Amazon - Software Development Engineer (Frontend) - Phone Screen
Description:
Level: SDE II (Frontend Focused)
Education: Bachelor’s in Computer Science
Years of Experience (YOE): 4
Questions Asked:
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JavaScript/Frontend Fundamentals:
- Explain event delegation in JavaScript and why it’s useful.
- How does
thisbehave differently in arrow functions vs. regular functions? - Implement a throttle function and explain when you’d use throttle vs debounce.
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Data Structures/Algorithms (Amazon tends to push LC-style):
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Problem: Find the first unique character in a string.
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Example 1:
Input:"amazon"
Output:"m"
Explanation:"m"is the first character that does not repeat. -
Example 2:
Input:"aabbcc"
Output:-1
Explanation: All characters repeat, so no unique character exists.
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Problem: Merge two sorted arrays into one sorted array without using extra space (in-place merge).
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System Design (Frontend Application):
- Design a product listing page (like Amazon search results) with infinite scroll.
- How would you manage performance, API calls, and rendering thousands of items?
- How would you track analytics events (e.g., impressions, clicks) efficiently?
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Behavioral (Amazon’s Leadership Principles heavy):
- Tell me about a time you disagreed with a teammate — how did you handle it?
- Tell me about a time you had to deliver with limited requirements.
- Tell me about a time you improved a process or made something more efficient.