size itself can be used as a delimiter.

62. Define Character Stuffing?

In byte stuffing (or character stuffing), a special byte is added to the data section of the frame when there is a character with the same pattern as the flag. The data section is stuffed with an extra byte. This byte is usually called the escape character (ESC), which has a predefined bit pattern. Whenever the receiver encounters the ESC character, it removes it from the data section and treats the next character as data, not a delimiting flag.

63. What is Bit Stuffing?

Bit stuffing is the process of adding one extra 0 whenever five consecutive Is follow a 0 in the data, so that the receiver does not mistake the pattern 0111110 for a flag.

64. What is Flow Control?

Flow control refers to a set of procedures used to restrict the amount of data that the sender can send before waiting for acknowledgment.

65. What is Error Control ?

Error control is both error detection and error correction. It allows the receiver to inform the sender of any frames lost or damaged in transmission and coordinates the retransmission of those frames by the sender. In the data link layer, the term error control refers primarily to methods of error detection and retransmission.

66. What Automatic Repeat Request (ARQ)?

Error control is both error detection and error correction. It allows the receiver to inform the sender of any frames lost or damaged in transmission and coordinates the retransmission of those frames by the sender. In the data link layer, the term error control refers primarily to methods of error detection and retransmission. Error control in the data link layer is often implemented simply: Any time an error is detected in an exchange, specified frames are retransmitted. This process is called automatic repeat request (ARQ).

67. What is Stop-and-Wait Protocol?

In Stop and wait protocol, sender sends one frame, waits until it receives confirmation from the receiver (okay to go ahead), and then sends the next frame.

68. What is Stop-and-Wait Automatic Repeat Request?

Error correction in Stop-and-Wait ARQ is done by keeping a copy of the sent frame and retransmitting of the frame when the timer expires.

69. What is usage of Sequence Number in Relaible Transmission?

The protocol specifies that frames need to be numbered. This is done by using sequence numbers. A field is added to the data frame to hold the sequence number of that frame. Since we want to minimize the frame size, the smallest range that provides unambiguous communication. The sequence numbers can wrap around.

70. What is Pipelining ?

In networking and in other areas, a task is often begun before the previous task has ended. This is known as pipelining.

71. What is Sliding Window?

The sliding window is an abstract concept that defines the range of sequence numbers that is the concern of the sender and receiver. In other words, he sender and receiver need to deal with only part of the possible sequence numbers.

72. What is Piggy Backing?

A technique called piggybacking is used to improve the efficiency of the bidirectional protocols. When a frame is carrying data from A to B, it can also carry control information about arrived (or lost) frames from B; when a frame is carrying data from B to A, it can also carry control information about the arrived (or lost) frames from A.

73. What are the two types of transmission technology available?

(i) Broadcast and (ii) point-to-point

74. What is subnet?

A generic term for section of a large networks usually separated by a bridge or router.

75. Difference between the communication and transmission.

Transmission is a physical movement of information and concern issues like bit polarity, synchronisation, clock etc.

Communication means the meaning full exchange of information between two communication media.

76. What are the possible ways of data exchange?

(i) Simplex (ii) Half-duplex (iii) Full-duplex.

77. What is SAP?

Series of interface points that allow other computers to communicate with the other layers of network protocol stack.

78. What do you meant by "triple X" in Networks?

The function of PAD (Packet Assembler Disassembler) is described in a document known as X.3. The standard protocol has been defined between the terminal and the PAD, called X.28; another standard protocol exists between hte PAD and the network, called X.29. Together, these three recommendations are often called "triple X".

79. What is frame relay, in which layer it comes?

Frame relay is a packet switching technology. It will operate in the data link layer.

80. What is terminal emulation, in which layer it comes?

Telnet is also called as terminal emulation. It belongs to application layer.

81. What is Beaconing?

The process that allows a network to self-repair networks problems. The stations on the network notify the other stations on the ring when they are not receiving the transmissions. Beaconing is used in Token ring and FDDI networks.

82. What is redirector?

Redirector is software that intercepts file or prints I/O requests and translates them into network requests. This comes under presentation layer.

83. What is NETBIOS and NETBEUI?

NETBIOS is a programming interface that allows I/O requests to be sent to and received from a remote computer and it hides the networking hardware from applications.

NETBEUI is NetBIOS extended user interface. A transport protocol designed by microsoft and IBM for the use on small subnets.

84. What is RAID?

A method for providing fault tolerance by using multiple hard disk drives.

85. What is passive topology?

When the computers on the network simply listen and receive the signal, they are referred to as passive because they don't amplify the signal in any way. Example for passive topology -linear bus.

86. What is Brouter?

Hybrid devices that combine the features of both bridges and routers.

87. What is cladding?

A layer of a glass surrounding the center fiber of glass inside a fiber-optic cable.

88. What is point-to-point protocol?

A communications protocol used to connect computers to remote networking services including Internet service providers.

89. How Gateway is different from Routers?

A gateway operates at the upper levels of the OSI model and translates information between two completely different network architectures or data formats.

90. What is attenuation?

The degeneration of a signal over distance on a network cable is called attenuation.

91. What is MAC address?

The address for a device as it is identified at the Media Access Control (MAC) layer in the network architecture. MAC address is usually stored in ROM on the network adapter card and is unique.

92. Difference between bit rate and baud rate.

Bit rate is the number of bits transmitted during one second whereas baud rate refers to the number of signal units per second that are required to represent those bits.   baud rate = (bit rate / N)   where N is no-of-bits represented by each signal shift.

93. What is Bandwidth?

Every line has an upper limit and a lower limit on the frequency of signals it can carry. This limited range is called the bandwidth.

94. What are the types of Transmission media?

Signals are usually transmitted over some transmission media that are broadly classified in to two categories.

a.) Guided Media: These are those that provide a conduit from one device to another that include twisted-pair, coaxial cable and fiber-optic cable. A signal traveling along any of these media is directed and is contained by the physical limits of the medium. Twisted-pair and coaxial cable use metallic that accept and transport signals in the form of electrical current. Optical fiber is a glass or plastic cable that accepts and transports signals in the form of light.

b.) Unguided Media: This is the wireless media that transport electromagnetic waves without using a physical conductor. Signals are broadcast either through air. This is done through radio communication, satellite communication and cellular telephony.

95. What is Project 802?

It is a project started by IEEE to set standards to enable intercommunication between equipment from a variety of manufacturers. It is a way for specifying functions of the physical layer, the data link layer and to some extent the network layer to allow for interconnectivity of major LAN protocols.

It consists of the following: 1. 802.1 is an internetworking standard for compatibility of different LANs and

MANs across protocols. 2. 802.2 Logical link control (LLC) is the upper sublayer of the data link layer

which is non-architecture-specific, that is remains the same for all IEEE-defined LANs.

3. Media access control (MAC) is the lower sublayer of the data link layer that contains some distinct modules each carrying proprietary information specific to the LAN product being used. The modules are Ethernet LAN (802.3), Token ring LAN (802.4), Token bus LAN (802.5).

4. 802.6 is distributed queue dual bus (DQDB) designed to be used in MANs.

96. What is Protocol Data Unit?

The data unit in the LLC level is called the protocol data unit (PDU). The PDU contains of four fields a destination service access point (DSAP), a source service access point (SSAP), a control field and an information field. DSAP, SSAP are addresses used by the LLC to identify the protocol stacks on the receiving and sending machines that are generating and using the data. The control field specifies whether the PDU frame is a information frame (I - frame) or a supervisory frame (S - frame) or a unnumbered frame (U - frame).

97. What are the different type of networking / internetworking devices?

1. Repeater: Also called a regenerator, it is an electronic device that operates only at physical layer. It receives the signal in the network before it becomes weak, regenerates the original bit pattern and puts the refreshed copy back in to the link.

2. Bridges: These operate both in the physical and data link layers of LANs of same type. They divide a larger network in to smaller segments. They contain logic that allow them to keep the traffic for each segment separate and thus are repeaters that relay a frame only the side of the segment containing the intended recipent and control congestion.

3. Routers: They relay packets among multiple interconnected networks (i.e. LANs of different type). They operate in the physical, data link and network layers. They contain software that enable them to determine which of the several possible paths is the best for a particular transmission.

4. Gateways: They relay packets among networks that have different protocols (e.g. between a LAN and a WAN). They accept a packet formatted for one protocol and convert it to a packet formatted for another protocol before forwarding it. They operate in all seven layers of the OSI model.

98. What is ICMP?

ICMP is Internet Control Message Protocol, a network layer protocol of the TCP/IP suite used by hosts and gateways to send notification of datagram problems back to the sender. It uses the echo test / reply to test whether a destination is reachable and responding. It also handles both control and error messages.

99. What are the data units at different layers of the TCP / IP protocol suite?

The data unit created at the application layer is called a message, at the transport layer the data unit created is called either a segment or an user datagram, at the network layer the data unit created is called the datagram, at the data link layer the datagram is encapsulated in to a frame and finally transmitted as signals along the transmission media.

100. What is difference between ARP and RARP?

The address resolution protocol (ARP) is used to associate the 32 bit IP address with the 48 bit physical address, used by a host or a router to find the physical address of another host on its network by sending a ARP query packet that includes the IP address of the receiver.

The reverse address resolution protocol (RARP) allows a host to discover its Internet address when it knows only its physical address.

101. What is the minimum and maximum length of the header in the TCP segment and IP datagram?

The header should have a minimum length of 20 bytes and can have a maximum length of 60 bytes.

102. What is the range of addresses in the classes of internet addresses?

Class A   -       0.0.0.0   -   127.255.255.255Class B   -   128.0.0.0   -   191.255.255.255Class C   -   192.0.0.0   -   223.255.255.255Class D   -   224.0.0.0   -   239.255.255.255Class E   -   240.0.0.0   -   247.255.255.255

103. What is the difference between TFTP and FTP application layer protocols?

The Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) allows a local host to obtain files from a remote host but does not provide reliability or security. It uses the fundamental packet delivery services offered by UDP.

The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is the standard mechanism provided by TCP / IP for copying a file from one host to another. It uses the services offer by TCP and so is reliable and secure. It establishes two connections (virtual circuits) between the hosts, one for data transfer and another for control information.

104. What are major types of networks and explain?

1. Server-based network: provide centralized control of network resources and rely on server computers to provide security and network administration

2. Peer-to-peer network: computers can act as both servers sharing resources and as clients using the resources.

105. What are the important topologies for networks?

1. BUS topology: In this each computer is directly connected to primary network cable in a single line.Advantages: Inexpensive, easy to install, simple to understand, easy to extend.

2. STAR topology: In this all computers are connected using a central hub.Advantages: Can be inexpensive, easy to install and reconfigure and easy to trouble shoot physical problems.

3. RING topology: In this all computers are connected in loop. Advantages: All computers have equal access to network media, installation can be simple, and signal does not degrade as much as in other topologies because each computer regenerates it.

106. What is mesh network?

A network in which there are multiple network links between computers to provide multiple paths for data to travel.

107. What is difference between baseband and broadband transmission?

In a baseband transmission, the entire bandwidth of the cable is consumed by a single signal. In broadband transmission, signals are sent on multiple frequencies, allowing multiple signals to be sent simultaneously.

108. Explain 5-4-3 rule?

In a Ethernet network, between any two points on the network ,there can be no more than five network segments or four repeaters, and of those five segments only three of segments can be populated.

109. What MAU?

In token Ring , hub is called Multistation Access Unit(MAU).

110. What is the difference between routable and non- routable protocols?

Routable protocols can work with a router and can be used to build large networks. Non-Routable protocols are designed to work on small, local networks and cannot be used with a router.

111. Why should you care about the OSI Reference Model?

It provides a framework for discussing network operations and design.

112. What is logical link control?

One of two sublayers of the data link layer of OSI reference model, as defined by the IEEE 802 standard. This sublayer is responsible for maintaining the link between computers when they are sending data across the physical network connection.

113. What is virtual channel?

Virtual channel is normally a connection from one source to one destination, although multicast connections are also permitted. The other name for virtual channel is virtual circuit.

114. What is virtual path?

Along any transmission path from a given source to a given destination, a group of virtual circuits can be grouped together into what is called path.

115. What is packet filter?

Packet filter is a standard router equipped with some extra functionality. The extra functionality allows every incoming or outgoing packet to be inspected. Packets meeting some criterion are forwarded normally. Those that fail the test are dropped.

116. What is traffic shaping?

One of the main causes of congestion is that traffic is often busy. If hosts could be made to transmit at a uniform rate, congestion would be less common. Another open loop method to help manage congestion is forcing the packet to be transmitted at a more predictable rate. This is called traffic shaping.

117. What is multicast routing?

Sending a message to a group is called multicasting, and its routing algorithm is called multicast routing.

118. What is region?

When hierarchical routing is used, the routers are divided into what we will call regions, with each router knowing all the details about how to route packets to destinations within its own region, but knowing nothing about the internal structure of other regions.

119. What is silly window syndrome?

It is a problem that can ruin TCP performance. This problem occurs when data are passed to the sending TCP entity in large blocks, but an interactive application on the receiving side reads 1 byte at a time.

120. What are Digrams and Trigrams?

The most common two letter combinations are called as digrams. e.g. th, in, er, re and an. The most common three letter combinations are called as trigrams. e.g. the, ing, and, and ion.

121. Expand IDEA.

IDEA stands for International Data Encryption Algorithm.

122. What is wide-mouth frog?

Wide-mouth frog is the simplest known key distribution center (KDC) authentication protocol.

123. What is Mail Gateway?

It is a system that performs a protocol translation between different electronic mail delivery protocols.

124. What is IGP (Interior Gateway Protocol)?

It is any routing protocol used within an autonomous system.

125. What is EGP (Exterior Gateway Protocol)?

It is the protocol the routers in neighboring autonomous systems use to identify the set of networks that can be reached within or via each autonomous system.

126. What is autonomous system?

It is a collection of routers under the control of a single administrative authority and that uses a common Interior Gateway Protocol.

127. What is BGP (Border Gateway Protocol)?

It is a protocol used to advertise the set of networks that can be reached with in an autonomous system. BGP enables this information to be shared with the autonomous system. This is newer than EGP (Exterior Gateway Protocol).

128. What is Gateway-to-Gateway protocol?

It is a protocol formerly used to exchange routing information between Internet core routers.

129. What is NVT (Network Virtual Terminal)?

It is a set of rules defining a very simple virtual terminal interaction. The NVT is used in the start of a Telnet session.

130. What is a Multi-homed Host?

It is a host that has a multiple network interfaces and that requires multiple IP addresses is called as a Multi-homed Host.

131. What is Kerberos?

It is an authentication service developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Kerberos uses encryption to prevent intruders from discovering passwords and gaining unauthorized access to files.

132. What is OSPF?

It is an Internet routing protocol that scales well, can route traffic along multiple paths, and uses knowledge of an Internet's topology to make accurate routing decisions.

127. What is BGP (Border Gateway Protocol)?

It is a protocol used to advertise the set of networks that can be reached with in an autonomous system. BGP enables this information to be shared with the autonomous system. This is newer than EGP (Exterior Gateway Protocol).

128. What is Gateway-to-Gateway protocol?

It is a protocol formerly used to exchange routing information between Internet core routers.

129. What is NVT (Network Virtual Terminal)?

It is a set of rules defining a very simple virtual terminal interaction. The NVT is used in the start of a Telnet session.

130. What is a Multi-homed Host?

It is a host that has a multiple network interfaces and that requires multiple IP addresses is called as a Multi-homed Host.

131. What is Kerberos?

It is an authentication service developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Kerberos uses encryption to prevent intruders from discovering passwords and gaining unauthorized access to files.

132. What is OSPF?

It is an Internet routing protocol that scales well, can route traffic along multiple paths, and uses knowledge of an Internet's topology to make accurate routing decisions.

OPERATING SYSTEMS

1. Explain the concept of Reentrancy?

It is a useful, memory-saving technique for multiprogrammed timesharing systems. A Reentrant Procedure is one in which multiple users can share a single copy of a program during the same period. Reentrancy has 2 key aspects: The program code cannot modify itself, and the local data for each user process must be stored separately. Thus, the permanent part is the code, and the temporary part is the pointer back to the calling program and local variables used by that program. Each execution instance is called activation. It executes the code in the permanent part, but has its own copy of local variables/parameters. The temporary part associated with each activation is the activation record. Generally, the activation record is kept on the stack.Note: A reentrant procedure can be interrupted and called by an interrupting program, and still execute correctly on returning to the procedure.

2. Explain Belady's Anomaly?

Also called FIFO anomaly. Usually, on increasing the number of frames allocated to a process virtual memory, the process execution is faster, because fewer page faults occur. Sometimes, the reverse happens, i.e., the execution time increases even when more frames are allocated to the process. This is Belady's Anomaly. This is true for certain page reference patterns.

3. What is a binary semaphore? What is its use?

A binary semaphore is one, which takes only 0 and 1 as values. They are used to implement mutual exclusion and synchronize concurrent processes.

4. What is thrashing?

It is a phenomenon in virtual memory schemes when the processor spends most of its time swapping pages, rather than executing instructions. This is due to an inordinate number of page faults.

5. List the Coffman's conditions that lead to a deadlock.

1. Mutual Exclusion: Only one process may use a critical resource at a time. 2. Hold & Wait: A process may be allocated some resources while waiting for

others. 3. No Pre-emption: No resource can be forcible removed from a process holding it. 4. Circular Wait: A closed chain of processes exist such that each process holds at

least one resource needed by another process in the chain.

6. What are short, long and medium-term scheduling?

Long term scheduler determines which programs are admitted to the system for processing. It controls the degree of multiprogramming. Once admitted, a job becomes a process.

Medium term scheduling is part of the swapping function. This relates to processes that are in a blocked or suspended state. They are swapped out of real-memory until they are ready to execute. The swapping-in decision is based on memory-management criteria.

Short term scheduler, also know as a dispatcher executes most frequently, and makes the finest-grained decision of which process should execute next. This scheduler is invoked whenever an event occurs. It may lead to interruption of one process by preemption.

7. What are turnaround time and response time?

Turnaround time is the interval between the submission of a job and its completion. Response time is the interval between submission of a request, and the first response to that request.

8. What are the typical elements of a process image?

User data: Modifiable part of user space. May include program data, user stack area, and programs that may be modified.

User program: The instructions to be executed.

System Stack: Each process has one or more LIFO stacks associated with it. Used to store parameters and calling addresses for procedure and system calls.

Process control Block (PCB): Info needed by the OS to control processes.

9. What is the Translation Lookaside Buffer (TLB)?

In a cached system, the base addresses of the last few referenced pages is maintained in registers called the TLB that aids in faster lookup. TLB contains those page-table entries that have been most recently used. Normally, each virtual memory reference causes 2 physical memory accesses- one to fetch appropriate page-table entry, and one to fetch the desired data. Using TLB in-between, this is reduced to just one physical memory access in cases of TLB-hit.

10. What is the resident set and working set of a process?

Resident set is that portion of the process image that is actually in real-memory at a particular instant. Working set is that subset of resident set that is actually needed for execution. (Relate this to the variable-window size method for swapping techniques.)

11. When is a system in safe state?

The set of dispatchable processes is in a safe state if there exists at least one temporal order in which all processes can be run to completion without resulting in a deadlock.

12. What is cycle stealing?

We encounter cycle stealing in the context of Direct Memory Access (DMA). Either the DMA controller can use the data bus when the CPU does not need it, or it may force the CPU to temporarily suspend operation. The latter technique is called cycle stealing. Note that cycle stealing can be done only at specific break points in an instruction cycle.

13. What is meant by arm-stickiness?

If one or a few processes have a high access rate to data on one track of a storage disk, then they may monopolize the device by repeated requests to that track. This generally happens with most common device scheduling algorithms (LIFO, SSTF, C-SCAN, etc). High-density multisurface disks are more likely to be affected by this than low density ones.

14. What are the stipulations of C2 level security?

C2 level security provides for:

1. Discretionary Access Control 2. Identification and Authentication

3. Auditing 4. Resource reuse

15. What is busy waiting?

The repeated execution of a loop of code while waiting for an event to occur is called busy-waiting. The CPU is not engaged in any real productive activity during this period, and the process does not progress toward completion.

16. Explain the popular multiprocessor thread-scheduling strategies.

1. Load Sharing: Processes are not assigned to a particular processor. A global queue of threads is maintained. Each processor, when idle, selects a thread from this queue. Note that load balancing refers to a scheme where work is allocated to processors on a more permanent basis.

2. Gang Scheduling: A set of related threads is scheduled to run on a set of processors at the same time, on a 1-to-1 basis. Closely related threads / processes may be scheduled this way to reduce synchronization blocking, and minimize process switching. Group scheduling predated this strategy.

3. Dedicated processor assignment: Provides implicit scheduling defined by assignment of threads to processors. For the duration of program execution, each program is allocated a set of processors equal in number to the number of threads in the program. Processors are chosen from the available pool.

4. Dynamic scheduling: The number of thread in a program can be altered during the course of execution.

17. When does the condition 'rendezvous' arise?

In message passing, it is the condition in which, both, the sender and receiver are blocked until the message is delivered.

18. What is a trap and trapdoor?

Trapdoor is a secret undocumented entry point into a program used to grant access without normal methods of access authentication. A trap is a software interrupt, usually the result of an error condition.

19. What are local and global page replacements?

Local replacement means that an incoming page is brought in only to the relevant process address space. Global replacement policy allows any page frame from any process to be replaced. The latter is applicable to variable partitions model only.

20. Define latency, transfer and seek time with respect to disk I/O.

Seek time is the time required to move the disk arm to the required track. Rotational delay or latency is the time it takes for the beginning of the required sector to reach the head. Sum of seek time (if any) and latency is the access time. Time taken to actually transfer a span of data is transfer time.

21. Describe the Buddy system of memory allocation.

Free memory is maintained in linked lists, each of equal sized blocks. Any such block is of size 2^k. When some memory is required by a process, the block size of next higher order is chosen, and broken into two. Note that the two such pieces differ in address only in their kth bit. Such pieces are called buddies. When any used block is freed, the OS checks to see if its buddy is also free. If so, it is rejoined, and put into the original free-block linked-list.

22. What is time-stamping?

It is a technique proposed by Lamport, used to order events in a distributed system without the use of clocks. This scheme is intended to order events consisting of the transmission of messages. Each system 'i' in the network maintains a counter Ci. Every time a system transmits a message, it increments its counter by 1 and attaches the time-stamp Ti to the message. When a message is received, the receiving system 'j' sets its counter Cj to 1 more than the maximum of its current value and the incoming time-stamp Ti. At each site, the ordering of messages is determined by the following rules: For messages x from site i and y from site j, x precedes y if one of the following conditions holds....(a) if Ti<Tj or (b) if Ti=Tj and i<j.

23. How are the wait/signal operations for monitor different from those for semaphores?

If a process in a monitor signal and no task is waiting on the condition variable, the signal is lost. So this allows easier program design. Whereas in semaphores, every operation affects the value of the semaphore, so the wait and signal operations should be perfectly balanced in the program.

24. In the context of memory management, what are placement and replacement algorithms?

Placement algorithms determine where in available real-memory to load a program. Common methods are first-fit, next-fit, best-fit. Replacement algorithms are used when memory is full, and one process (or part of a process) needs to be swapped out to accommodate a new program. The replacement algorithm determines which are the partitions to be swapped out.

25. In loading programs into memory, what is the difference between load-time dynamic linking and run-time dynamic linking?

For load-time dynamic linking: Load module to be loaded is read into memory. Any reference to a target external module causes that module to be loaded and the references are updated to a relative address from the start base address of the application module.

With run-time dynamic loading: Some of the linking is postponed until actual reference during execution. Then the correct module is loaded and linked.

26. What are demand-paging and pre-paging?

With demand paging, a page is brought into memory only when a location on that page is actually referenced during execution. With pre-paging, pages other than the one demanded by a page fault are brought in. The selection of such pages is done based on common access patterns, especially for secondary memory devices.

27. Paging a memory management function, while multiprogramming a processor management function, are the two interdependent?

Yes.

28. What is page cannibalizing?

Page swapping or page replacements are called page cannibalizing.

29. What has triggered the need for multitasking in PCs?

1. Increased speed and memory capacity of microprocessors together with the support fir virtual memory and

2. Growth of client server computing

30. What are the four layers that Windows NT have in order to achieve independence?

1. Hardware abstraction layer 2. Kernel 3. Subsystems 4. System Services.

31. What is SMP?

To achieve maximum efficiency and reliability a mode of operation known as symmetric multiprocessing is used. In essence, with SMP any process or threads can be assigned to any processor.

32. What are the key object oriented concepts used by Windows NT?

Encapsulation, Object class and instance.

33. Is Windows NT a full blown object oriented operating system? Give reasons.

No Windows NT is not so, because its not implemented in object oriented language and the data structures reside within one executive component and are not represented as objects and it does not support object oriented capabilities.

34. What is a drawback of MVT?

It does not have the features like

1. ability to support multiple processors 2. virtual storage 3. source level debugging

35. What is process spawning?

When the OS at the explicit request of another process creates a process, this action is called process spawning.

36. How many jobs can be run concurrently on MVT?

15 jobs.

37. List out some reasons for process termination.

1. Normal completion 2. Time limit exceeded 3. Memory unavailable 4. Bounds violation 5. Protection error 6. Arithmetic error 7. Time overrun 8. I/O failure 9. Invalid instruction 10. Privileged instruction 11. Data misuse 12. Operator or OS intervention 13. Parent termination.

38. What are the reasons for process suspension?

1. swapping 2. interactive user request 3. timing 4. parent process request

39. What is process migration?

It is the transfer of sufficient amount of the state of process from one machine to the target machine.

40. What is mutant?

In Windows NT a mutant provides kernel mode or user mode mutual exclusion with the notion of ownership.

41. What is an idle thread?

The special thread a dispatcher will execute when no ready thread is found.

42. What is FtDisk?

It is a fault tolerance disk driver for Windows NT.

43. What are the possible threads a thread can have?

1. Ready 2. Standby 3. Running 4. Waiting 5. Transition 6. Terminated

44. What are rings in Windows NT?

Windows NT uses protection mechanism called rings provides by the process to implement separation between the user mode and kernel mode.

45. What is Executive in Windows NT?

In Windows NT, executive refers to the operating system code that runs in kernel mode.

46. What are the sub-components of I/O manager in Windows NT?

1. Network redirector/ Server 2. Cache manager. 3. File systems 4. Network driver 5. Device driver

47. What are DDks? Name an operating system that includes this feature.

DDks are device driver kits, which are equivalent to SDKs for writing device drivers. Windows NT includes DDks.

48. What level of security does Windows NT meets?

C2 level security.

SQL SERVER

SQL SERVER GENERAL QUESTIONS

1. What is RDBMS?

Relational Data Base Management Systems (RDBMS) are database management systems that maintain data records and indices in tables. Relationships may be created and maintained across and among the data and tables. In a relational database, relationships between data items are expressed by means of tables. Interdependencies among these tables are expressed by data values rather than by pointers. This allows a high degree of data independence. An RDBMS has the capability to recombine the data items from different files, providing powerful tools for data usage.

2. What are the properties of the Relational tables?

Relational tables have six properties:

1. Values are atomic. 2. Column values are of the same kind. 3. Each row is unique. 4. The sequence of columns is insignificant. 5. The sequence of rows is insignificant. 6. Each column must have a unique name.

3. What is Normalization?

Database normalization is a data design and organization process applied to data structures based on rules that help building relational databases. In relational database design, the process of organizing data to minimize redundancy is called normalization. Normalization usually involves dividing a database into two or more tables and defining relationships between the tables. The objective is to isolate data so that additions, deletions, and modifications of a field can be made in just one table and then propagated through the rest of the database via the defined relationships.

4. What is De-normalization?

De-normalization is the process of attempting to optimize the performance of a database by adding redundant data. It is sometimes necessary because current DBMSs implement the relational model poorly. A true relational DBMS would allow for a fully normalized database at the logical level, while providing physical storage of data that is tuned for high performance. De-normalization is a technique to move from higher to lower normal forms of database modeling in order to speed up database access.

5. What are different normalization forms?

1. 1NF: Eliminate Repeating Groups Make a separate table for each set of related attributes, and give each table a primary key. Each field contains at most one value from its attribute domain.

2. 2NF: Eliminate Redundant Data If an attribute depends on only part of a multi-valued key, remove it to a separate table.

3. 3NF: Eliminate Columns Not Dependent On Key If attributes do not contribute to a description of the key, remove them to a separate table. All attributes must be directly dependent on the primary key.

4. BCNF: Boyce-Codd Normal Form If there are non-trivial dependencies between candidate key attributes, separate them out into distinct tables.

5. 4NF: Isolate Independent Multiple Relationships No table may contain two or more 1:n or n:m relationships that are not directly related.

6. 5NF: Isolate Semantically Related Multiple Relationships There may be practical constrains on information that justify separating logically related many-to-many relationships.

7. ONF: Optimal Normal Form A model limited to only simple (elemental) facts, as expressed in Object Role Model notation.

8. DKNF: Domain-Key Normal Form A model free from all modification anomalies is said to be in DKNF.

Remember, these normalization guidelines are cumulative. For a database to be in 3NF, it must first fulfill all the criteria of a 2NF and 1NF database.

6. What is Stored Procedure?

A stored procedure is a named group of SQL statements that have been previously created and stored in the server database. Stored procedures accept input parameters so that a single procedure can be used over the network by several clients using different input data. And when the procedure is modified, all clients automatically get the new version. Stored procedures reduce network traffic and improve performance. Stored procedures can be used to help ensure the integrity of the database.

e.g. sp_helpdb, sp_renamedb, sp_depends etc.

7. What is Trigger?

A trigger is a SQL procedure that initiates an action when an event (INSERT, DELETE or UPDATE) occurs. Triggers are stored in and managed by the DBMS. Triggers are used to maintain the referential integrity of data by changing the data in a systematic fashion. A trigger cannot be called or executed; DBMS automatically fires the trigger as a result of a data modification to the associated table. Triggers can be viewed as similar to stored procedures in that both consist of procedural logic that is stored at the database level. Stored procedures, however, are not event-drive and are not attached to a specific table as triggers are. Stored procedures are explicitly executed by invoking a CALL to the procedure while triggers are implicitly executed. In addition, triggers can also execute stored procedures.

8. What is Nested Trigger?

A trigger can also contain INSERT, UPDATE and DELETE logic within itself, so when the trigger is fired because of data modification it can also cause another data modification, thereby firing another trigger. A trigger that contains data modification logic within itself is called a nested trigger.

9. What is View?

A simple view can be thought of as a subset of a table. It can be used for retrieving data, as well as updating or deleting rows. Rows updated or deleted in the view are updated or deleted in the table the view was created with. It should also be noted that as data in the original table changes, so does data in the view, as views are the way to look at part of the original table. The results of using a view are not permanently stored in the database. The data accessed through a view is actually constructed using standard T-SQL select command and can come from one to many different base tables or even other views.

10. What is Index?

An index is a physical structure containing pointers to the data. Indices are created in an existing table to locate rows more quickly and efficiently. It is possible to create an index on one or more columns of a table, and each index is given a name. The users cannot see the indexes; they are just used to speed up queries. Effective indexes are one of the best ways to improve performance in a database application. A table scan happens when there is no index available to help a query. In a table scan SQL Server examines every row in the table to satisfy the query results. Table scans are sometimes unavoidable, but on large tables, scans have a terrific impact on performance.

11. What is a Linked Server?

Linked Servers is a concept in SQL Server by which we can add other SQL Server to a Group and query both the SQL Server dbs using T-SQL Statements. With a linked server, you can create very clean, easy to follow, SQL statements that allow remote data to be

retrieved, joined and combined with local data. Stored Procedure sp_addlinkedserver, sp_addlinkedsrvlogin will be used add new Linked Server.

12. What is Cursor?

Cursor is a database object used by applications to manipulate data in a set on a row-by- row basis, instead of the typical SQL commands that operate on all the rows in the set at one time.

In order to work with a cursor we need to perform some steps in the following order:

1. Declare cursor 2. Open cursor 3. Fetch row from the cursor 4. Process fetched row 5. Close cursor 6. Deallocate cursor

13. What is Collation?

Collation refers to a set of rules that determine how data is sorted and compared. Character data is sorted using rules that define the correct character sequence, with options for specifying case sensitivity, accent marks, kana character types and character width.

14. What is Difference between Function and Stored Procedure?

UDF can be used in the SQL statements anywhere in the WHERE/HAVING/SELECT section where as Stored procedures cannot be. UDFs that return tables can be treated as another rowset. This can be used in JOINs with other tables. Inline UDF's can be thought of as views that take parameters and can be used in JOINs and other Rowset operations.

15. What is sub-query? Explain properties of sub-query?

Sub-queries are often referred to as sub-selects, as they allow a SELECT statement to be executed arbitrarily within the body of another SQL statement. A sub-query is executed by enclosing it in a set of parentheses. Sub-queries are generally used to return a single row as an atomic value, though they may be used to compare values against multiple rows with the IN keyword.

A subquery is a SELECT statement that is nested within another T-SQL statement. A subquery SELECT statement if executed independently of the T-SQL statement, in which it is nested, will return a resultset. Meaning a subquery SELECT statement can standalone and is not depended on the statement in which it is nested. A subquery SELECT statement can return any number of values, and can be found in, the column list of a SELECT statement, a FROM, GROUP BY, HAVING, and/or ORDER BY clauses

of a T-SQL statement. A Subquery can also be used as a parameter to a function call. Basically a subquery can be used anywhere an expression can be used.

16. What are different Types of Join?

1. Cross Join A cross join that does not have a WHERE clause produces the Cartesian product of the tables involved in the join. The size of a Cartesian product result set is the number of rows in the first table multiplied by the number of rows in the second table. The common example is when company wants to combine each product with a pricing table to analyze each product at each price.

2. Inner Join A join that displays only the rows that have a match in both joined tables is known as inner Join. This is the default type of join in the Query and View Designer.

3. Outer Join A join that includes rows even if they do not have related rows in the joined table is an Outer Join. You can create three different outer join to specify the unmatched rows to be included:

1. Left Outer Join: In Left Outer Join all rows in the first-named table i.e. "left" table, which appears leftmost in the JOIN clause are included. Unmatched rows in the right table do not appear.

2. Right Outer Join: In Right Outer Join all rows in the second-named table i.e. "right" table, which appears rightmost in the JOIN clause are included. Unmatched rows in the left table are not included.

3. Full Outer Join: In Full Outer Join all rows in all joined tables are included, whether they are matched or not.

4. Self Join This is a particular case when one table joins to itself, with one or two aliases to avoid confusion. A self join can be of any type, as long as the joined tables are the same. A self join is rather unique in that it involves a relationship with only one table. The common example is when company has a hierarchal reporting structure whereby one member of staff reports to another. Self Join can be Outer Join or Inner Join.

17. What are primary keys and foreign keys?

Primary keys are the unique identifiers for each row. They must contain unique values and cannot be null. Due to their importance in relational databases, Primary keys are the most fundamental of all keys and constraints. A table can have only one Primary key. Foreign keys are both a method of ensuring data integrity and a manifestation of the relationship between tables.

18. What is User Defined Functions? What kind of User-Defined Functions can be created?

User-Defined Functions allow defining its own T-SQL functions that can accept 0 or more parameters and return a single scalar data value or a table data type.Different Kinds of User-Defined Functions created are:

1. Scalar User-Defined Function A Scalar user-defined function returns one of the scalar data types. Text, ntext, image and timestamp data types are not supported. These are the type of user-defined functions that most developers are used to in other programming languages. You pass in 0 to many parameters and you get a return value.

2. Inline Table-Value User-Defined Function An Inline Table-Value user-defined function returns a table data type and is an exceptional alternative to a view as the user-defined function can pass parameters into a T-SQL select command and in essence provide us with a parameterized, non-updateable view of the underlying tables.

3. Multi-statement Table-Value User-Defined Function A Multi-Statement Table-Value user-defined function returns a table and is also an exceptional alternative to a view as the function can support multiple T-SQL statements to build the final result where the view is limited to a single SELECT statement. Also, the ability to pass parameters into a TSQL select command or a group of them gives us the capability to in essence create a parameterized, non-updateable view of the data in the underlying tables. Within the create function command you must define the table structure that is being returned. After creating this type of user-defined function, It can be used in the FROM clause of a T-SQL command unlike the behavior found when using a stored procedure which can also return record sets.

19. What is Identity?

Identity (or AutoNumber) is a column that automatically generates numeric values. A start and increment value can be set, but most DBA leave these at 1. A GUID column also generates numbers; the value of this cannot be controlled. Identity/GUID columns do not need to be indexed.

20. What is DataWarehousing?

1. Subject-oriented, meaning that the data in the database is organized so that all the data elements relating to the same real-world event or object are linked together;

2. Time-variant, meaning that the changes to the data in the database are tracked and recorded so that reports can be produced showing changes over time;

3. Non-volatile, meaning that data in the database is never over-written or deleted, once committed, the data is static, read-only, but retained for future reporting.

4. Integrated, meaning that the database contains data from most or all of an organization's operational applications, and that this data is made consistent.

SQL SERVER COMMON QUESTIONS

1. Which TCP/IP port does SQL Server run on? How can it be changed?

SQL Server runs on port 1433. It can be changed from the Network Utility TCP/IP properties.

2. What are the difference between clustered and a non-clustered index?

1. A clustered index is a special type of index that reorders the way records in the table are physically stored. Therefore table can have only one clustered index. The leaf nodes of a clustered index contain the data pages.

2. A non clustered index is a special type of index in which the logical order of the index does not match the physical stored order of the rows on disk. The leaf node of a non clustered index does not consist of the data pages. Instead, the leaf nodes contain index rows.

3. What are the different index configurations a table can have?

A table can have one of the following index configurations:

1. No indexes 2. A clustered index 3. A clustered index and many nonclustered indexes 4. A nonclustered index 5. Many nonclustered indexes

4. What are different types of Collation Sensitivity?

1. Case sensitivity - A and a, B and b, etc. 2. Accent sensitivity 3. Kana Sensitivity - When Japanese kana characters Hiragana and Katakana are

treated differently, it is called Kana sensitive. 4. Width sensitivity - A single-byte character (half-width) and the same character

represented as a double-byte character (full-width) are treated differently than it is width sensitive.

5. What is OLTP (Online Transaction Processing)?

In OLTP - online transaction processing systems relational database design use the discipline of data modeling and generally follow the Codd rules of data normalization in order to ensure absolute data integrity. Using these rules complex information is broken down into its most simple structures (a table) where all of the individual atomic level elements relate to each other and satisfy the normalization rules.

6. What's the difference between a primary key and a unique key?

Both primary key and unique key enforces uniqueness of the column on which they are defined. But by default primary key creates a clustered index on the column, where are unique creates a nonclustered index by default. Another major difference is that, primary key doesn't allow NULLs, but unique key allows one NULL only.

7. What is difference between DELETE and TRUNCATE commands?

Delete command removes the rows from a table based on the condition that we provide with a WHERE clause. Truncate will actually remove all the rows from a table and there will be no data in the table after we run the truncate command.

1. TRUNCATE: 1. TRUNCATE is faster and uses fewer system and transaction log resources

than DELETE. 2. TRUNCATE removes the data by deallocating the data pages used to store

the table's data, and only the page deallocations are recorded in the transaction log.

3. TRUNCATE removes all rows from a table, but the table structure, its columns, constraints, indexes and so on, remains. The counter used by an identity for new rows is reset to the seed for the column.

4. You cannot use TRUNCATE TABLE on a table referenced by a FOREIGN KEY constraint. Because TRUNCATE TABLE is not logged, it cannot activate a trigger.

5. TRUNCATE cannot be rolled back. 6. TRUNCATE is DDL Command. 7. TRUNCATE Resets identity of the table

2. DELETE: 1. DELETE removes rows one at a time and records an entry in the

transaction log for each deleted row. 2. If you want to retain the identity counter, use DELETE instead. If you

want to remove table definition and its data, use the DROP TABLE statement.

3. DELETE Can be used with or without a WHERE clause 4. DELETE Activates Triggers. 5. DELETE can be rolled back. 6. DELETE is DML Command. 7. DELETE does not reset identity of the table.

8. When is the use of UPDATE_STATISTICS command?

This command is basically used when a large processing of data has occurred. If a large amount of deletions any modification or Bulk Copy into the tables has occurred, it has to update the indexes to take these changes into account. UPDATE_STATISTICS updates the indexes on these tables accordingly.

9. What is the difference between a HAVING CLAUSE and a WHERE CLAUSE?

They specify a search condition for a group or an aggregate. But the difference is that HAVING can be used only with the SELECT statement. HAVING is typically used in a GROUP BY clause. When GROUP BY is not used, HAVING behaves like a WHERE clause. Having Clause is basically used only with the GROUP BY function in a query whereas WHERE Clause is applied to each row before they are part of the GROUP BY function in a query.

10. What are the properties and different Types of Sub-Queries?

1. Properties of Sub-Query 1. A sub-query must be enclosed in the parenthesis. 2. A sub-query must be put in the right hand of the comparison operator, and 3. A sub-query cannot contain an ORDER-BY clause. 4. A query can contain more than one sub-query.

2. Types of Sub-Query 1. Single-row sub-query, where the sub-query returns only one row. 2. Multiple-row sub-query, where the sub-query returns multiple rows,. and 3. Multiple column sub-query, where the sub-query returns multiple columns

11. What is SQL Profiler?

SQL Profiler is a graphical tool that allows system administrators to monitor events in an instance of Microsoft SQL Server. You can capture and save data about each event to a file or SQL Server table to analyze later. For example, you can monitor a production environment to see which stored procedures are hampering performances by executing too slowly.

Use SQL Profiler to monitor only the events in which you are interested. If traces are becoming too large, you can filter them based on the information you want, so that only a subset of the event data is collected. Monitoring too many events adds overhead to the server and the monitoring process and can cause the trace file or trace table to grow very large, especially when the monitoring process takes place over a long period of time.

12. What are the authentication modes in SQL Server? How can it be changed?

Windows mode and Mixed Mode - SQL and Windows. To change authentication mode in SQL Server click Start, Programs, Microsoft SQL Server and click SQL Enterprise Manager to run SQL Enterprise Manager from the Microsoft SQL Server program group. Select the server then from the Tools menu select SQL Server Configuration Properties, and choose the Security page.

13. Which command using Query Analyzer will give you the version of SQL server and operating system?

SELECT SERVERPROPERTY ('productversion'), SERVERPROPERTY ('productlevel'), SERVERPROPERTY ('edition').

14. What is SQL Server Agent?

SQL Server agent plays an important role in the day-to-day tasks of a database administrator (DBA). It is often overlooked as one of the main tools for SQL Server management. Its purpose is to ease the implementation of tasks for the DBA, with its full- function scheduling engine, which allows you to schedule your own jobs and scripts.

15. Can a stored procedure call itself or recursive stored procedure? How much level SP nesting is possible?

Yes. Because Transact-SQL supports recursion, you can write stored procedures that call themselves. Recursion can be defined as a method of problem solving wherein the solution is arrived at by repetitively applying it to subsets of the problem. A common application of recursive logic is to perform numeric computations that lend themselves to repetitive evaluation by the same processing steps. Stored procedures are nested when one stored procedure calls another or executes managed code by referencing a CLR routine, type, or aggregate. You can nest stored procedures and managed code references up to 32 levels.

16. What is Log Shipping?

Log shipping is the process of automating the backup of database and transaction log files on a production SQL server, and then restoring them onto a standby server. Enterprise Editions only supports log shipping. In log shipping the transactional log file from one server is automatically updated into the backup database on the other server. If one server fails, the other server will have the same db and can be used this as the Disaster Recovery plan. The key feature of log shipping is that it will automatically backup transaction logs throughout the day and automatically restore them on the standby server at defined interval.

17. Name 3 ways to get an accurate count of the number of records in a table?

SELECT * FROM table1 SELECT COUNT(*) FROM table1 SELECT rows FROM sysindexes WHERE id = OBJECT_ID(table1) AND indid < 2

18. What does it mean to have QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON? What are the implications of having it OFF?

When SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER is ON, identifiers can be delimited by double quotation marks, and literals must be delimited by single quotation marks. When SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER is OFF, identifiers cannot be quoted and must follow all Transact-SQL rules for identifiers.

19. What is the difference between a Local and a Global temporary table?

1. A local temporary table exists only for the duration of a connection or, if defined inside a compound statement, for the duration of the compound statement.

2. A global temporary table remains in the database permanently, but the rows exist only within a given connection. When connection is closed, the data in the global temporary table disappears. However, the table definition remains with the database for access when database is opened next time.

20. What is the STUFF function and how does it differ from the REPLACE function?

STUFF function is used to overwrite existing characters. Using this syntax, STUFF (string_expression, start, length, replacement_characters), string_expression is the string that will have characters substituted, start is the starting position, length is the number of characters in the string that are substituted, and replacement_characters are the new characters interjected into the string. REPLACE function to replace existing characters of all occurrences. Using the syntax REPLACE (string_expression, search_string, replacement_string), where every incidence of search_string found in the string_expression will be replaced with replacement_string.

21. What is PRIMARY KEY?

A PRIMARY KEY constraint is a unique identifier for a row within a database table. Every table should have a primary key constraint to uniquely identify each row and only one primary key constraint can be created for each table. The primary key constraints are used to enforce entity integrity.

22. What is UNIQUE KEY constraint?

A UNIQUE constraint enforces the uniqueness of the values in a set of columns, so no duplicate values are entered. The unique key constraints are used to enforce entity integrity as the primary key constraints.

23. What is FOREIGN KEY?

A FOREIGN KEY constraint prevents any actions that would destroy links between tables with the corresponding data values. A foreign key in one table points to a primary key in another table. Foreign keys prevent actions that would leave rows with foreign key values when there are no primary keys with that value. The foreign key constraints are used to enforce referential integrity.

24. What is CHECK Constraint?

A CHECK constraint is used to limit the values that can be placed in a column. The check constraints are used to enforce domain integrity.

25. What is NOT NULL Constraint?

A NOT NULL constraint enforces that the column will not accept null values. The not null constraints are used to enforce domain integrity, as the check constraints.

26. How to get @@ERROR and @@ROWCOUNT at the same time?

If @@Rowcount is checked after Error checking statement then it will have 0 as the value of @@Recordcount as it would have been reset. And if @@Recordcount is checked before the error-checking statement then @@Error would get reset. To get @@error and @@rowcount at the same time do both in same statement and store them in local variable.

SELECT @RC = @@ROWCOUNT, @ER = @@ERROR

27. What is a Scheduled Jobs or What is a Scheduled Tasks?

Scheduled tasks let user automate processes that run on regular or predictable cycles. User can schedule administrative tasks, such as cube processing, to run during times of slow business activity. User can also determine the order in which tasks run by creating job steps within a SQL Server Agent job. E.g. back up database, Update Stats of Tables. Job steps give user control over flow of execution. If one job fails, user can configure SQL Server Agent to continue to run the remaining tasks or to stop execution.

28. What are the advantages of using Stored Procedures?

1. Stored procedure can reduced network traffic and latency, boosting application performance.

2. Stored procedure execution plans can be reused, staying cached in SQL Server's memory, reducing server overhead.

3. Stored procedures help promote code reuse. 4. Stored procedures can encapsulate logic. You can change stored procedure code

without affecting clients. 5. Stored procedures provide better security to your data.

29. What is a table called, if it has neither Cluster nor Non-cluster Index? What is it used for?

Unindexed table or Heap. Microsoft Press Books and Book on Line (BOL) refers it as Heap. A heap is a table that does not have a clustered index and, therefore, the pages are not linked by pointers. The IAM pages are the only structures that link the pages in a table together. Unindexed tables are good for fast storing of data. Many times it is better to drop all indexes from table and then do bulk of inserts and to restore those indexes after that.

30. Can SQL Servers linked to other servers like Oracle?

SQL Server can be linked to any server provided it has OLE-DB provider from Microsoft to allow a link. E.g. Oracle has an OLE-DB provider for oracle that Microsoft provides to add it as linked server to SQL Server group.

31. What is BCP? When does it used?

BulkCopy is a tool used to copy huge amount of data from tables and views. BCP does not copy the structures same as source to destination. BULK INSERT command helps to import a data file into a database table or view in a user-specified format.

32. How to implement one-to-one, one-to-many and many-to-many relationships while designing tables?

One-to-One relationship can be implemented as a single table and rarely as two tables with primary and foreign key relationships. One-to-Many relationships are implemented by splitting the data into two tables with primary key and foreign key relationships. Many-to-Many relationships are implemented using a junction table with the keys from both the tables forming the composite primary key of the junction table.

33. What is an execution plan? When would you use it? How would you view the execution plan?

An execution plan is basically a road map that graphically or textually shows the data retrieval methods chosen by the SQL Server query optimizer for a stored procedure or ad- hoc query and is a very useful tool for a developer to understand the performance characteristics of a query or stored procedure since the plan is the one that SQL Server will place in its cache and use to execute the stored procedure or query. From within Query Analyzer is an option called "Show Execution Plan" (located on the Query drop-down menu). If this option is turned on it will display query execution plan in separate window when query is ran again.

SQL SERVER 2008

1. What are the basic functions for master, msdb, model, tempdb and resource databases?

1. The master database holds information for all databases located on the SQL Server instance and is theglue that holds the engine together. Because SQL Server cannot start without a functioning masterdatabase, you must administer this database with care.

2. The msdb database stores information regarding database backups, SQL Agent information, DTS packages, SQL Server jobs, and some replication information such as for log shipping.

3. The tempdb holds temporary objects such as global and local temporary tables and stored procedures.

4. The model is essentially a template database used in the creation of any new user database created in the instance.

5. The resoure Database is a read-only database that contains all the system objects that are included with SQL Server. SQL Server system objects, such as sys.objects, are physically persisted in the Resource database, but they logically appear in the sys schema of every database. The Resource database does not contain user data or user metadata.

2. What is Service Broker?

Service Broker is a message-queuing technology in SQL Server that allows developers to integrate SQL Server fully into distributed applications. Service Broker is feature which provides facility to SQL Server to send an asynchronous, transactional message. it allows a database to send a message to another database without waiting for the response, so the application will continue to function if the remote database is temporarily unavailable.

3. Where SQL server user names and passwords are stored in SQL server?

They get stored in System Catalog Views sys.server_principals and sys.sql_logins.

4. What is Policy Management?

Policy Management in SQL SERVER 2008 allows you to define and enforce policies for configuring and managing SQL Server across the enterprise. Policy-Based Management is configured in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS). Navigate to the Object Explorer and expand the Management node and the Policy Management node; you will see the Policies, Conditions, and Facets nodes.

5. What is Replication and Database Mirroring?

Database mirroring can be used with replication to provide availability for the publication database. Database mirroring involves two copies of a single database that typically reside on different computers. At any given time, only one copy of the database is currently available to clients which are known as the principal database. Updates made by clients to the principal database are applied on the other copy of the database, known as the mirror database. Mirroring involves applying the transaction log from every insertion, update, or deletion made on the principal database onto the mirror database.

6. What are Sparse Columns?

A sparse column is another tool used to reduce the amount of physical storage used in a database. They are the ordinary columns that have an optimized storage for null values. Sparse columns reduce the space requirements for null values at the cost of more overhead to retrieve nonnull values.

7. What does TOP Operator Do?

The TOP operator is used to specify the number of rows to be returned by a query. The TOP operator has new addition in SQL SERVER 2008 that it accepts variables as well as literal values and can be used with INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETES statements.

8. What is CTE?

CTE is an abbreviation Common Table Expression. A Common Table Expression (CTE) is an expression that can be thought of as a temporary result set which is defined within the execution of a single SQL statement. A CTE is similar to a derived table in that it is not stored as an object and lasts only for the duration of the query.

9. What is MERGE Statement?

MERGE is a new feature that provides an efficient way to perform multiple DML operations. In previous versions of SQL Server, we had to write separate statements to INSERT, UPDATE, or DELETE data based on certain conditions, but now, using MERGE statement we can include the logic of such data modifications in one statement that even checks when the data is matched then just update it and when unmatched then insert it. One of the most important advantages of MERGE statement is all the data is read and processed only once.

10. What is Filtered Index?

Filtered Index is used to index a portion of rows in a table that means it applies filter on INDEX which improves query performance, reduce index maintenance costs, and reduce index storage costs compared with full-table indexes. When we see an Index created with some where clause then that is actually a FILTERED INDEX.

11. Which are new data types introduced in SQL SERVER 2008?

1. The GEOMETRY Type: The GEOMETRY data type is a system .NET common language runtime (CLR) data type in SQL Server. This type represents data in a two-dimensional Euclidean coordinate system.

2. The GEOGRAPHY Type: The GEOGRAPHY datatype’s functions are the same as with GEOMETRY. The difference between the two is that when you specify GEOGRAPHY, you are usually specifying points in terms of latitude and longitude.

3. New Date and Time Datatypes: SQL Server 2008 introduces four new datatypes related to date and time: DATE, TIME, DATETIMEOFFSET, and DATETIME2.

1. DATE: The new DATE type just stores the date itself. It is based on the Gregorian calendar and handles years from 1 to 9999.

2. TIME: The new TIME (n) type stores time with a range of 00:00:00.0000000 through 23:59:59.9999999. The precision is allowed with this type. TIME supports seconds down to 100 nanoseconds. The n in TIME (n) defines this level of fractional second precision, from 0 to 7 digits of precision.

3. The DATETIMEOFFSET Type: DATETIMEOFFSET (n) is the time-zone-aware version of a datetime datatype. The name will appear less odd when you consider what it really is: a date + a time + a time-zone offset. The offset is based on how far behind or ahead you are from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) time.

4. The DATETIME2 Type: It is an extension of the datetime type in earlier versions of SQL Server. This new datatype has a date range covering dates from January 1 of year 1 through December 31 of year 9999. This is a definite improvement over the 1753 lower boundary of the datetime datatype. DATETIME2 not only includes the larger date range, but also has a timestamp and the same fractional precision that TIME type provides

12. What are the Advantages of using CTE?

1. Using CTE improves the readability and makes maintenance of complex queries easy.

2. The query can be divided into separate, simple, logical building blocks which can be then used to build more complex CTEs until final result set is generated.

3. CTE can be defined in functions, stored procedures, triggers or even views. 4. After a CTE is defined, it can be used as a Table or a View and can SELECT,

INSERT, UPDATE or DELETE Data.

13. What is CLR?

In SQL Server 2008, SQL Server objects such as user-defined functions can be created using such CLR languages. This CLR language support extends not only to user-defined functions, but also to stored procedures and triggers. You can develop such CLR add-ons to SQL Server using Visual Studio 2008.

14. What are synonyms?

Synonyms give you the ability to provide alternate names for database objects. You can alias object names; for example, using the Employee table as Emp. You can also shorten names. This is especially useful when dealing with three and four part names; for example, shortening server.database.owner.object to object.

15. What is LINQ?

Language Integrated Query (LINQ) adds the ability to query objects using .NET languages. The LINQ to SQL object/relational mapping (O/RM) framework provides the following basic features:

1. Tools to create classes (usually called entities) mapped to database tables 2. Compatibility with LINQ's standard query operations 3. The DataContext class, with features such as entity record monitoring, automatic

SQL statement generation, record concurrency detection, and much more

16. What is Isolation Levels?

Transactions specify an isolation level that defines the degree to which one transaction must be isolated from resource or data modifications made by other transactions. Isolation levels are described in terms of which concurrency side-effects, such as dirty reads or phantom reads, are allowed.

Transaction isolation levels control: 1. Whether locks are taken when data is read, and what type of locks are requested. 2. How long the read locks are held. 3. Whether a read operation referencing rows modified by another transaction:

1. Blocks until the exclusive lock on the row is freed. 2. Retrieves the committed version of the row that existed at the time the

statement or transaction started. 3. Reads the uncommitted data modification.

17. What is use of EXCEPT Clause?

EXCEPT clause is similar to MINUS operation in Oracle. The EXCEPT query and MINUS query returns all rows in the first query that are not returned in the second query. Each SQL statement within the EXCEPT query and MINUS query must have the same number of fields in the result sets with similar data types.

18. How would you handle error in SQL SERVER 2008?

SQL Server now supports the use of TRY...CATCH con handling. TRY...CATCH lets us build error handling at the level we need, in the way w to, by setting a region where if any error occurs, it will break out of the region and head to an error handler.

The basic structure is as follows:BEGIN TRY stmts.. END TRYBEGIN CATCHstmts..END CATCH

19. What is RAISEERROR?

RaiseError generates an error message and initiates error processing for the session. RAISERROR can either reference a user-defined message stored in the sys.messages catalog view or build a message dynamically. The message is returned as a server error message to the calling application or to an associated CATCH block of a TRY | CATCH construct.

20. How to rebuild Master Database?

Master database is system database and it contains information about running server's configuration. When SQL Server 2005 is installed it usually creates master, model, msdb, tempdb resource and distribution system database by default. Only Master database is th one which is absolutely must have database. Without Master database SQL Server cannot be started. This is the reason it is extremely important to backup Master database.

To rebuild the Master database, Run Setup.exe, verify, and repair a SQL Server instance, and rebuild the system databases. This procedure is most often used to rebuild the master database for a corrupted installation of SQL Server.

21. What is XML Datatype?

The xml data type lets you store XML documents and fragments in a SQL Server database. An XML fragment is an XML instance that is missing a single top-level element. You can create columns and variables of the xml type and store XML instances in them. The xml data type and associated methods help integrate XML into the relational framework of S Server.

22. What is Data Compression?

In SQL SERVE 2008 Data Compression comes in two flavors:

1. Row Compression: Row compression changes the format of physical storage of data. It minimize the metadata (column information, length, offsets etc) associated with each record. Numeric data types and fixed length strings are stored in variable-length storage format, just like Varchar.

2. Page Compression: Page compression allows common data to be shared between rows for a given page. Its uses the following techniques to compress data:

1. Row compression. 2. Prefix Compression. For every column in a page duplicate prefixes are

identified. These prefixes are saved in compression information headers (CI) which resides after page header. A reference number is assigned to these prefixes and that reference number is replaced where ever those prefixes are being used.

3. Dictionary Compression: Dictionary compression searches for duplicate values throughout the page and stores them in CI. The main difference between prefix and dictionary compression is that prefix is only restricted to one column while dictionary is applicable to the complete page.

23. What is Catalog Views?

Catalog views return information that is used by the SQL Server Database Engine. Catalog Views are the most general interface to the catalog metadata and provide the most efficient way to obtain, transform, and present customized forms of this information. All user- available catalog metadata is exposed through catalog views.

24. What is PIVOT and UNPIVOT?

A Pivot Table can automatically sort, count, and total the data stored in one table or spreadsheet and create a second table displaying the summarized data. The PIVOT operator turns the values of a specified column into column names, effectively rotating a table.

UNPIVOT table is reverse of PIVOT Table.

25. What is Dirty Read ?

A dirty read occurs when two operations say, read and write occurs together giving the incorrect or unedited data. Suppose, A has changed a row, but has not committed the changes. B reads the uncommitted data but his view of the data may be wrong so that is Dirty Read.

26. What is Aggregate Functions?

Aggregate functions perform a calculation on a set of values and return a single value. Aggregate functions ignore NULL values except COUNT function. HAVING clause is used, along with GROUP BY, for filtering query using aggregate values.

Following functions are aggregate functions.

AVG, MIN CHECKSUM_AGG, SUM, COUNT, STDEV, COUNT_BIG, STDEVP, GROUPING, VAR, MAX. VARP

27. What do you mean by Table Sample?

TABLESAMPLE allows you to extract a sampling of rows from a table in the FROM clause. The rows retrieved are random and they are not in any order. This sampling can be based on a percentage of number of rows. You can use TABLESAMPLE when only a sampling of rows is necessary for the application instead of a full result set.

28. What is the difference between UNION and UNION ALL?

1. UNION The UNION command is used to select related information from two tables, much like the JOIN command. However, when using the UNION command all selected columns need to be of the same data type. With UNION, only distinct values are selected.

2. UNION ALL The UNION ALL command is equal to the UNION command, except that UNION ALL selects all values.

The difference between Union and Union all is that Union all will not eliminate duplicate rows, instead it just pulls all rows from all tables fitting your query specifics and combines them into a table.

29. What is B-Tree?

The database server uses a B-tree structure to organize index information. B-Tree generally has following types of index pages or nodes:

1. root node: A root node contains node pointers to branch nodes which can be only one.

2. branch node: A branch node contains pointers to leaf nodes or other branch nodes which can be two or more.

3. leaf nodes: A leaf node contains index items and orizantal pointers to other leaf nodes which can be many.