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Java Full Stack Developer Interview Questions & Answers

40 questions for Java Full Stack Developer interviews — 26 easy, 14 medium.

About the Java Full Stack Developer role

A Java full stack developer builds features end to end, from database tables and Spring Boot REST APIs to React screens. Day to day work includes writing services and repositories, securing endpoints, building responsive UI components, writing tests and fixing bugs across layers. This is the most common hiring title for this course in Indian IT services firms and product companies, with fresher and experienced openings.

Spring Boot REST APIs React hooks JPA entity mapping SQL queries Git and code review
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01

What is the difference between props and state?

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Props are inputs passed from a parent component and are read-only inside the child. State is data owned by a component that can change over time, managed with useState or useReducer, and changing it triggers a re-render. For example, a ProductCard receives a product as props, while a cart counter keeps its quantity in state. When two components need the same state, lift it up to their common parent.
02

You are passing the same user prop through five levels of components. What would you do?

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This is prop drilling, which makes intermediate components depend on data they do not use. For global, rarely changing data like the logged-in user or theme, create a context with a provider at the top and read it with useContext through a custom hook such as useAuth. Alternatively, use component composition, passing ready-made elements as children. For complex shared state, a store like Zustand or Redux Toolkit is suitable.
03

What is React and what is the virtual DOM?

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React is a JavaScript library for building user interfaces from reusable components. Components describe what the UI should look like for a given state, and React updates the browser DOM when the state changes. The virtual DOM is a lightweight in-memory tree of the UI. On each update, React compares the new tree with the previous one and applies only the minimum real DOM changes, which keeps updates efficient and the code declarative.
04

How do you handle a Git merge conflict when working in a team?

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Situation: two of us edited the same service class in parallel branches. Task: merge without losing either change. Action: I pulled the latest main, rebased my branch, opened the conflicted files and resolved them together with my teammate on a quick call, then ran all tests before pushing. Result: the merge was clean. To reduce conflicts, we now keep branches short-lived and pull from main daily.
05

What is the difference between WHERE and HAVING?

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WHERE filters individual rows before grouping and cannot use aggregate functions. HAVING filters groups after GROUP BY and can use aggregates like COUNT or SUM. For example, SELECT dept, COUNT(*) FROM employees WHERE active = true GROUP BY dept HAVING COUNT(*) > 10. Put conditions in WHERE whenever possible because filtering earlier reduces the rows the database must group.
06

In a bidirectional @OneToMany relationship, what does mappedBy mean?

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mappedBy marks the inverse side and names the field on the other entity that owns the relationship. The owning side, usually the @ManyToOne with the foreign key column, is the one Hibernate uses to write the join column. For example, Order has @OneToMany(mappedBy = "order") and OrderItem has @ManyToOne @JoinColumn(name = "order_id"). Always update both sides in helper methods such as addItem to keep the object graph consistent.
07

Return only a few columns using an interface-based projection.

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public interface ProductSummary { Long getId(); String getName(); BigDecimal getPrice(); } public interface ProductRepository extends JpaRepository<Product, Long> { List<ProductSummary> findByCategoryName(String category); @Query("select new com.shop.dto.PriceDto(p.name, p.price) from Product p where p.price < :max") List<PriceDto> cheaperThan(@Param("max") BigDecimal max); } // Projections select fewer columns and avoid loading full entities.
08

Explain the architecture of your last full stack project end to end.

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In my last project, a React single-page app called a Spring Boot REST API secured with JWT. The API followed controller, service and repository layers, used Spring Data JPA with MySQL and Flyway for migrations, and exposed Swagger documentation. I deployed it with Docker on a cloud VM behind Nginx. My contribution was the order module and payment status flow, and I also wrote the unit tests and CI pipeline.
09

What is the difference between DELETE, TRUNCATE and DROP?

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DELETE removes selected rows using a WHERE clause, logs each row, fires triggers and can be rolled back. TRUNCATE removes all rows quickly by deallocating pages, resets identity counters in most databases and is treated as DDL, so rollback support depends on the database. DROP removes the whole table, including its structure, indexes and constraints. Use DELETE for business data and TRUNCATE for staging tables.
10

Why does React need a key prop when rendering lists?

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Keys help React match list items between renders, so it knows which items were added, removed or moved. Use a stable unique ID from the data, such as product.id. Using the array index as key causes bugs when items are reordered or deleted, because state and input values can attach to the wrong row. Keys only need to be unique among siblings, and they are not passed to the component as a prop.
11

Create a scheduled job that runs every night at 2 AM in Spring Boot.

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@SpringBootApplication @EnableScheduling public class App { } @Component public class CleanupJob { private final SessionRepository repo; public CleanupJob(SessionRepository repo) { this.repo = repo; } @Scheduled(cron = "0 0 2 * * *", zone = "Asia/Kolkata") public void removeExpiredSessions() { repo.deleteByExpiresAtBefore(Instant.now()); } } // With several instances, use ShedLock so only one runs the job.
12

Build a login form with basic validation in React.

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function LoginForm({ onLogin }) { const [form, setForm] = useState({ email: '', password: '' }); const [errors, setErrors] = useState({}); const handleChange = e => setForm({ ...form, [e.target.name]: e.target.value }); const handleSubmit = e => { e.preventDefault(); const errs = {}; if (!/^\S+@\S+\.\S+$/.test(form.email)) errs.email = 'Enter a valid email'; if (form.password.length < 8) errs.password = 'Minimum 8 characters'; setErrors(errs); if (Object.keys(errs).length === 0) onLogin(form); }; return ( <form onSubmit={handleSubmit}> <input name="email" value={form.email} onChange={handleChange} /> {errors.email && <span>{errors.email}</span>} <input name="password" type="password" value={form.password} onChange={handleChange} /> {errors.password && <span>{errors.password}</span>} <button type="submit">Login</button> </form> ); }
13

Write a query to find duplicate email addresses in a users table and delete the extra rows.

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-- Find duplicates SELECT email, COUNT(*) AS cnt FROM users GROUP BY email HAVING COUNT(*) > 1; -- Keep the lowest id, delete the rest (MySQL / PostgreSQL) DELETE FROM users u USING users k WHERE u.email = k.email AND u.id > k.id; -- PostgreSQL syntax -- Then add: ALTER TABLE users ADD CONSTRAINT ux_email UNIQUE (email);
14

What are ACID properties?

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Atomicity means a transaction fully succeeds or fully rolls back. Consistency means it moves the database from one valid state to another, respecting constraints. Isolation means concurrent transactions do not see each other's partial work. Durability means committed data survives crashes, thanks to write-ahead logs. A bank transfer that debits one account and credits another is the classic example where all four properties matter.
15

Write a JPA entity for a Product with an auto-generated ID and basic constraints.

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@Entity @Table(name = "products") public class Product { @Id @GeneratedValue(strategy = GenerationType.IDENTITY) private Long id; @Column(nullable = false, length = 120) private String name; @Column(nullable = false, precision = 10, scale = 2) private BigDecimal price; @ManyToOne(fetch = FetchType.LAZY) @JoinColumn(name = "category_id") private Category category; protected Product() {} // required by JPA }
16

Write CSS for a product grid that shows 1 column on mobile, 2 on tablet and 4 on desktop.

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.grid { display: grid; grid-template-columns: 1fr; gap: 16px; padding: 0 16px; } @media (min-width: 640px) { .grid { grid-template-columns: repeat(2, 1fr); } } @media (min-width: 1024px) { .grid { grid-template-columns: repeat(4, 1fr); } } /* Mobile-first: base styles for small screens, then widen. */
17

Explain the different types of SQL joins.

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INNER JOIN returns only rows that match in both tables. LEFT JOIN returns all rows from the left table plus matches from the right, with nulls where there is no match. RIGHT JOIN is the reverse. FULL OUTER JOIN returns all rows from both sides, which MySQL does not support directly. CROSS JOIN returns every combination. A self join joins a table to itself, such as employees and their managers.
18

After calling setCount(count + 1), console.log(count) still shows the old value. Why?

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State updates are scheduled, not applied immediately. The count variable in the current render is a constant snapshot, so logging right after setState shows the old value; the new value appears in the next render. React also batches multiple updates. When the next state depends on the previous one, use the updater form setCount(c => c + 1), which works correctly even when called several times. Use useEffect to react to the updated value.
19

What is normalization? Explain 1NF, 2NF and 3NF.

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Normalization organises tables to reduce redundancy and update anomalies. 1NF requires atomic values with no repeating groups. 2NF requires 1NF and that every non-key column depends on the whole primary key, not part of a composite key. 3NF requires 2NF and no transitive dependency, so non-key columns depend only on the key. For example, store customer city in the customers table, not in every order row. Reporting systems sometimes denormalize for speed.
20

What is the difference between a primary key and a unique key?

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A primary key uniquely identifies each row, cannot be null, and a table has only one, although it may span several columns. A unique key also enforces uniqueness but a table can have many, and most databases allow null values in it. Both create an index automatically. For example, id is the primary key of a users table while email and mobile have unique constraints.
21

How do you take feedback from a senior on your React code?

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Situation: in my first month, a senior reviewer left many comments about large components and duplicated fetch logic. Task: improve the code and learn from it. Action: I thanked him, asked for a short call to understand the reasoning, split the component, and wrote a custom hook for data fetching. Result: the pull request was approved, and the hook was reused in three other screens. I now self-review using his checklist.
22

Why are semantic HTML and accessibility important?

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Semantic elements like header, nav, main, article, button and label describe meaning, so screen readers, search engines and browsers understand the page. Use a real button instead of a clickable div so keyboard and focus work automatically. Add alt text to images, link labels to inputs, keep heading order logical and ensure enough colour contrast. Accessibility follows WCAG guidelines and improves SEO and usability for everyone.
23

What is the difference between persist and merge, and between save and saveAndFlush?

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persist makes a new entity managed and assigns its ID; it fails for detached entities. merge copies the state of a detached entity onto a managed copy and returns that copy. Spring Data save calls persist for new entities and merge otherwise. saveAndFlush also calls flush, pushing pending SQL to the database immediately, which helps when you need a constraint error or trigger result now. The commit still happens at the end of the transaction.
24

Write a unit test for a service method using JUnit 5 and Mockito.

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@ExtendWith(MockitoExtension.class) class ProductServiceTest { @Mock ProductRepository repo; @InjectMocks ProductService service; @Test void throwsWhenProductMissing() { when(repo.findById(1L)).thenReturn(Optional.empty()); assertThrows(ResourceNotFoundException.class, () -> service.getProduct(1L)); verify(repo).findById(1L); } }
25

Use map, filter and reduce to get the total value of in-stock products.

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const products = [ { name: 'Pen', price: 20, qty: 10, inStock: true }, { name: 'Bag', price: 900, qty: 0, inStock: false }, { name: 'Book', price: 250, qty: 4, inStock: true }, ]; const total = products .filter(p => p.inStock) .map(p => p.price * p.qty) .reduce((sum, value) => sum + value, 0); console.log(total); // 1200
26

What causes LazyInitializationException and how do you fix it properly?

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It occurs when a lazy association is accessed after the persistence context has closed, for example in a controller or during JSON serialisation outside the transaction. The proper fix is to fetch the data inside the service transaction using JOIN FETCH or @EntityGraph and map it to a DTO. Avoid enabling spring.jpa.open-in-view as a crutch, and avoid switching associations to eager, because both hide performance problems.
27

Write a query to find the second highest salary from an employees table.

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-- Using a subquery SELECT MAX(salary) AS second_highest FROM employees WHERE salary < (SELECT MAX(salary) FROM employees); -- Using DISTINCT with OFFSET SELECT DISTINCT salary FROM employees ORDER BY salary DESC LIMIT 1 OFFSET 1; -- The first query returns NULL when there is no second salary.
28

How do derived query methods work in Spring Data JPA?

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Spring Data parses the method name in a repository interface and builds the query. For example, findByEmailAndActiveTrue(String email) or findTop5ByCategoryOrderByPriceDesc(String category). Supported keywords include And, Or, Between, LessThan, Like, In, IsNull and OrderBy. Return types can be Optional, List, Page or Stream. For complex logic, use @Query with JPQL or native SQL, because very long method names become hard to read.
29

Implement a cart counter using useReducer.

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function cartReducer(state, action) { switch (action.type) { case 'add': return { count: state.count + 1 }; case 'remove': return { count: Math.max(0, state.count - 1) }; case 'reset': return { count: 0 }; default: throw new Error('Unknown action ' + action.type); } } function Cart() { const [state, dispatch] = useReducer(cartReducer, { count: 0 }); return ( <div> <span>Items: {state.count}</span> <button onClick={() => dispatch({ type: 'add' })}>+</button> <button onClick={() => dispatch({ type: 'remove' })}>-</button> </div> ); }
30

What is Spring Boot and how is it different from the Spring Framework?

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Spring Framework provides dependency injection, MVC, data access and transactions, but traditionally needed a lot of manual configuration and an external server. Spring Boot sits on top of Spring and adds auto-configuration, starter dependencies, an embedded Tomcat, Jetty or Undertow server, externalised configuration and production features like Actuator. You can run an application as a single executable jar with java -jar, which makes it ideal for microservices and containers.
31

What is the biggest full stack project you have built?

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I built a job portal using React with Vite, Spring Boot 3, Spring Security with JWT and MySQL. Recruiters could post jobs and candidates could apply and track status. I designed the REST APIs, implemented role-based access, added pagination and search, and used TanStack Query on the frontend. I deployed it with Docker and a CI pipeline. The hardest part was file upload for resumes, which I solved with pre-signed object storage URLs.
32

What is the difference between lazy and eager fetching?

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Lazy fetching loads an association only when it is first accessed, using a proxy. Eager fetching loads it immediately with the parent. By default, @OneToMany and @ManyToMany are lazy, while @ManyToOne and @OneToOne are eager. Best practice is to make all associations lazy and fetch what each use case needs with JOIN FETCH or entity graphs, because eager loading often pulls large object graphs and causes extra queries.
33

Explain Inversion of Control and Dependency Injection.

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Inversion of Control means the framework, not your code, creates and wires objects. Dependency Injection is how Spring does it: a class declares what it needs, usually through its constructor, and the container supplies the beans. For example, OrderService receives an OrderRepository instead of creating one with new. This reduces coupling, makes it easy to swap implementations and lets you pass mocks in unit tests.
34

Why is constructor injection preferred over field injection?

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Constructor injection makes dependencies explicit and lets fields be final, so the object is always fully initialised and immutable. It allows plain unit tests without Spring or reflection, because you can pass mocks to the constructor. A long constructor also signals that a class has too many responsibilities. Field injection with @Autowired hides dependencies and needs a container or reflection in tests. With a single constructor, @Autowired is not even needed.
35

What is the difference between JPA, Hibernate and Spring Data JPA?

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JPA, now Jakarta Persistence, is a specification that defines annotations and the EntityManager API for object-relational mapping. Hibernate is the most widely used implementation of that specification and adds extra features. Spring Data JPA is a layer above JPA that generates repository implementations from interfaces, so methods like findByEmail are created automatically. In a Spring Boot app you write against Spring Data, which uses JPA, which is implemented by Hibernate.
36

Your component keeps re-rendering in an infinite loop after calling an API. What is wrong?

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Usually useEffect sets state and has a dependency that changes on every render, or has no dependency array at all. A common case is an object or function created inside the component and listed as a dependency, so it is new each time. Fix it by using a correct dependency array, moving the object outside the component, or memoizing it with useMemo or useCallback. Also check that you are not calling setState directly during render.
37

How do you store user passwords securely in Spring Boot? Show the code.

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@Bean PasswordEncoder passwordEncoder() { return new BCryptPasswordEncoder(12); } public void register(RegisterRequest req) { User user = new User(req.email(), encoder.encode(req.password())); userRepository.save(user); } public boolean checkLogin(String raw, User user) { return encoder.matches(raw, user.getPasswordHash()); } // BCrypt adds a random salt and is deliberately slow. // Never store plain text or use MD5/SHA-1 for passwords.
38

You need H2 for local development, MySQL for testing and PostgreSQL in production. How do you configure this?

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Create application-dev.yml, application-test.yml and application-prod.yml, each with its own spring.datasource URL, username and driver. Keep shared settings in application.yml. Activate the right one with SPRING_PROFILES_ACTIVE in each environment. Read production credentials from environment variables, for example url: ${DB_URL}, instead of hard-coding them. For realistic integration tests, Testcontainers can start the same database engine used in production.
39

The application fails with NoSuchBeanDefinitionException for a service. How do you debug it?

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Check that the class has @Service or @Component, or is created by a @Bean method. Make sure it is inside the package of the main @SpringBootApplication class or a scanned sub-package. If there are several implementations, use @Qualifier or @Primary. Also check @Profile or @Conditional annotations that may disable it in the current environment. Running with --debug prints the condition report that shows why a bean was not created.
40

What is a custom hook and why would you write one?

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A custom hook is a function whose name starts with use and which calls other hooks, letting you reuse stateful logic across components. Examples are useFetch for loading data, useDebounce for search input and useAuth for the current user. Each component calling the hook gets its own independent state. Custom hooks keep components focused on rendering and make logic easier to test, much like extracting a service in backend code.

Frequently asked questions

What does a Java Full Stack Developer do?

A Java full stack developer builds features end to end, from database tables and Spring Boot REST APIs to React screens. Day to day work includes writing services and repositories, securing endpoints, building responsive UI components, writing tests and fixing bugs across layers. This is the most common hiring title for this course in Indian IT services firms and product companies, with fresher and experienced openings.

Which skills are tested in a Java Full Stack Developer interview?

Expect questions on Spring Boot REST APIs, React hooks, JPA entity mapping, SQL queries, Git and code review. Most rounds also ask you to explain a project and solve one practical problem live.

How do I prepare for a Java Full Stack Developer interview?

Revise Spring Boot, React Frontend, JPA and Hibernate, SQL and Databases first using the topic sheets, practise the questions on this page aloud, then do one full mock interview to practise timing.