#operating systems

8 operating systems interview questions, asked at Microsoft, Amazon, Google and 4 more companies. Last asked Sep 2026.

Debug processes that crash at random while being created on Linux hostsCodingWorkloads run on a cluster of Linux servers, and some of their processes crash at random while they are being created. The interviewer has one hidden cause in mind and acts as the…
Last asked Sep 2026
Design an OS notification platform, working with an AI assistantSystem designDesign the notification system of a desktop operating system: the platform piece that lets many applications raise notifications and shows them to the user. Cover the app-facing…
Last asked Sep 2026
Implement the Linux cp command, then explain what happens underneathCodingWrite a version of cp that copies a file to a destination. Then expect the discussion to go deep: system calls versus buffered I/O, buffer sizes, file descriptors and permissions…
Last asked Sep 2026
BIOS and UEFI firmwareCodingExplain what BIOS and UEFI firmware do when a machine boots and how they differ, including how each finds and starts the operating system.
Last asked Jul 2026
Explain and harden two shell commandsCodingYou are shown two shell commands. Explain exactly what each one does, step by step, then say how it can go wrong and rewrite it to be safer and more robust.
Last asked Jul 2026
Systems fundamentals quick-fire: memory, processes, threads and transactionsCodingA short screen of basics, answered out loud: 1. What an array is, how it is laid out in memory, and how it differs from a linked list. 2. What a smart pointer is and the kinds you…
Last asked Feb 2026
What happens when you run lsCodingWalk through what happens, from the shell down to the kernel, when you type ls in a terminal and press Enter: how the shell finds and starts the program, the system calls…
Last asked Feb 2026
Infrastructure fundamentals: networking, Kubernetes and streamingSystem designA rapid-fire round of around twenty short questions with no coding, for an infrastructure role. Reported ones: 1. What happens between typing a site's address in the browser and…
Last asked Jan 2026