1. What is shallow copy and deep copy: Cisco, Calsoft.

Ans: Shallow copy and deep copy functions can be defined as below:
1. A shallow copy constructs a new compound object and
inserts references into it to the objects found in the original.

then

2. A deep copy constructs a new compound object and then, recursively,

inserts copies into it of the objects found in the original.
3. With a shallow copy, any object pointed to by the source is pointed to
by the destination (so that no referenced objects are copied).
4. With a deep copy, any object pointed to by the source is copied into the
destination (so there will now be 2 of each referenced object).
Shallow Copy: Simply makes a copy of the reference to A into B. Think about
it as a copy of A's Address. So, the addresses of A and B will be the same i.e.
they will be pointing to the same memory location i.e. data contents.
Deep copy: Simply makes a copy of all the members of A, allocates memory
in a different location for B and then assigns the copied members to B to
achieve deep copy. In this way, if A becomes non-existant B is still valid in the
memory.
'ShallowCopy' points to the same location in memory as 'Source' does.
'DeepCopy' points to a different location in memory, but the contents are the
same.
Shallow Copy is similar to Call By Reference and a Deep Copy is similar to Call
By Value.
Shallow copy involves copying the contents of one object into another
instance of the same class.
Deep copy involves using the contents of one object to create another
instance of the same class.
2. What is repr function and what does it return?: Cisco.
Ans: Python can convert any value to a string by making use of two functions
repr() or str(). The str() function returns representations of values which are
human-readable, while repr() generates representations which can be read by
the interpreter. repr() returns a machine-readable representation of values,
suitable for an exec command.
3. Difference between overloading and overriding: IBM
Ans: overloading deals with the notion of having two or more
methods(functions) in the same class with the same name but different
arguments.
overriding means having two methods with the same arguments, but
different implementation.
4. What is a lambda function and what does it do? : Cisco.

Ans: Lambda is a single expression anonymous function often used as inline

function.
Small
anonymous
functions
can
be
created
with
the lambda keyword. Lambda functions can be used wherever function
objects are required. They are syntactically restricted to a single expression. It
takes general form as:
lambda arg1 arg2 ... : expression where args can be used.
5. Differences between tcp and udp: McAfee, Wipro, Novell, IBM
Ans: http://www.diffen.com/difference/TCP_vs_UDP
6. What is a heap memory? Graphene, Wipro, etc.
Ans: The heap memory segment is an area of memory used for dynamic
allocations,
heap is
the
portion
of
memory
where dynamically
allocated memory resides (i.e. memory allocated via malloc). Memory
allocated from the heap will remain allocated until one of the following
occurs:
1. The memory is free'd
2. The program terminates.
7. What are decorators in python? Paxterra, Cisco, Graphene, Calsoft.
Ans: A decorator is a function whose primary purpose is to wrap another
function or class.
The primary purpose of this wrapping is to alter or enhance the behavior of
the object being wrapped. A decorator is just a callable that takes a function
as an argument and returns a replacement function. Decorators dynamically
alter the functionality of a function, method, or class without having to
directly use subclasses or change the source code of the function being
decorated. The @ symbol applies a decorator to a function. We can wrap a
function in a decorator by pre-pending the function definition with a
decorator name and the @ symbol.
8. What are generators?
Ans: Generators are simple functions which return an iterable set of items.
A generator is a function that produces a sequence of results instead of a
single value.
9. What is the difference between range and xrange functions? Paxterra,
Cisco, Graphene, Calsoft.
Ans: The differences are as follows:
range returns a list object and xrange returns an xrange object.
It means that range generates a static list at run-time and xrange
creates the values as you need them with a special technique
called yielding which is a technique used with the generators.
xrange returns an iterator and only keeps one number in memory at a
time.

range keeps the entire list of numbers in memory. range returns a

static
list
at
runtime.
xrange returns a generator object from which values are generated as
and when required.

10.
How is memory managed in python? Paxterra, Cisco, Graphene,
Calsoft.
Memory management in Python involves a private heap containing all
Python objects and data structures. Interpreter takes care of Python heap
and that the programmer has no access to it.
The allocation of heap space for Python objects is done by Python
memory manager.
Python also has a build-in garbage collector which recycles all the unused
memory. When an object is no longer referenced by the program, the
heap space it occupies can be freed. The garbage collector determines
objects which are no longer referenced by the program frees the occupied
memory and make it available to the heap space.
The gc module defines functions to enable /disable garbage collector:
gc.enable()
-Enables
automatic
garbage
collection.
gc.disable() - Disables automatic garbage collection.
11.
What is garbage collection? Paxterra, Cisco, Graphene, Calsoft.
Ans: Garbage collection is a form of automatic memory management.
The garbage collector, or just collector, attempts to reclaim garbage, or
memory occupied by objects that are no longer in use by the program. OR
Garbage collection is the systematic recovery of pooled computer storage
that is being used by a program when that program no longer needs it. This
frees the storage for use by other programs or processes within a program.
12.

What is encapsulation?

Ans: Encapsulation is the packing of data and functions into a single

component. The features of encapsulation are supported using classes in
most object-oriented programming languages, although other alternatives
also exist.
13.

What are the different features of python: Wipro, Mphasis

Ans: http://www.swaroopch.com/notes/python/#_features_of_python
14.
What is the difference between list, tuple, dictionary and a set: Wipro,
HP, SanDisk, McAfee, Dell
Ans: A dictionary is an associative array or hash table that contains objects
indexed by keys.
Lists are sequences of objects.
http://www.dreamincode.net/forums/topic/82368-data-structuresin-python/

15.

What is the use of __init__.py file in python: SanDisk

Ans: Files named __init__.py are used to mark directories on disk as a Python
package directories. If you have the files mydir/spam/__init__.py
mydir/spam/module.py
and mydir is on your path, you can import the code in module.py as:
import spam.module
or
from spam import module
If you remove the __init__.py file, Python will no longer look for submodules
inside that directory, so attempts to import the module will fail.
The __init__.py file is usually empty, but can be used to export selected
portions of the package under more convenient names, hold convenience
functions, etc. Given the example above, the contents of the __init__ module
can be accessed as:
import spam.
16.

How tcp/ip works: Novell, Wipro

Ans: TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) is the basic

communication language or protocol of the Internet. TCP/IP is a two-layer
program. The higher layer, Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), manages the
assembling of a message or file into smaller packets that are transmitted over
the Internet and received by a TCP layer that reassembles the packets into
the original message. The lower layer, Internet Protocol (IP), handles the
address part of each packet so that it gets to the right destination. TCP/IP
uses the client/server model of communication in which a computer user (a
client) requests and is provided a service (such as sending a Web page) by
another computer (a server) in the network. TCP/IP communication is
primarily point-to-point, meaning each communication is from one point (or
host computer) in the network to another point or host computer.
17.

Explain the TCP/IP protocol suite: Novell, McAfee.

Ans. The TCP/IP protocol maps to a four layer conceptual model: application,
transport, Internet and network interface. This model is referred to as the
Internet Protocol Suite or the ARPA model.
NetworkInterface
The network interface layer is the equivalent of the OSI physical and data link
layers as it defines the host's connection to the network. This layer comprises
the hardware and software involved in the interchange of frames between

computers. The technologies used can be LAN-based (e.g. Ethernet) or WANbased (e.g. ISDN).
InternetLayer
The network layer uses the protocols to ensure the delivery of packets. These
are described below:
IP(InternetProtocol)
IP is the protocol responsible for addressing and routing packets (on the basis
of routing algorithms) between networks. It ensures the packets reach the
correct
destination
network.
ARP
The Address Resolution Protocol ( ARP) is responsible for obtaining hardware
addresses and matching them to their IP address when the destination
computer
is
on
the
same
network.
ICMP
The Internet Control Management Protocol ( ICMP) is responsible to report
errors and send messages about the delivery of a packet. It can also be used
to test TCP/IP networks. Two examples of ICMP messages include:
Destination unreachable - when a router cannot locate the
destination.
Time exceeded - when the Time To Live (TTL) of a packet reaches
zero.
TransportLayer:
In the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) communications model, the
Transport layer ensures the reliable arrival of messages and provides error
checking mechanisms and data flow controls. The Transport layer provides
services for both "connection-mode" transmissions and for "connectionlessmode" transmissions. For connection-mode transmissions, a transmission may
be sent in the form of packets that need to be reconstructed into a complete
message at the other end. The Transport layer provides communication
between the source and destination computers, and breaks application layer
information into packets. TCP/IP provides two methods of data delivery:
Connection-orientated delivery using TCP
Connectionless delivery using UDP.
Application
Layer
The Application layer is the layer at which many TCP/IP services (high level
protocols) can be run (such as FTP, HTTP and SMTP). Two application
programming interfaces (APIs) are commonly used within the TCP/IP
environment:
sockets
NetBIOS
18.
Connect to a remote machine and execute a command using python:
Mindteck, McAfee, Wipro
Ans:

19.

Linux Boot Process: Accenture

Ans: Refer the print out.

20.

RAID Terminologies: Novell, Wipro

Ans: Refer the print out.

21.

Differences between paging and swapping: Accenture.

Ans: The differences between paging and swapping can be explained as

follows:
Paging: Paging is a memory management method used by operating
systems. Paging allows the main memory to use data that is residing on a
secondary storage device. These data are stored in the secondary storage
device as blocks of same size called pages. Paging allows the operating
system to use data that will not fit in to the main memory. When a program
tries to access a page, first the page table is checked to see whether that
page is on the main memory. Page table holds details about where the pages
are stored. If it is not in the main memory, it is called a page fault. Operating
system is responsible for handling page faults without showing it to the
program. The operating system first finds where that particular page is stored
in the secondary storage and then brings it in to an empty page frame in the
main memory. Then it updates the page table to indicate that the new data is
in the main memory and returns the control back to the program that initially
requested the page.
Swapping: Swapping is the process of moving all the segments belonging to
a process between the main memory and a secondary storage device.
Swapping occurs under heavier work loads. Operating system kernel would
move all the memory segments belonging to a process in to an area called
swap area. When selecting a process for swapping, the operating system will
select a process that will not become active for a while. When the main
memory has enough space to hold the process, it will be transferred back in
to the main memory from the swap space so that its execution could be
continued.
What is the difference between Paging and Swapping?
In paging, blocks of equal size (called pages) are transferred between the main
memory and a secondary storage device, while in swapping, all the segments
belonging to a process will be moved back and forth between the main memory
and a secondary storage device. Since paging allows moving pages (it could be
a part of the address space of a process), it is more flexible than swapping.
Since, paging only moves pages (unlike swapping, which move a whole process),
paging would allow more processes to reside on the main memory at the same
time, when compared with a swapping system. Swapping is more suitable when
running heavier workloads.