Python Interview Questions – Based on Texas
Instruments Internship
Q: Which Python libraries did you use in your automation scripts?
A: I used Python's built-in libraries such as re (regex) for pattern matching, csv for structured output,
argparse for command-line argument parsing, os and sys for file handling and path management,
and datetime for timestamp processing. I also used pandas for certain tabular data processing
tasks when analyzing large CSV reports.
Q: How do you handle very large log files in Python without running out of memory?
A: I use a streaming approach by reading files line-by-line using a for loop or iterators instead of
loading the entire file into memory. I also use compiled regex patterns for faster matching and break
early when the required data is found.
Q: What is the benefit of using 'with open(...) as file' in Python?
A: It ensures that files are properly closed after their block of code is executed, even if an error
occurs. It makes code cleaner and less error-prone compared to manually opening and closing
files.
Q: How did you parse Tarmac trace logs in your scripts?
A: I used regex to search for patterns corresponding to PUSH/POP instructions, memory writes, or
function calls. Each line was scanned for specific keywords or address formats, and matching lines
were processed to extract register names, values, and timestamps.
Q: What is argparse and how did you use it?
A: Argparse is a Python module for parsing command-line arguments. I used it to allow users to
pass parameters like test names, log file paths, or output CSV file names when running my scripts.
Q: How did you generate CSV reports from your Python scripts?
A: I used Python's csv.writer to create CSV files, writing each row as a list of values. In some cases,
I used pandas.DataFrame.to_csv for more complex tabular outputs.
Q: How do you optimize Python scripts for performance when processing logs?
A: I minimize function calls in tight loops, use list comprehensions where possible, compile regex
patterns beforehand, and use dictionaries for fast lookups instead of repeated list searches.
Q: How did you debug your Python scripts during development?
A: I used print statements for quick checks, Python's built-in logging module for structured logs, and
pdb (Python debugger) for stepping through execution when needed.
Q: How can you make Python scripts portable across different environments?
A: By avoiding hard-coded paths, using os.path.join for file paths, and checking for dependencies
before execution. I also wrote scripts to work with both Python 3.6+ versions.
Q: How do you handle errors in Python scripts?
A: I use try-except blocks to catch and handle exceptions gracefully, logging the error details and
continuing execution when possible, instead of crashing the program.
Q: What are some file handling best practices in Python?
A: Always use 'with open' for automatic closing, specify the correct encoding when reading/writing
text files, and check if files exist before attempting to open them.
Q: How do you test Python scripts for correctness?
A: I create small, controlled log files with known results and verify that my scripts produce the
expected output. I also compare results with manual calculations for validation.
Q: How did you modularize your code for maintainability?
A: I split the scripts into functions for specific tasks, placed common utilities in separate helper files,
and documented each function with docstrings.
Q: How did you ensure your Python scripts worked for multiple ARM cores?
A: I used configuration files or dictionaries mapping core types (CM0+, CM3, CM33) to their specific
settings, avoiding code duplication.
Q: Can you explain how regex helped in your automation tasks?
A: Regex allowed me to match specific instruction formats, memory addresses, and register names
in large text logs without manually parsing each line character-by-character.
Q: How do you handle timestamp comparisons in Python?
A: I parse timestamps as datetime objects or integers representing cycles, then subtract them to
compute durations.
Q: How did you integrate your Python scripts into the SoC DV workflow?
A: I wrote post-processing scripts that ran automatically after simulation, triggered by test
configuration files, so engineers didn’t have to run them manually.
Q: What are lambda functions and did you use them?
A: Lambda functions are small anonymous functions defined with the lambda keyword. I
occasionally used them for quick inline sorting or filtering of parsed data.
Q: What is the difference between '==' and 'is' in Python?
A: '==' checks for value equality, while 'is' checks for object identity (whether two variables point to
the same object in memory).
