How often are these problems asked?
Frequency scores are based on crowdsourced interview reports. A higher score means the problem has been reported more often in recent Box interviews.
Very Likely
75-100%
Likely
50-74%
Sometimes
25-49%
Rare
0-24%
Problem database last updated: June 20, 2025
B
Box Coding Interview Questions
6 problems · 2 Easy, 3 Medium, 1 Hard · Ranked #203 of 458
Difficulty breakdown
2 Easy
33% · avg 23%
3 Medium
50% · avg 59%
1 Hard
17% · avg 18%
Top topics
hash-table
33.3%1.5x
string
33.3%
heap-priority-queue
33.3%5.5x
breadth-first-search
33.3%4x
divide-and-conquer
16.7%4x
bit-manipulation
16.7%5x
Interview profile
Based on 6 reported problems, Box interviews are in line with industry averages - 17% Hard vs 18% overall.
Compared to the industry average, Box puts unusual emphasis on heap-priority-queue (33.3% of problems, 5.5x the industry average), breadth-first-search (33.3% of problems, 4x the industry average), hash-table (33.3% of problems, 1.5x the industry average). If you're short on time, these are the categories to double down on.
The most common topics are hash-table (33.3%), string (33.3%), heap-priority-queue (33.3%), breadth-first-search (33.3%). Problems below are sorted by frequency, the ones at the top are asked most often.
All 6 problems
| Problem | Difficulty | Frequency | Topics | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Number of 1 Bits Given a positive integer n, write a function that returns the number of set bits in its binary representation (also known as the Hamming weight). | Easy | Very Likely | divide-and-conquerbit-manipulation | Solve |
Top K Frequent Words Given an array of strings words and an integer k, return the k most frequent strings. | Medium | Very Likely | arrayhash-tablestring | Solve |
Word Ladder A transformation sequence from word beginWord to word endWord using a dictionary wordList is a sequence of words beginWord -> s1 -> s2 -> ... -> sk such that: | Hard | Very Likely | hash-tablestringbreadth-first-search | Solve |
Kth Largest Element in a Stream You are part of a university admissions office and need to keep track of the kth highest test score from applicants in real-time. This helps to determine cut-of... | Easy | Likely | treedesignbinary-search-tree | Solve |
Event Emitter Design an EventEmitter class. This interface is similar (but with some differences) to the one found in Node.js or the Event Target interface of the DOM. The Ev... | Medium | Likely | Solve | |
Redundant Connection In this problem, a tree is an undirected graph that is connected and has no cycles. | Medium | Likely | depth-first-searchbreadth-first-searchunion-find | Solve |
Number of 1 Bits
SolveGiven a positive integer n, write a function that returns the number of set bits in its binary representation (also known as the Hamming weight).
EasyVery Likely
divide-and-conquerbit-manipulation
Top K Frequent Words
SolveGiven an array of strings words and an integer k, return the k most frequent strings.
MediumVery Likely
arrayhash-tablestring
Word Ladder
SolveA transformation sequence from word beginWord to word endWord using a dictionary wordList is a sequence of words beginWord -> s1 -> s2 -> ... -> sk such that:
HardVery Likely
hash-tablestringbreadth-first-search
Kth Largest Element in a Stream
SolveYou are part of a university admissions office and need to keep track of the kth highest test score from applicants in real-time. This helps to determine cut-of...
EasyLikely
treedesignbinary-search-tree
Event Emitter
SolveDesign an EventEmitter class. This interface is similar (but with some differences) to the one found in Node.js or the Event Target interface of the DOM. The Ev...
MediumLikely
Redundant Connection
SolveIn this problem, a tree is an undirected graph that is connected and has no cycles.
MediumLikely
depth-first-searchbreadth-first-searchunion-find
Preparing for your Box coding interview
Box interviews focus heavily on hash-table, string, heap-priority-queue problems. If you're short on time, these are the categories to prioritize. The problems on this page are sorted by frequency, so start from the top and work your way down.
Beyond solving problems, practice explaining your approach. Box interviewers care about your thought process - how you break down a problem, consider edge cases, and evaluate tradeoffs between solutions. A clean O(n) solution you can explain clearly beats an O(log n) solution you can't articulate.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What coding problems does Box ask in interviews?add
Box has been reported to ask 6 distinct coding problems. The most common topics are hash-table, string, heap-priority-queue. 2 are Easy difficulty, 3 are Medium, and 1 are Hard. Problems are sorted by frequency - the ones at the top are asked most often.
How hard are Box coding interviews?add
Based on 6 reported problems, Box interviews are in line with industry averages - 17% Hard vs 18% overall. 50% of questions are Medium difficulty. Focus on the high-frequency Medium problems first, then work through the Hard ones.
How should I prepare for a Box coding interview?add
Start with the highest-frequency problems listed on this page. Focus on the core topics: hash-table, string, heap-priority-queue. Practice solving them under time pressure and explaining your approach out loud. Mock interviews with AI can simulate the real experience.
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