Questions Format in a Machine Coding Round?

Wondering what the questions format looks like in a Machine Coding Round?

In most Machine Coding Interviews, the interviewer shares the problem statement and requirements through a Google Doc or a similar shared document. You are then expected to understand the requirements, clarify any doubts, and implement the solution within the given time.

Common Machine Coding Questions¶

Some commonly asked problems include:

• Parking Lot
• Elevator System
• Movie Booking System
• Splitwise
• Vending Machine
• In-Memory Database
• Library Management System
• Rate Limiter
• Notification System
• Cab Booking System
• Chess Game
• Tic-Tac-Toe
• Shopping Cart
• Logger
• File System

How Does a Machine Coding Question Look?¶

A Machine Coding problem typically evolves through three parts.

Part 1: Basic Requirements¶

The first part covers the core requirements of the system.

For example, in a Parking Lot problem, you may need to:

• Park a vehicle
• Remove a vehicle
• Support different vehicle types
• Find available parking spots
• Calculate parking fees

The goal is to build a working solution with clean, well-structured code that supports basic CRUD operations while identifying the right entities and responsibilities.

Part 2: Bonus Requirements¶

Once the basic functionality is complete, the second part can add new bonus requirements.

For example:

• Add multiple payment methods
• Support different pricing strategies
• Handle concurrent parking requests

Now the interviewer evaluates whether your existing design can handle these changes without major code changes or duplication.

This is where OOP, SOLID principles, abstraction, and design patterns become important. It is also important to handle concurrency and race conditions correctly.

Part 3: Future Extensions¶

Finally, the third part may discuss how the system could evolve in the future.

For example:

• Support multiple layer parking.
• Support real time notifications to user

You may not need to implement all of these features. The interviewer wants to understand whether your design is flexible enough to support future requirements.

In Short¶

Part 1 → Make it work.
Part 2 → Make it extensible.
Part 3 → Think about how it can evolve.

The level of questions can vary by experience — 1–3 years vs 3–5 years vs 5+ years. What is expected as a bonus for a junior (1–3 years) may be part of the basic requirements for a mid-level (3–5 years), and so on as you go higher.

Regardless of level, the most important part is to cover the basic requirements well — with extensible, clean code and the right design.

That is what makes a Machine Coding Round different from a traditional coding or DSA interview.