Adobe | MTS-2 (C++) | Interview Experience
I recently interviewed for an MTS-2 (C++) role at Adobe. The interview process consisted of 3 technical rounds, followed by the HR round.
Round 1: Core C++ & Multithreading
The round started with a brief introduction, after which the interviewer quickly moved into C++ and multithreading concepts.
Q1. Smart Pointers
- What are smart pointers?
- What are their different types?
- What are their use cases?
Follow-up:
- Can you demonstrate a memory leak while using smart pointers?
- How would you identify and resolve it?
I was able to answer the main question but struggled with one of the follow-ups.
Q2. Const Member Function
The interviewer provided a const member function and asked how I would count the number of times the function is called, considering that the function cannot modify the object's state directly.
Q3. Multithreading
- What is multithreading?
- Explain the difference between concurrency and parallelism.
Q4. Thread-Safe Producer-Consumer Queue
Design a thread-safe producer-consumer queue.
Follow-up:
What happens if none of the producer threads have started, while all the consumer threads have already entered the waiting state?
This discussion focused on condition variables, synchronization, and handling waiting threads correctly.
Q5. Rule of Five
Explain the Rule of Five in C++ and when it is required.
Overall, I was able to answer the questions well except for one follow-up related to smart pointers.
Round 2: DSA & Problem Solving
This round focused primarily on data structures, algorithms, and implementation.
Q1. Sort an Array of 0s, 1s, and 2s
Solve the problem efficiently without using a general-purpose sorting algorithm.
Q2. Reverse a Stack
Reverse a stack recursively without using any external data structure.
Q3. Shortest Path in a Grid
Find the shortest path from a given source to a destination in a grid.
Q4. Implement shared_ptr
Implement a simplified version of shared_ptr, including reference counting and appropriate memory management.
Round 3: System Design / LLD
The third round focused heavily on LLD, concurrency, design patterns, and debugging.
Q1. Design a Thread-Safe Message Queue
Design and implement a thread-safe message queue.
Follow-up:
What happens when the destructor of the queue is called while multiple threads are blocked/waiting on the queue?
This required thinking about thread lifecycle, condition variables, shutdown handling, and avoiding deadlocks.
Q2. Design MS Word
Design a simplified version of Microsoft Word supporting:
- Multiple font types
- Font styles
- Font sizes
- Text formatting
- Bold / Italic
- Images
- Undo / Redo functionality
The interviewer was particularly interested in how the design could be extended to support additional formatting/features while maintaining clean separation of responsibilities.
Q3. Debugging
The interviewer provided a couple of functions and asked me to identify the bugs.
One problem was related to a memory leak, while another involved a mutex/locking issue.
Overall Experience
The interview was heavily focused on Core C++, multithreading, memory management, DSA, LLD, and debugging.
The questions were practical and went beyond just theoretical knowledge, with several follow-ups testing how well I understood the underlying concepts.
Current Status: Don't know what happens after this
Topics I would recommend preparing
- Smart pointers and circular references
shared_ptr/weak_ptrimplementation- Rule of 5
constcorrectness- Virtual functions and destructors
- Mutexes and condition variables
- Producer-consumer problems
- Thread lifecycle and graceful shutdown
- Deadlocks and race conditions
- Memory leaks and debugging
- DSA fundamentals
- LLD and SOLID principles
- Undo/Redo design
- Thread-safe data structures
#Adobe #MTS2 #C++ #MAANG
