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ORACLE · SDE 1

Oracle SDE 1 interview

The SDE 1 (entry-level software engineer) level at Oracle is IC1–IC2 Software Developer / MTS, for new grads and engineers with up to about 2 years of experience. The rounds at this level, how each one is scored, and the questions to practise first.

From public candidate reports and Oracle's careers pages, checked November 2026. Processes vary by team. AlgoRung is not affiliated with Oracle.

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Oracle titleIC1–IC2 Software Developer / MTS
ExperienceNew grads and engineers with up to about 2 years of experience
Interviews after screeningAbout 4
System design roundYes

The SDE 1 rounds, in order

  1. Phone / recruiter screen · 45 min

    A recruiter call on your work history and why Oracle, sometimes with light technical questions.

    At SDE 1: Usually one medium problem. Explain your idea before coding and test by hand at the end.

  2. Online assessment · 90 min

    An online or live screen with one or two DSA problems that must pass every test; sometimes a design-pattern task.

    At SDE 1: The main filter for new grads and campus drives. Expect two medium problems, sometimes one hard. Passing all test cases on both usually gets you to the next round.

  3. Coding (DSA) × 2 · 60 min

    Rounds that mix DSA with grilling on past projects and Java or REST deep dives.

    At SDE 1: The largest part of the loop: often three coding rounds. Medium problems, sometimes one hard. Correct, clean code and clear reasoning matter more than speed.

  4. Low-level design / machine coding · 30 min

    Usually half a round: schema or class design.

    At SDE 1: Object-oriented design with clear classes and responsibilities. Working code matters more than patterns.

  5. Hiring manager · 60 min

    Project architecture, behavioral questions and sometimes a design prompt.

    At SDE 1: Motivation, learning, a project walk-through and sometimes CS fundamentals.

What Oracle interviewers look for

Coding questions to practise for Oracle SDE 1

The largest part of the loop: often three coding rounds. Medium problems, sometimes one hard. Correct, clean code and clear reasoning matter more than speed.

Difficulty
Topic
14 questions
  1. Group Anagrams Medium Arrays & Hashing also Amazon, Meta
  2. Next Greater Element I Easy Monotonic Stack also Adobe, Walmart Global Tech
  3. Search a 2D Matrix II (Young Tableau) Medium Binary Search
  4. Shortest Path in Binary Matrix Medium Graphs
  5. Merge Intervals Medium Intervals also Netflix, LinkedIn, Atlassian
  6. Missing Number Easy Bit Manipulation
  7. LRU Cache Medium Design Data Structures also Amazon, Microsoft, Apple +4
  8. Serialize and Deserialize Binary Tree Hard Trees & BST also Amazon, Meta, LinkedIn
  9. Minimum Window Substring Hard Arrays & Hashing also Google, Meta, LinkedIn
  10. Course Schedule Medium Graphs also Google, Amazon, Netflix +1
  11. 01 Matrix Medium Graphs
  12. Linked List Cycle Easy Linked List
  13. Product of Array Except Self Medium Arrays & Hashing also Meta
  14. Continuous Subarray Sum Medium Arrays & Hashing also Adobe

How the coding round is scored · The online assessment

System design at SDE 1

IC2 loops usually stop at LLD or schema design. From IC3 up, expect at least one HLD round plus an architecture walkthrough of your current project; at IC4, architecture matters more than puzzles.

All Oracle system design questions

Questions people ask

How many rounds are in the Oracle SDE 1 interview?

About 4 interviews after the screening: phone / recruiter screen, online assessment, coding (dsa), low-level design / machine coding, hiring manager.

Is there a system design round for Oracle SDE 1?

Yes. IC2 loops usually stop at LLD or schema design. From IC3 up, expect at least one HLD round plus an architecture walkthrough of your current project; at IC4, architecture matters more than puzzles.

What coding questions does Oracle ask at SDE 1?

The same question pool is used across levels; the bar rises with level. Most reported: Group Anagrams, Next Greater Element I, Search a 2D Matrix II (Young Tableau), Shortest Path in Binary Matrix, Merge Intervals.

What does Oracle expect in coding rounds at SDE 1?

The largest part of the loop: often three coding rounds. Medium problems, sometimes one hard. Correct, clean code and clear reasoning matter more than speed.

SDE 1 interviews at other companies

SDE 1 interview questions across all companies · Behavioral questions