assignment questions list

Below is a list of interpretations for some of the more common directive/instructional words. These interpretations are intended as a guide only but should help you gain a better understanding of what is required when they are used. 

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Understanding your assignment questions: A short guide

Introduction.

• Breaking down the question
• Further reading and references

It is important to understand what an essay question or assignment brief is asking of you.

Before you start to research or write, it is worth spending time considering the wording of the question and any learning outcomes that may accompany it.

Failure to do this could result in an unfocussed response which does not answer the question.

Before you start to research, plan or write:

• Check the word count, deadline and any guidance from your department.
• Read through any learning outcomes or marking criteria.
• If there is a choice of questions, make some initial notes on each one (or a few that appeal) and make a careful decision.
• Unpick your chosen (or given) question and ensure that you understand exactly what it is asking you to do.
• Next: Breaking down the question >>
• Last Updated: Nov 13, 2023 4:28 PM
• URL: https://libguides.bham.ac.uk/asc/understandingassignments

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Answering Complex Assignment Questions

In order to decide how to answer an assignment question, you need to identify what it requires in terms of content and genre. This guide outlines some methods to help you analyse assignment questions.

Implied or complex questions

Some assignment questions are more complex than the example in the last section. They might have a number of parts or may not include a clear task word, which can seem confusing.

In order to understand how to answer, look at the entire question. Look for clues in the limiting and content words and in the relationships between words and phrases.

Elements of complex questions

• Some questions consist of a statement or a proposition that requires a discussion . Such questions often provide a quotation or statement, followed by a task word such as 'discuss'.
• Other questions include a direction such as 'explain the significance' of' a given statement.
• Some questions include specific instructions . They might require you to include certain material, use specific sources or to take a particular approach. Make sure you follow these instructions.
• Other questions include guidelines as to the scope of the essay. They will specify a time period or location or specify a framework for the discussion.
• Sometimes an assignment task consists of a number of related questions . There may be several parts to the question, including a number of task words or specific questions. In this case, make sure you address each part of the task, and also recognise the relationship and links between the different parts of the assignment when forming your conclusions.

Sample questions

The sample assignment questions below are examples of implied tasks.

Questions which require a discussion or explanation:

'The ideal of human rights is not universal. Discuss.'

'Account for the economic success of the 'tiger' economies of Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea during the 1960s.'

Questions which imply a comparison and/or contrast:

'The development of ethics is as important to medicine as the development and use of antibiotics.'

Questions which ask for the cause and/or effect relationships to be exposed:

'Indigenous Australians experience lower levels of access to health services than the general population. Discuss the factors determining access.'

Questions which imply an opinion needs to be given:

'Why did the ideas of Martin Luther cause such an upheaval in 16th century Europe? Would there have been a Reformation without him? How would you measure the success of the Lutheran Reformation? Give reasons for your view.'

Questions which imply evaluation:

'To what extent did the subcultural research project demonstrate that youth cultures were "counter-hegemonic"?'

'What traits distinguish Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism from each another? Has society influenced these religions or have these religions influenced society?'

What if I don't have a question?

Some assignments let you choose a topic to explore within a particular framework or context. For example:

'Write a report on the significance of your chosen topic for the Engineering program.'

If you are given a general topic to research for an assignment, you need to form your own focus.

• First consider the current trends, issues or debates on the topic (this may require some preliminary research).
• Then form a focus question that indicates how you will approach the topic.
• You should also discuss your question with your tutor. 

  Next: Glossary of task words

Essay and assignment writing guide.

• Essay writing basics
• Essay and assignment planning
• Complex assignment questions
• Glossary of task words
• Editing checklist
• Writing a critical review
• Annotated bibliography
• Reflective writing
• ^ More support

Study Hacks Workshops | All the hacks you need! 28 May – 25 Jul 2024

Assignments usually ask you to demonstrate that you have immersed yourself in the course material and that you've done some thinking on your own; questions not treated at length in class often serve as assignments. Fortunately, if you've put the time into getting to know the material, then you've almost certainly begun thinking independently. In responding to assignments, keep in mind the following advice.

• Beware of straying.  Especially in the draft stage, "discussion" and "analysis" can lead you from one intrinsically interesting problem to another, then another, and then ... You may wind up following a garden of forking paths and lose your way. To prevent this, stop periodically while drafting your essay and reread the assignment. Its purposes are likely to become clearer.
• Consider the assignment in relation to previous and upcoming assignments.  Ask yourself what is new about the task you're setting out to do. Instructors often design assignments to build in complexity. Knowing where an assignment falls in this progression can help you concentrate on the specific, fresh challenges at hand.

Understanding some key words commonly used in assignments also may simplify your task. Toward this end, let's take a look at two seemingly impenetrable instructions: "discuss" and "analyze."

1. Discuss the role of gender in bringing about the French Revolution.

• "Discuss" is easy to misunderstand because the word calls to mind the oral/spoken dimension of communication. "Discuss" suggests conversation, which often is casual and undirected. In the context of an assignment, however, discussion entails fulfilling a defined and organized task: to construct an argument that considers and responds to an ample range of materials. To "discuss," in assignment language, means to make a broad argument about a set of arguments you have studied. In the case above, you can do this by
• pointing to consistencies and inconsistencies in the evidence of gendered causes of the Revolution;
• raising the implications of these consistencies and/or inconsistencies (perhaps they suggest a limited role for gender as catalyst);
• evaluating different claims about the role of gender; and
• asking what is gained and what is lost by focusing on gendered symbols, icons and events.

A weak discussion essay in response to the question above might simply list a few aspects of the Revolution—the image of Liberty, the executions of the King and Marie Antoinette, the cry "Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite!" —and make separate comments about how each, being "gendered," is therefore a powerful political force. Such an essay would offer no original thesis, but instead restate the question asked in the assignment (i.e., "The role of gender was very important in the French Revolution" or "Gender did not play a large role in the French Revolution").

In a strong discussion essay, the thesis would go beyond a basic restatement of the assignment question. You might test the similarities and differences of the revolutionary aspects being discussed. You might draw on fresh or unexpected evidence, perhaps using as a source an intriguing reading that was only briefly touched upon in lecture.

2. Analyze two of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, including one not discussed in class, as literary works and in terms of sources/analogues.

The words "analyze" and "analysis" may seem to denote highly advanced, even arcane skills, possessed in virtual monopoly by mathematicians and scientists. Happily, the terms refer to mental activity we all perform regularly; the terms just need decoding. "Analyze" means two things in this specific assignment prompt.

• First, you need to divide the two tales into parts, elements, or features. You might start with a basic approach: looking at the beginning, middle, and end. These structural features of literary works—and of historical events and many other subjects of academic study—may seem simple or even simplistic, but they can yield surprising insights when examined closely.
• Alternatively, you might begin at a more complex level of analysis. For example, you might search for and distinguish between kinds of humor in the two tales and their sources in Boccaccio or the Roman de la Rose: banter, wordplay, bawdy jokes, pranks, burlesque, satire, etc.

Second, you need to consider the two tales critically to arrive at some reward for having observed how the tales are made and where they came from (their sources/analogues). In the course of your essay, you might work your way to investigating Chaucer's broader attitude toward his sources, which alternates between playful variation and strict adherence. Your complex analysis of kinds of humor might reveal differing conceptions of masculine and feminine between Chaucer and his literary sources, or some other important cultural distinction.

Analysis involves both a set of observations about the composition or workings of your subject and a critical approach that keeps you from noticing just anything—from excessive listing or summarizing—and instead leads you to construct an interpretation, using textual evidence to support your ideas.

Some Final Advice

If, having read the assignment carefully, you're still confused by it, don't hesitate to ask for clarification from your instructor. He or she may be able to elucidate the question or to furnish some sample responses to the assignment. Knowing the expectations of an assignment can help when you're feeling puzzled. Conversely, knowing the boundaries can head off trouble if you're contemplating an unorthodox approach. In either case, before you go to your instructor, it's a good idea to list, underline or circle the specific places in the assignment where the language makes you feel uncertain.

William C. Rice, for the Writing Center at Harvard University

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• 10 Research Question Examples to Guide Your Research Project

10 Research Question Examples to Guide your Research Project

Published on October 30, 2022 by Shona McCombes . Revised on October 19, 2023.

The research question is one of the most important parts of your research paper , thesis or dissertation . It’s important to spend some time assessing and refining your question before you get started.

The exact form of your question will depend on a few things, such as the length of your project, the type of research you’re conducting, the topic , and the research problem . However, all research questions should be focused, specific, and relevant to a timely social or scholarly issue.

Once you’ve read our guide on how to write a research question , you can use these examples to craft your own.

Note that the design of your research question can depend on what method you are pursuing. Here are a few options for qualitative, quantitative, and statistical research questions.

Other interesting articles

If you want to know more about the research process , methodology , research bias , or statistics , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

Methodology

• Sampling methods
• Simple random sampling
• Stratified sampling
• Cluster sampling
• Likert scales
• Reproducibility

 Statistics

• Null hypothesis
• Statistical power
• Probability distribution
• Effect size
• Poisson distribution

Research bias

• Optimism bias
• Cognitive bias
• Implicit bias
• Hawthorne effect
• Anchoring bias
• Explicit bias

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

McCombes, S. (2023, October 19). 10 Research Question Examples to Guide your Research Project. Scribbr. Retrieved June 24, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/research-process/research-question-examples/

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Feel free to use this checklist to guide you through the stages of assignment design.

• Is the relevance of this writing assignment obvious (to other writing assignments, to course objectives, and to the discipline/field)? Students will likely be more motivated to complete a task that has obvious relevance to course goals and/or personal goals.
• Have you helped students focus their writing by clarifying its primary purpose ? Are you, for example, primarily asking them to argue a position? Provide information? Express themselves? Explore an issue? If you have more specific expectations, it may help to clarify their writing task. For instance, you might ask students to apply a theory to specific data, critically evaluate a text, solve a problem, synthesize disparate ideas, analyze data by scrutinizing specific aspects separately or apply theories to new contexts. Additionally, is it clear whether you’re asking students to work backward (using the assignment to prove what they’ve already learned) or work forward (expanding their learning)? 
• Where possible, have you moved beyond assigning a “topic” and provided students with an authentic scenario , problem-solving scenario, or inquiry question? Authentic prompts can inspire ideas, motivate writers, and deter students from writing what John Bean calls the “all about paper” or the “data dump.
• If this is a longish assignment, have you broken it into manageable tasks ? If you’re working with a complex and lengthy assignment, you’ll want to build smaller assignments backward from the end product.
• If you’ve not already made it apparent, have you specified what sort of reader or audience your students should address? Writing to designated or selected audiences allows students to make important decisions about how much background knowledge they can assume on the part of their reader and what sorts of evidence, logic, and tone they should use. Specifying an audience allows students to write toward authentic communication with a reader for a purpose, rather than simply proving to you that they are fulfilling course expectations.
• Have you described what sorts of evidence student writers are expected to rally? Are they to back ideas using their own logic/experience, or are they conducting traditional research? Is there a type of scholarly source you’re expecting students to use, or is the choice theirs to make? Likewise, are you looking for a specific citation style?
• Have you described your aims using a limited number of comprehensive rather than abstract verbs? For example, “support a position with evidence” or “describe a process so that it can be replicated” are likely more actionable directives than “consider,” "explore," or "discuss."
• Is the wording and are the cultural references inclusive ? If the assignment uses idiomatic language (expressions), do you provide an explanation for the benefit of non-native English speakers? Does the assignment use generic language and acknowledge different lived experiences?
• Is the assignment accessible ? Does the format and document structure (use of headings and subheadings) of the assignment work with adaptive technologies?
• Where appropriate, have you described the organization of the finished product you envision in adequate detail, including elements of format and appearance? This includes length, margins, organizational sequencing, format, style, and documentation specifications.
• Have you provided your grading criteria and conveyed their relative weight or importance? And, are these criteria relevant to the assignment’s purpose and disciplinary discourse rather than generic writing attributes?
• Have you scheduled instances of feedback into the process? These include responses from peers or the instructor on topic ideas, proposals, thesis ideas, or drafts.
• Have you indicated what resources might be useful to students as they write and revise? Examples include model papers, resource books, writing consultation services.
• Have you balanced freedom with guidance and structure ? Have you successfully avoided intimating that the only successful responses to this assignment will be those that approach the target question/problem exactly as you would? Can students make choices related to topic, argument, form, audience, research, or mode? If so, how and when will you check in to ensure that they make workable choices? For high-stakes, lengthy assignments, you’ll want to check in early.
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• PHP All Exercises & Assignments

Practice your PHP skills using PHP Exercises & Assignments. Tutorials Class provides you exercises on PHP basics, variables, operators, loops, forms, and database.

Once you learn PHP, it is important to practice to understand PHP concepts. This will also help you with preparing for PHP Interview Questions.

Here, you will find a list of PHP programs, along with problem description and solution. These programs can also be used as assignments for PHP students.

Write a program to count 5 to 15 using PHP loop

Description: Write a Program to display count, from 5 to 15 using PHP loop as given below.

Rules & Hint

• You can use “for” or “while” loop
• You can use variable to initialize count
• You can use html tag for line break

View Solution/Program

5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Write a program to print “Hello World” using echo

Description: Write a program to print “Hello World” using echo only?

Conditions:

• You can not use any variable.

View Solution /Program

Hello World

Write a program to print “Hello PHP” using variable

Description: Write a program to print “Hello PHP” using php variable?

• You can not use text directly in echo but can use variable.

Write a program to print a string using echo+variable.

Description: Write a program to print “Welcome to the PHP World” using some part of the text in variable & some part directly in echo.

• You have to use a variable that contains string “PHP World”.

Welcome to the PHP World

Write a program to print two variables in single echo

Description: Write a program to print 2 php variables using single echo statement.

• First variable have text “Good Morning.”
• Second variable have text “Have a nice day!”
• Your output should be “Good morning. Have a nice day!”
• You are allowed to use only one echo statement in this program.

Good Morning. Have a nice day!

Write a program to check student grade based on marks

Description:.

Write a program to check student grade based on the marks using if-else statement.

• If marks are 60% or more, grade will be First Division.
• If marks between 45% to 59%, grade will be Second Division.
• If marks between 33% to 44%, grade will be Third Division.
• If marks are less than 33%, student will be Fail.

Click to View Solution/Program

Third Division

Write a program to show day of the week using switch

Write a program to show day of the week (for example: Monday) based on numbers using switch/case statements.

• You can pass 1 to 7 number in switch
• Day 1 will be considered as Monday
• If number is not between 1 to 7, show invalid number in default

It is Friday!

Write a factorial program using for loop in php

Write a program to calculate factorial of a number using for loop in php.

The factorial of 3 is 6

Factorial program in PHP using recursive function

Exercise Description: Write a PHP program to find factorial of a number using recursive function .

What is Recursive Function?

• A recursive function is a function that calls itself.

Write a program to create Chess board in PHP using for loop

Write a PHP program using nested for loop that creates a chess board.

• You can use html table having width=”400px” and take “30px” as cell height and width for check boxes.

Write a Program to create given pattern with * using for loop

Description: Write a Program to create following pattern using for loops:

• You can use for or while loop
• You can use multiple (nested) loop to draw above pattern

View Solution/Program using two for loops

* ** *** **** ***** ****** ******* ********

Simple Tips for PHP Beginners

When a beginner start PHP programming, he often gets some syntax errors. Sometimes these are small errors but takes a lot of time to fix. This happens when we are not familiar with the basic syntax and do small mistakes in programs. These mistakes can be avoided if you practice more and taking care of small things.

I would like to say that it is never a good idea to become smart and start copying. This will save your time but you would not be able to understand PHP syntax. Rather, Type your program and get friendly with PHP code.

Follow Simple Tips for PHP Beginners to avoid errors in Programming

• Start with simple & small programs.
• Type your PHP program code manually. Do not just Copy Paste.
• Always create a new file for new code and keep backup of old files. This will make it easy to find old programs when needed.
• Keep your PHP files in organized folders rather than keeping all files in same folder.
• Use meaningful names for PHP files or folders. Some examples are: “ variable-test.php “, “ loops.php ” etc. Do not just use “ abc.php “, “ 123.php ” or “ sample.php “
• Avoid space between file or folder names. Use hyphens (-) instead.
• Use lower case letters for file or folder names. This will help you make a consistent code

These points are not mandatory but they help you to make consistent and understandable code. Once you practice this for 20 to 30 PHP programs, you can go further with more standards.

The PHP Standard Recommendation (PSR) is a PHP specification published by the PHP Framework Interop Group.

Experiment with Basic PHP Syntax Errors

When you start PHP Programming, you may face some programming errors. These errors stops your program execution. Sometimes you quickly find your solutions while sometimes it may take long time even if there is small mistake. It is important to get familiar with Basic PHP Syntax Errors

Basic Syntax errors occurs when we do not write PHP Code correctly. We cannot avoid all those errors but we can learn from them.

Here is a working PHP Code example to output a simple line.

Output: Hello World!

It is better to experiment with PHP Basic code and see what errors happens.

• Remove semicolon from the end of second line and see what error occurs
• Remove double quote from “Hello World!” what error occurs
• Remove PHP ending statement “?>” error occurs
• Use “
• Try some space between “

Try above changes one at a time and see error. Observe What you did and what error happens.

Take care of the line number mentioned in error message. It will give you hint about the place where there is some mistake in the code.

Read Carefully Error message. Once you will understand the meaning of these basic error messages, you will be able to fix them later on easily.

Note: Most of the time error can be found in previous line instead of actual mentioned line. For example: If your program miss semicolon in line number 6, it will show error in line number 7.

Using phpinfo() – Display PHP Configuration & Modules

phpinfo()   is a PHP built-in function used to display information about PHP’s configuration settings and modules.

When we install PHP, there are many additional modules also get installed. Most of them are enabled and some are disabled. These modules or extensions enhance PHP functionality. For example, the date-time extension provides some ready-made function related to date and time formatting. MySQL modules are integrated to deal with PHP Connections.

It is good to take a look on those extensions. Simply use

phpinfo() function as given below.

Example Using phpinfo() function

Write a PHP program to add two numbers

Write a program to perform sum or addition of two numbers in PHP programming. You can use PHP Variables and Operators

PHP Program to add two numbers:

Write a program to calculate electricity bill in php.

You need to write a PHP program to calculate electricity bill using if-else conditions.

• For first 50 units – Rs. 3.50/unit
• For next 100 units – Rs. 4.00/unit
• For next 100 units – Rs. 5.20/unit
• For units above 250 – Rs. 6.50/unit
• You can use conditional statements .

Write a simple calculator program in PHP using switch case

You need to write a simple calculator program in PHP using switch case.

Operations:

• Subtraction
• Multiplication

Remove specific element by value from an array in PHP?

You need to write a program in PHP to remove specific element by value from an array using PHP program.

Instructions:

• Take an array with list of month names.
• Take a variable with the name of value to be deleted.
• You can use PHP array functions or foreach loop.

Solution 1: Using array_search()

With the help of  array_search()  function, we can remove specific elements from an array.

array(4) { [0]=> string(3) “jan” [1]=> string(3) “feb” [3]=> string(5) “april” [4]=> string(3) “may” }

Solution 2: Using  foreach()

By using  foreach()  loop, we can also remove specific elements from an array.

array(4) { [0]=> string(3) “jan” [1]=> string(3) “feb” [3]=> string(5) “april” [4]=> string(3) “may” }

Solution 3: Using array_diff()

With the help of  array_diff()  function, we also can remove specific elements from an array.

array(4) { [0]=> string(3) “jan” [1]=> string(3) “feb” [2]=> string(5) “march” [4]=> string(3) “may” }

Write a PHP program to check if a person is eligible to vote

Write a PHP program to check if a person is eligible to vote or not.

• Minimum age required for vote is 18.
• You can use PHP Functions .
• You can use Decision Making Statements .

Click to View Solution/Program.

You Are Eligible For Vote

Write a PHP program to calculate area of rectangle

Write a PHP program to calculate area of rectangle by using PHP Function.

• You must use a PHP Function .
• There should be two arguments i.e. length & width.

View Solution/Program.

Area Of Rectangle with length 2 & width 4 is 8 .

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Interpersonal Communication

Communicating identity, sample discussion questions and assignments, discussion questions.

• List a few of the identities you have. Think of a time when these separate identities collided. How did you manage each identity and the situation? And, why did you manage the situation in that particular way? In retrospect did you need to manage it and why?
• Describe an event in which self­-fulfilling prophecy has impacted communication in your life. Include an evaluation of the four steps. Was this prophecy positive or negative? And, upon reflection, would you try to change it?
• Identify someone you think is a competent communicator. What techniques do they use that makes them competent? What strengths do you have that makes you a competent communicator and what weaknesses are holding you back? Identify a specific communication behavior you want to work on over the quarter.

Assignments

• Post a picture of yourself under the course roster.
• We develop our relationships through communication and that communication facilitates and fulfills our needs. Find one journal article and one popular article that relates why relationships are important to human beings. Compare and contrast these articles in relation to your readings. What are your conclusions about how communication fulfills your needs? Turn in the proper APA citation for each article.
• How do self­-concept and self­-esteem differ? Explore how each is impacted by and influences your communication with others.

If else programming exercises and solutions in C

if...else is a branching statement . It is used to take an action based on some condition. For example – if user inputs valid account number and pin, then allow money withdrawal.

If statement works like “If condition is met, then execute the task” . It is used to compare things and take some action based on the comparison. Relational and logical operators supports this comparison.

C language supports three variants of if statement.

• Simple if statement
• if…else and if…else…if statement
• Nested if…else statement

As a programmer you must have a good control on program execution flow. In this exercise we will focus to control program flow using if...else statements.

Always feel free to drop your queries and suggestions below in the comments section . I will try to get back to you asap.

Required knowledge

Basic C programming , Relational operators , Logical operators

List of if...else programming exercises

• Write a C program to find maximum between two numbers.
• Write a C program to find maximum between three numbers.
• Write a C program to check whether a number is negative, positive or zero.
• Write a C program to check whether a number is divisible by 5 and 11 or not.
• Write a C program to check whether a number is even or odd.
• Write a C program to check whether a year is leap year or not.
• Write a C program to check whether a character is alphabet or not.
• Write a C program to input any alphabet and check whether it is vowel or consonant.
• Write a C program to input any character and check whether it is alphabet, digit or special character.
• Write a C program to check whether a character is uppercase or lowercase alphabet .
• Write a C program to input week number and print week day .
• Write a C program to input month number and print number of days in that month.
• Write a C program to count total number of notes in given amount .
• Write a C program to input angles of a triangle and check whether triangle is valid or not.
• Write a C program to input all sides of a triangle and check whether triangle is valid or not.
• Write a C program to check whether the triangle is equilateral, isosceles or scalene triangle.
• Write a C program to find all roots of a quadratic equation .
• Write a C program to calculate profit or loss.
• Write a C program to input marks of five subjects Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics and Computer. Calculate percentage and grade according to following: Percentage >= 90% : Grade A Percentage >= 80% : Grade B Percentage >= 70% : Grade C Percentage >= 60% : Grade D Percentage >= 40% : Grade E Percentage < 40% : Grade F
• Write a C program to input basic salary of an employee and calculate its Gross salary according to following: Basic Salary <= 10000 : HRA = 20%, DA = 80% Basic Salary <= 20000 : HRA = 25%, DA = 90% Basic Salary > 20000 : HRA = 30%, DA = 95%
• Write a C program to input electricity unit charges and calculate total electricity bill according to the given condition: For first 50 units Rs. 0.50/unit For next 100 units Rs. 0.75/unit For next 100 units Rs. 1.20/unit For unit above 250 Rs. 1.50/unit An additional surcharge of 20% is added to the bill

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Why can't I build a list by assigning each element in turn? How can I add (append) the elements without getting an IndexError?

I tried writing some code like:

But I get an error message that says IndexError: list assignment index out of range , referring to the j[k] = l line of code. Why does this occur? How can I fix it?

• 10 append is the right solution for your use case, however there's an insert method on python list which can insert directly to the i'th position in list. j.insert(k, l) –  opensourcegeek Commented Sep 30, 2015 at 8:46
• May I ask, why would not OP's solution work? Why use append? –  Helen Commented Jun 10, 2018 at 16:01

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged python list exception or ask your own question .

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40+ linked list questions and solutions (easy, medium, hard)

To ace your coding interview for a software engineering job, you’ll need to understand linked lists. They come up frequently in coding interviews and are fundamental to many other data structures too.

Let’s take a look at some typical linked list questions.

• Given the head of a singly linked list, reverse the list, and return the reversed list.
• Insert a node into a sorted doubly linked list.
• Given the head of a linked list, determine if the linked list has a cycle in it.
• Given the head of a sorted linked list, delete all nodes that have duplicate numbers.
• You are given an array of “k” linked lists, with each linked list sorted in ascending order. Merge all the linked lists into one sorted linked list and return it.

Below, we take a look at some more questions and provide you with links to high quality solutions to them. We explain how linked lists work, their variations, and the most important things you need to know about them, including a useful “cheat sheet” to remind you of the key points at a glance.

This is an overview of what we’ll cover:

• Easy linked list interview questions
• Medium linked list interview questions
• Hard linked list interview questions
• Linked list basics
• Linked list cheat sheet
• Mock interviews for software engineers

Click here to practice coding interviews with ex-FAANG interviewers

1. easy linked list interview questions.

You might be tempted to try to read all of the possible questions and memorize the solutions, but this is not feasible. Interviewers will always try to find new questions, or ones that are not available online. Instead, you should use these questions to practice the fundamental concepts of linked lists.

As you consider each question, try to replicate the conditions you’ll encounter in your interview. Begin by writing your own solution without external resources in a fixed amount of time.

If you get stuck, go ahead and look at the solutions, but then try the next one alone again. Don’t get stuck in a loop of reading as many solutions as possible! We’ve analysed dozens of questions and selected ones that are commonly asked and have clear and high quality answers.

Here are some of the easiest questions you might get asked in a coding interview. These questions are often asked during the "phone screen" stage, so you should be comfortable answering them without being able to write code or use a whiteboard.

1.1 Merge two sorted lists

• Text guide (RedQuark)
• Video guide (Kevin Naughton Jr.)
• Code example (LeetCode)

1.2 Linked list cycle

• Text guide (GeeksforGeeks)
• Video guide (NeetCode)

1.3  Intersection of two linked lists

• Text guide (Dev.to/Seanpgallivan)
• Video guide (Nick White)

1.4 Reverse linked list

• Text guide (Educative.io)
• Video guide (Back to Back SWE)

1.5 Palindrome linked list

1.6 delete node in a linked list.

• Text guide (Log2Base2)

1.7 Middle of the linked list

• Text guide (After Academy)

1.8 Convert binary number in a linked list to integer

• Text guide (LeetCode)
• Video guide (Knowledge Center)

1.9 Remove duplicates from sorted list

1.10 remove linked list elements.

• Text guide (Medium/Hiimdaosui)

1.11 Insert a node at the tail of a linked list

• Video guide (Hackers Realm)
• Code example (The Nuclear Geeks)

1.12 Insert a node at the head of a linked list

• Code example (Log2Base2)

1.13 Print in reverse

1.14 reverse a doubly linked list.

• Text guide (Tutorialspoint)
• Video guide (Neso Academy)
• Code example (Stack Overflow)

1.15 Inserting a node Into a sorted doubly linked list

• Video guide (MattyCodes)
• Code example (ProgrammingOneOnOne)

1.16 Find merge point of two lists

• Code example (Algorithmsandme)

1.17 Get node value

• Text guide (Hackerranksolution)

1.18 Compare two linked lists

• Code example (Hackerranksolution)

2. Medium linked list interview questions

Here are some moderate-level questions that are often asked in a video call or onsite interview. You should be prepared to write code or sketch out the solutions on a whiteboard if asked.

2.1 Add two numbers

2.2 remove nth node from end of list, 2.3 copy list with random pointer, 2.4 sort list, 2.5 odd even linked list, 2.6 rotate list, 2.7 reorder list.

• Text guide (Programcreek)

2.8 Swap nodes in pairs

2.9 remove duplicates from sorted list ii.

• Video guide (Timothy H Chang)

2.10 Partition list

2.11 reverse linked list ii, 2.12 linked list cycle ii.

• Text guide (Medium/Len Chen)
• Video guide (Code and Coffee)

2.13 Insertion sort list

2.14 linked list random node.

• Video guide (Algorithms Made Easy)

2.15 Flatten a multilevel doubly linked list

• Text guide (Medium/Tom Donovan)

2.16 Add two numbers II

• Text guide (Web Rewrite)

2.17 Split linked list in parts

• Text guide (Just4Once)

2.18 Next greater node In linked list

• Text guide (Medium/Jiang)
• Video guide (TECH DOSE)

2.19 Remove zero sum consecutive nodes from linked list

• Text guide (Medium/Sandy Lin)
• Video guide (Leetuition)

3. Hard linked list interview questions

Similar to the medium section, these more difficult questions may be asked in an onsite or video call interview. You will likely be given more time if you are expected to create a full solution.

3.1 Design linked list

• Text guide (Medium/ Len Chen)
• Video guide (Simon Schueller)

3.2 Merge k sorted lists

3.3 reverse nodes in k-group, 3.4 design skiplist.

• Text guide (Brilliant)
• Video guide (Geometry Lab)
• Video guide (Programming Live with Larry)

4. Linked list basics

In order to crack the questions above and others like them, you’ll need to have a strong understanding of linked lists and how they work. Let’s get into it.

4.1 What is a linked list?

A linked list is a data structure used to store a collection of data elements. In this way, it is similar to an array. However, unlike an array, the data elements in a linked list do not need to be stored contiguously in memory. Rather, each node in a linked list has a pointer or reference to the memory location of the next node in the list. This means that linked lists do not have a fixed size like arrays, and can easily grow and shrink as elements are added or removed.

Another advantage linked lists have over arrays is that inserting or removing elements from a linked list is possible in constant time, whereas removing or inserting elements into an array generally takes linear time. 

Since the data elements are not stored sequentially in contiguous memory, linked lists are not as efficient as arrays at random access of elements. Indexes are commonly used to access any element in an array in constant time. Accessing an element in a linked list generally means walking the list from one node to the next. This takes linear time.

4.1.1 Types of linked lists (Java, Python, C++)

There are a number of variations on the standard singly linked list. 

A doubly linked list has nodes with links to next and previous nodes, making it possible to traverse the list in either direction. 

A circular linked list's last node has a link to the list's first node. This is useful for implementing certain types of circular buffers. It is also useful for implementing round-robin-type schemes. 

A multi-linked list has multiple links from each node. The different links point to the “next” node based on some ordering or logical criteria. In this way, it is possible to have the list ordered on multiple properties. For example, in a movie list, there could be a link to the next movie alphabetically, another link to the next movie chronologically, and another link to the next movie by the same director. Multi-linked lists are also useful for implementing sparse matrices, where a node has a link to the next number in the row, and the next number in the column.

Java has a built-in linked list implementation called "LinkedList." Python has a "deque" class in its collections module, which is implemented as a linked list. In the Standard Template Library (STL) in C++, there is a linked "list" class, which implements a doubly linked list.

4.1.2 How linked lists store data

Linked lists are made up of a string of nodes. Each node is a container which stores the data element along with a reference to the next node. The first node is known as the head of the list. This is often used as the entry point, or handle, to the linked list. The last node in the list generally has its next pointer set to null, except in circular linked lists, where the last node points to the head node. 

4.1.3 How linked lists compare to other data structures

Linked lists are mainly contrasted to arrays. Arrays have faster access time, in constant time, to access a random element through indexes. Accessing an element in a linked list takes linear time. Linked lists are faster at inserting and removing elements, which can be done in constant time if the target position of the node is known, whereas arrays take linear time. Linked lists can also grow to very large sizes more easily than arrays, as linked lists are not bound to available contiguous memory blocks as arrays are. 

Queues and stacks are often implemented using linked lists, as the size of these structures is often large and dynamic. Queues and stacks also do not require random indexed access to elements, as elements are added and removed from the ends. Linked lists perform well here, as adding or removing elements from the ends of the list can be done in constant time.

Need a boost in your career as a software engineer?

If you want to improve your skills as an engineer or leader, tackle an issue at work, get promoted, or understand the next steps to take in your career, book a session with one of our software engineering coaches.

5. Linked list cheat sheet

Linked list definition:   A linked list is a collection of nodes representing a sequence. Each node contains data and a reference (a link) to the next and/or previous node in the sequence.

You can download this cheat sheet here.

Related algorithms and techniques

Floyd’s Cycle detection Algorithm

Reservoir sampling

Two pointers

5.2 Cheat sheet explained

The cheat sheet above is a summary of information you might need to know for an interview, but it’s usually not enough to simply memorize it. Instead, aim to understand each result so that you can give the answer in context.

The cheat sheet is broken into time complexity (the processing time for various linked list operations) and algorithm complexity (the amount of time and space used for common algorithms).

For more information about time and space requirements of different algorithms, read our  complete guide to big-O notation and complexity analysis .

5.2.1 Linked list time complexity

The important point to remember when considering time complexity with linked lists is that accessing or finding a random element in a linked list takes linear time, or O(n), whereas adding or removing a known element takes constant time. This is the inverse of an array’s time complexity, and understanding this will help you with questions about where to use a linked list vs an array.

To improve the performance of a linked list for accessing and searching elements, sorted linked lists can be augmented with ancillary structures. One such structure is known as a skip list. A skip list creates multiple layers of linked lists, or a hierarchy, each layer including some fraction of the number of the nodes of the original list. This makes it possible to find the places of significant elements in a list faster by trading off space for time. Skip lists can be thought of as pre-computing binary search nodes in a list, or as a sparse index. Using skip lists mitigates some of the performance deficiencies of linked lists compared to arrays, bringing down search time to O(log n) time, at the expense of using more space. 

5.2.2 Linked list algorith m complexity

Sorting and searching linked lists may not be as common as they are for arrays, but can still be done. 

Sorting a linked list allows you to easily change the position of an element in the list, simply by re-assigning the links to its containing node. Compare this to changing the position of an element in an array, which generally means copying and moving multiple other elements, using extra temporary space.

However, to access a random element takes far longer in a linked list than in an array. Mergesort is preferred over Quicksort with a linked list, as Quicksort has a heavier reliance on random access to elements, which is slower in linked lists than arrays.

Search algorithms operating naively on linked lists generally take longer than searching in an array, due to the lack of inherent random access required by algorithms such as binary search. However, these algorithms can be sped up to similar time orders of complexity by using techniques such as skip lists, and using fast and slow pointers.

6. Mock interviews for software engineers

Before you start practicing interviews, you’ll want to make sure you have a strong understanding of not only linked lists but also the rest of the relevant data structures. Check out our guides for questions, explanations and helpful cheat sheets.

• Stacks and Queues
• Coding interview examples (with solutions)

Once you’re confident on all the topics, you’ll want to start practicing answering coding questions in an interview situation.

One way of doing this is by practicing out loud, which is a very underrated way of preparing. However, sooner or later you’re probably going to want some expert interventions and feedback to really improve your interview skills.

That’s why we recommend practicing with ex-interviewers from top tech companies. If you know a software engineer who has experience running interviews at a big tech company, then that's fantastic. But for most of us, it's tough to find the right connections to make this happen. And it might also be difficult to practice multiple hours with that person unless you know them really well.

Here's the good news. We've already made the connections for you. We’ve created a coaching service where you can practice 1-on-1 with ex-interviewers from leading tech companies. Learn more and start scheduling sessions today.

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Improve your Coding Skills with Practice

What kind of Experience do you want to share?

Due: Wed Jun 26 11:59 pm Late submissions accepted until Fri Jun 28 11:59 pm

Assignment by Michael Chang, Julie Zelenski, and Chris Gregg, with modifications by Nick Troccoli

We'll discuss the terminal and text editors even more during lecture 2, so that lecture material is needed to get the starter project, edit files, and complete the intruder detection portion of the assignment. However, prior to then, you can get your computer set up to log into the myth machines by installing a terminal program, review the course syllabus, and complete the honor code survey linked below.

Learning Goals

The goals for this assignment are for you to get familiar with working in the Unix environment, and editing/building/running C programs.

Unix and C Resources

The pages in the Handouts dropdown above have information, including videos, for various Unix commands, tools, and more that we'll be using this quarter. We highly recommend reading through the getting started guide and unix guide and trying out various commands and tools yourself, to get practice. In particular, some of the activities in this assignment will rely on information you will need to read up on there. Note that you don't need to memorize all the information, but you may start to memorize lots of commands just by repetition.

Before starting the assignment, double-check that you are comfortable with these Unix fundamentals - discussed in the getting started guide.

View Getting Started Guide

• Log in to myth
• Did you create a CS107 directory to hold and organize your work?
• Can you find the code we're showing off in lecture?
• You should be able to create a new file, edit its contents, save, and exit.
• For emacs , you should be able to interact via the mouse (e.g. selecting text, scrolling, etc.)
• If you encounter a command that is new to you, how can you get more information about it?
• Have you tried using tab-completion to avoid manually typing long commands/paths?

Additionally, take a look at the guide in the assignments dropdown about working on assignments. It outlines everything you need to know about working through a CS107 assignment, from getting the starter code to testing to submitting. We will refer to this document many, many times throughout this assignment, so keep it handy as you work through this page.

View Assignments Guide

Cloning The Assignment

To get started on the assignment, you must "clone" the starter code to get a copy you can work on. Check out the assignments guide for how to do this.

If you attempt to clone and receive an error that the repository does not exist :

• double-check for typos in the path. The path needs to be typed exactly as specified. This includes the odd-looking $USER at end, which is a environment variable that expands into your username automatically.
• be sure you are logged into myth

If you confirm you are on a myth system and your correctly-typed path is not available, this indicates that you were not on the Axess enrollment list at the time we created the student starter code projects. Please send an email to the course staff and tell us your username so we can manually set up the starter code for you. Please make sure to enroll in Axess as soon as possible so that the starter code is automatically generated for you in the future.

Provided Files

The starter project contains the following:

• readme.txt : a text file where you will answer questions for the assignment
• triangle.c , Makefile and custom_tests : used to build and test the triangle program
• SANITY.ini : the configuration for Sanity Check. You can ignore this file.
• server_files : a folder that pertains to the first part of the assignment.
• triangle_soln : an executable solution for the Triangle program. You can run this program to see how a completed solution program should behave. This program is also used to check correctness in sanity check.
• tools : contains symbolic links to the sanitycheck and submit programs for testing and submitting your work.

Symbolic links mean that the files actually live in the CS107 class directory, but appear just like normal files in your starter code folder. Note that the shared directories are not editable by you, so you will not be able to create, edit, or delete files within these directories, since they actually live in the CS107 class directory.

1. Enrollment Confirmation

In order to complete your enrollment in CS107, you must fill out the readme with some information about you, confirm your ability to attend the final exam and accept the course Honor Code policy.

Open the readme.txt file in your editor now and edit as appropriate.

As part of this, you must complete the Honor Code Form. When grading your assign0, we will check that you made a submission through this form, so please make sure to fill it out!

Access the Honor Code Form

Course TODOs:

Once you have done this, also complete the following setup tasks:

• Join our course discussion forum by visiting the Getting Help page.
• Remember to submit your lab preferences (not first-come-first-serve) between Tue Jun 25 12:00 am PDT and Wed Jun 26 11:59 pm PDT .

2. Intruder Detection

For this activity, you will investigate a simulated break-in and answer the questions below. Type your answers into the readme.txt file. For each, briefly describe (in 1-2 sentences) how you arrived at that answer and what Unix commands you used (text editor keyboard shortcuts (e.g. vim commands) do not classify as Unix commands).

Activity Learning Goals: In class we have taught you the basics of Unix: how to login to myth, how to make directories, and how to list files. In this activity, you will further develop your Unix skills by understanding how to use common Unix commands beyond what we know so far. The how-to's of many of the commands you will learn are available on our CS107 Unix guide, under "Handouts". We recommend you browse this guide as you complete this activity:

View Unix Guide

Situation: An intruder had broken into your dorm's unix-based server and deleted most of the files! Fortunately, there is a backup of the server contents, but before restoring the files, you'd like to know who the intruder was and what they did. With your newly-developed Unix skills, you are just the expert to help investigate.

The key files are available in the directory samples/server_files , which you can access within your assign0 directory.

The first thing you want to determine is the username of the intruder. The server is used by many different users. Each user has a home directory under home/ . For example, the home directory for the user bob would be the path home/bob . The file users.list contains a list of all the authorized users. In an uncompromised system, each home directory would correspond to a user on the authorized list and vice versa. The intruder is not an authorized user and they gained illicit access by inserting their own home directory onto the system. This means there is one home directory that doesn't belong, and your job is to find it.

Manually cross-comparing the users.list to the directory contents would be time-consuming. Instead, what Unix commands can you use to help? Check out the Unix guide for some ideas.

Hint: the samples/ folder and everything inside it is a shared, read-only folder for all students for this assignment. For this reason, you can't create any new files within samples , and you can't create new files outside of samples from within the samples folder. If you need to create a temporary file, try creating it directly inside your assign0 directory instead.

• What is the username of the intruder? Include the details on how you figured out the answer, and what Unix command(s) you used. You should use Unix commands as much as possible, even if other by-hand alternatives exist (as a clarification, commands within a text editor - e.g. vim - are not Unix commands).

Now that you know the intruder's username, you can examine the files in intruder's home directory to learn what they were up to. Though the intruder tried to delete all the home directory files as part of covering their tracks, you can see that this supposedly empty directory is still taking up space. Perhaps something interesting was overlooked?

Take a closer look to find out what files have been left behind. Open each of the files in the intruder's home directory to see their contents.

• There is one file in the intruder's home directory that provides critical information about their activities. What file is that and what does it contain? Include the details on how you figured out the answer, and what Unix command(s) you used. You should use Unix commands as much as possible, even if other by-hand alternatives exist (as a clarification, commands within a text editor - e.g. vim - are not Unix commands).

You believe that the intruder used sudo to execute some commands as a privileged user. You want to identify those commands, but the file is rather long to comb through by hand. What Unix command can you use to extract the information you seek?

• Which commands did the intruder execute using sudo ? Include the details on how you figured out the answer, and what Unix command(s) you used. You should use Unix commands as much as possible, even if other by-hand alternatives exist (as a clarification, commands within a text editor - e.g. vim - are not Unix commands).

3. C Introduction

The final task of the assignment gives you practice using the Unix development tools to edit, build, run, and test a short C program.

In your assign0 folder, type make . This will build the program named triangle . Run the program to see what it does:

You should be rewarded with an ascii representation of Sierpinski's triangle - cool! Try to run make again:

This isn't an error; it simply means that nothing has changed in the program's source, so there isn't anything to re-compile.

Open triangle.c in a text editor and change the value of the #define d value, DEFAULT_LEVELS above main from 3 to 5. After you have saved the file, you must then use make to re-build the program , and then you can run the newly built program to see the bigger triangle. If you forget to re-run make , you will run the original version of the program that has not been updated!

The starter code uses a fixed constant for the number of levels to print. Your task is to extend the program to take an optional command-line argument that allows the user to dictate the number of levels. With no arguments, ./triangle should default to a level 3 triangle, but the user should also be able to provide a numeric argument, e.g. ./triangle 4 or ./triangle 2 , to control the number of levels. If given an unworkable number of levels (anything larger than 8 gets unwieldy and negative would be nonsensical), your program should reject it with a helpful and explanatory message that informs the user how to correct their error, and then terminate early with an exit status of 1 (this indicates something went wrong with the program execution). The best function to do this is the error function; check out the manual pages ( man 3 error ) for more information about this function (Fun fact: man pages have information for both Unix commands and built-in C functions!) One note is that you should specify an errnum of 0 , since we don't need to print out an error message corresponding to a specific error code. Try to figure out the values for the remaining parameters. You must exactly match the error message of the sample solution . Note : You may assume that the user will enter an integer value, and do not have to worry about handling arguments that are not valid integers. If the user specifies multiple command-line arguments, you should use just the first one .

When applicable, you should define constants in your program rather than using "magic numbers", which are numbers hardcoded into your program. See the starter code for an example of how to do this in C.

In order to complete this task, the program will need to convert the user's argument (supplied in string form) into an integer. The C library function atoi can be used to do this. Review the man page ( man atoi ) or look in your C reference to get acquainted with this function.

Now let's test the program implementation. The Sanity Check tool is included in the assignment starter project, and acts as a testing aid. Read the guide to working on assignments for more information about how to use it.

The default sanitycheck for assign0 has one test that validates the output of the triangle program when given no argument. The unmodified starter program code should pass this test. After you have extended the triangle program to accept an argument, the program should continue to pass the default sanitycheck, but you will need new tests to validate the argument-handling.

You extend sanitycheck to test additional cases by using a custom tests file. The starter project includes a custom_tests file. Open this file in your editor to see the format. Now consider what additional test cases are needed to fully vet the output of your new, improved triangle program. You will need at least two additional tests. Add those tests to this custom_tests file and use these with sanitycheck to validate that your triangle program passes all tests. For more information about how to run your custom tests, check out the guide to working on assignments. For tips on thorough testing, check out our testing guide, linked to from the assignments dropdown.

Once you are finished working and have saved all your changes, check out the guide to working on assignments for how to submit your work. We recommend you do a trial submit in advance of the deadline to familiarize yourself with the process and allow time to work through any snags. You may submit as many times as you would like; we will grade the latest submission.

You should only need to modify the following files for this assignment: readme.txt , triangle.c , custom_tests .

We would also appreciate if you filled out this homework survey to tell us what you think once you submit. We appreciate your feedback!

The assignment is graded out of about 26 functionality points, plus a bucket grade for style. Full credit will be awarded for reasonable answers to the questions in the readme.txt file and a correct modification of triangle.c and custom_tests . This assignment is worth far fewer points than all of our other assignments. But, hey, we expect each and every one of you to earn all of the points on this one!

Post-Assignment Check-in

How did the assignment go for you? We encourage you to take a moment to reflect on how far you've come and what new knowledge and skills you have to take forward. Once you finish this assignment, you should have your environment configured and should be starting to feel comfortable with the command-line interface, navigating the filesystem, using a Unix text editor, and getting around Unix. You're off to a great start!

To help you gauge your progress, for each assignment/lab, we identify some of its takeaways and offer a few thought questions you can use as a self-check on your post-task understanding. If you find the responses don't come easily, it may be a sign a little extra review is warranted. These questions are not to be handed in or graded. You're encouraged to freely discuss these with your peers and course staff to solidify any gaps in your understanding before moving on from a task. They could also be useful as review for our exams.

• Identify a few different techniques to avoid painstakingly re-typing a long Unix command to execute.
• How do you copy and paste in your text editor?
• Explain the purpose and use of the CS107 tools sanitycheck and submit . How do you customize the tests used by sanity check?

Frequently Asked Questions

When i try to run the triangle program in my directory, it responds "command not found". what's wrong.

Unix wants you to instead refer to the program by its full name ./triangle . See our Unix guide for more information.

How do I use the sample executable? How does it relate to sanity check?

Our provided sample executable can be used a reference implementation during testing. Run the solution and your program on the same input and verify the output is the same:

If your program produces the same result as the sample, all is good. You can manually "eyeball" the two results, or run sanitycheck with the provided tests, or your own tests. You can find more information about sanity check in our guide to working on assignments.