Hi Friends This is Rakesh pursuing IIIrd BTech from D.M.S S.V.H College of Engineering, Machilipatnam in CSE Stream.

First of all I would like to thank this site and all the students who had kept previous papers of Sonata which was indeed very helpful for me. I advice all of you to refer previous papers as a few bits will be repeated. I am here to share my experiences while attending the Sonata selection process. Sonata came to GEC on 22nd May, 2008. Around 450 students from 4 different colleges attended the selection process, and 7 students were selected. We reported at 8:00AM and the selection process started at 9:00AM. The selection process involves 5 Rounds. First Round: APTITUDE ROUND In this round they have given 50 questions which you have to answer in 12 minutes. In this round the most important thing is speed and accuracy. You should not waste even a second after you are given the paper. Some are multiple choice questions and some are fill in the blank type. You will be given an answer sheet where you have to mark your answer for multiple choice questions and write the answer for fill in the blank type questions. 4 Sets of papers (All are of equal depth) will be given to the students. So students adjacent to each other will receive a different question paper which consists of different questions. The question paper demands knowledge in 1. General Mathematics (Like calculating costs of items from given data say 1 pen this much 220 pens how much? identifying the odd one, Simple calculations etc.) 2. English : Words often confused(Why because they will give two words and ask us to identify the relation between them whether they are synonyms, antonyms or no relation etc), Idioms and Phrases(They will give a sentence and ask you to choose the meaning of the sentence from the given four options.). 3. Analytical: Syllogism based questions (Simple ones), Coding etc. Bits like Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh then they will give four options; we have to select one option which is similar in nature as above given statement. Here the relation between the two words is Hyderabad is capital city of Andhra Pradesh. First you have to identify the easy bits and answer them. Then you should concentrate on others. There will be around 25 bits which u can solve in 4-5 minutes (Very easy ones). Do them accurately, 65% of the job is done. Then concentrate on bits which you know how to solve and finally tick something for the bits that you dont know how to solve as there is no negative marking. Out of 450 students 60 were selected in Ist round of written test. SECOND ROUND: Technical Written (C/C++) 30 bits will be given and you have to answer them in 30 minutes. All are of multiple choice type .Our paper covered bits from different areas in C and C++. I remembered only a few bits which I am posting it here. Bits like: A bit on how a c program is executed. Refer Yashavanth Kanethkars let us C text book in which the whole process is clearly given X.c-> -> X.exe. In the question you will be asked to tick the correct sequence of execution. A bit on macros #define cube(x) x*x*x. You have to replace this code and follow the order of execution Eg:#define cube(x) x*x*x main() {

int a; a=6/cube(6)*6; printf( a=%da); } What is the output of the above program? Ans:216. (6/6*6*6*6 -> 1*6*6*6 ->216). Here order of precedence should be considered. Just substitute that macro instead of cube(6) as 6*6*6 but dont directly substitute 216 in the statement. Refer Yashavanth Kanethkars Test Ur C skills. U can find a lot of bits of this kind. 3)strstr is a function belonging to which header file <String.h> 4)A bit on priority of operators. You will be given four choices with different priorites from which you have to select the statement with correct priority. Ans) Arithmetic operators>Relational Operatoirs>Logical Operators>Assignment Operators. 5) A bit on switch case which is little tricky. Please refer Test your c skills by yashavanth Kanethkars text chapter 2: Control Structures. 6) A few bits on pointers. Same refer Test your C skills. 7) Difference between malloc() and calloc() statements. 8) A bit on Command line arguments.Its very easy one.He has a given a command line argument and asked us to give the no.of arguments passed. (Refer test your c skills.) myprog 1 2 main(int argc, char *argv[]) { . .. } How many arguments are passed to main. 1)2 2)3 3)10 4)8. Ans.Opt2. myprogram,1,2 are the three arguments that are passed to main. 9) A bit on scope and life time of variables (Refer Let us C by yashavanth kanetkar text book chapter: Storage classes in c for better understanding). 10)A bit on array int array[5]={1,2,3}; Then what is a[4] Ans:0 Why because a[0]=1,a[1]=2,a[2]=3 The remaining are automatically taken as 0.So a[3],a[4] are taken as 0. 11)A bit on for loop. You should clearly understand the syntax and semantic of for loop to solve that bit. 12)Which of the following occupies less memory (Consider the platform as Windows.So char-1 byte,

int 2 bytes, float -4 bytes) 1)some structure will be given struct a{int a,b;float c;}; 2)union b{int a,b;float c;} 3)char a[10]; 4)int a,b,c,d; Ans: Opt1 occupies (2*2+4)=8 bytes Option 2 occupies only 4 bytes as Union allocates memory for the largest data type in its members. In this case memory for float c is allocated. Option 3 occupies 10 bytes. Option 4 occupies 8 bytes. Opt 2. Is the answer. 13)A bit on enum. 14)main() { int n=3; If(n=5) printf (Hyderabad); else printf(Vijayawada); //Of course it is not exactly given as Hyderabad and Vijayawada bit something else . which I didnt remember } What is the output of the program? 1) Hyderabad 2) Vijayawada 3) Error .. Ans) Opt 1 Why because we used n=5 here which is a non Zero value i.e. TRUE, Hence if (TRUE) then First statement will be executed. Hence Hyderabad is printed. 15)There is a bit like this main() { int a=10,b=0,c=5 If ( a && b || c) printf(This is X); else printf(This is Y); } Output: This is X. Since a&&b yields False. But False || True. Hence the whole statement becomes true. (a=10 is a non zero value and hence true,b is 0 and hence false,c is 5 which is a non zero value and hence is true. T&&F=F and F||T=T. Hence the statement becomes true.) 16) main() { int a=10,b=11,c;

c=a&b; printf(The value of c is %d,c); } What is the output: 1)10 2)20 3)0 4)ERROR. Ans.Opt.1 Since The operator used above is a bit wise operator. Hence we have to convert a and b into bits (Binary format). a=10-------->1010 b=11-------->1011 And a&b--------->1010. The value is 10. Every bit that I have presented here is not given as it is in the exam, but with little changes, I have covered the exact concept. These are all the bits that I remembered in c. But if you refer Test your c skills. Its like a cake walk for you to solve them. C++: A bit on Inheritance concept. A bit on Access specifiers concept. A bit on order of creation of Constructors for objects. Always objects are created from base class to derived class. A bit on Destructors. A bit on virtual functions. I dont remember the way bits are given in c++, But if you go through the theory in above topics you can easily solve the bits. To solve these bits you need clear understanding of above concepts like Inheritance, Access specifiers, Constructors, Destructors, Virtual functions. C++ bits are relatively very easier than c. To practice c++ bits please refer Test your c++ skills by yashavanth Kanethkar. Next is General English: Its very easy.30 Questions will be given and u have to solve them in 20 minutes. Fill in the blanks (like prepositions, articles) etc will be given. Fill in the blank with appropriate word will be given. We will be given two letters containing some blanks in the middle and you need to fill those blanks with some sentences that match the situation. Our first letter is - a person will write a letter to his friend quoting the reasons (My brother recently met with an accident and hence I was unable to make it to the party and so on) for which he was unable to attend his Birth day party. The other letter is This friend will write to this person saying how he has celebrated his birthday. In this conversation You will be given some blanks and u have to fill in those blanks .Eg:1) Hope your brother will ___________. Ans is recover soon. Eg2) Convey my _________ Ans is regards to your parents. The answer may be anything that is apt in that place. Like this we were given some 10 fill in the blanks. 5 bits will be given of the following type: Eg1: In front of Office room you will find this: Leave your footwear outside 2) Walk slowly 3) No parking Choose the right option. Ans: Opt1.

There is letter writing: Write an e-mail to your superior requesting him to grant leave for two days because of your personal reasons. Refer some formal letters in net. You will get an Idea on them. Its very easy. Paragraph writing: You must write at least 10 lines on one topic from the given 5 topics (choice 1/5). The topics are 1) Integrity in workspace 2)5 qualities an employee should have. I remembered only these two topics. For English, you dont need any kind of preparation if you are good at basics. This is all about second round.18 people cleared this round. Third Round: Group Discussion 18 members are divided in to two batches. Each batch has 9 members. Almost 20 minutes of time is given to each team. Everybody is given a chance to conclude their own views. They will provide you a paper to note down your points in the first 1 minute. Just write 1 word related to every point so that you can put all your points while you are speaking without forgetting anything .Its very easy round if you are good at communicating. Be clear and to the point. Dont deviate from the topic. Never feel nervous. HR will give be judging the team. Never look at the Judge while you are in the GD. Always maintain eye contact with team members. Always try to initiate the discussion, otherwise somebody may tell points which you thought of saying. But dont worry if u dont get a chance to initiate, Iam the seventh member to speak but still got selected. The only thing is you should give your points in a clear way. If everybody is talking continuously and not giving you chance, then simply raise your hand and say Friends everybody should be given a chance to speak. Now its my time to share my views. If you are cool you can get a lot of points in your mind, otherwise you will forget what you know. Speak confidently with a smiling face. Thats it. If you have these points in mind you can get through this round. After GD 10 members were selected for Interview. Iam the only student from our college. Fourth Round: Technical Interview This is the most deciding round of the whole process. They want people who are technically sound. Now I am not only going to give the questions that are asked to me but also the technical interview experiences of almost all of our selected ten candidates that I came to know with a little Interaction with them. I am the last candidate to be interviewed. I take this opportunity to thank Hari Krishna, Neher, Ravi Kiran, Meher Deepthi, and Supraja for sharing their interview experiences with me. If you are from Non IT branch, It is enough to have knowledge in c,c++,os and all your core subjects. But students from computer science background need to be thorough with all our subjects (cse related). Tech Questions: Question: What all did you learnt in your Engineering? (Common question to everybody.) Physics: Some problems on Kinematics. Eg: If a stone and a stop watch are given to you and asked to find the height of the tower, how will you find. Ans. Leave the stone from the top of the tower and calculate the time taken to reach ground. S=ut+ (1/2)at2 For a freely falling body, initial velocity u=0,t=time taken to reach ground(That u found using stop watch.) and acceleration a=g(For a freely falling body). This way u can find height (S). A few more problems like this which you can solve easily. Be thorough with all the formulae in Kinematics.[other equations are v2-u2=2as, v=u+at.] Chemistry: Some questions on periodic table. Just refer Periodic table and identify the characteristics of elements. (Dont go in depth.)

What are reversible and irreversible reactions? Give an example. Dont get panic. Even if u doesnt remember it is not a big problem. Say u doesnt remember. Or Say Sorry. They will just see your confidence while answering these questions. Mathematics: Some questions on permutations and combinations, Probability. Engineering Drawing: What is orthogonal view? What is Isometric view? EDC: What are semiconductors? What are p-type semiconductors and what are n-type semiconductors? Why Germanium and silicon are used in semiconductors? What is valency of silicon? DLD: Truth tables of NAND, NOR, EX-OR, AND, OR. Gates for NAND, NOR, EX-OR, AND, OR. If possible go through all the basic definitions in Basic Electronics.(capacitor,Inductor,Current,Voltage,Resistance,Transformer,Transistor etc.). C Language: What do you know about C language? I spent almost 10-15 minutes in answering this question. Write any sorting algorithm? You may be asked to write any sorting algorithm. (Insertion Sort, Selection Sort, Bubble Sort, Shell sort, Quick Sort etc.).What is the best sorting algorithm and why? Write a searching technique in c? What are the differences between Header files and Library functions? Library functions consist of executable code where as Header files just consist of Declarations. Write a program to concatenate two strings without using built in functions. (It is better if u prepare to write code using pointers for all library functions in strings. Like strcat, strcpy, strrev, strcmp etc). What is portability? What is difference between c and c++. Did you write any program in c which you felt proud of???? Try to write any application. Dont say simple programs like palindrome, abundant nos, perfect no, deficient no, even or odd, prime no, Armstrong no, strong no. etc if you are from computers background. Write a program to print the prime numbers between 1 to 100. (The code must be efficient.) I used two loops.Print 2 first.Dont check the condition for even numbers(as 2 is the only even prime ).Check only for odd numbers.Hint: for(i=3;i<=99;i+=2) for(j=2;j<=i/2;j++). DBMS: What is DBMS? What is Normalization? Why is Normalization done? What are different Normal Forms and explain each. Small queries in sql.(Go through the basics in SQL.) Software Engineering: What is Software Engineering? What is SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle)? And what are the stages in it. Explain each stage. What are different process models? Which is the best process model and why? What is static testing and what is dynamic testing? Java: What are the differences between c++ and Java?

Where is Java most useful? What is JVM? What is platform dependency? What are scripting languages? Be thorough with definitions in them (html? xml? etc). UNIX commands: If you are from computer science background, you must be thorough with UNIX commands. One of my friends were asked commands in UNIX, She was able to answer only a few commands but still got selected. Dont get panic when you are unable to answer in some area. It is better to know UNIX commands. Computer Organization: Explain memory management? Operating Systems: Be thorough with all the basic definitions What is OS? What is a deadlock? What is a Semaphore? What is paging? What are different scheduling algorithms? Explain? What is cache memory? What is virtual memory? What is a thread? What is multithreading, multitasking? Differences between Windows and Linux? Projects: If you have done any projects. They will ask you to explain. They will ask the reasons for which you have chosen this platform(c,c++,.net or java) to do the project. HR Round: Why should we recruit you? (Common question asked to everybody) Tell me about yourself? Tell me about your family background? If you are from non IT branch-Then they will ask you why do you want to join in a software company.?Be careful while answering this question. Dont say that salaries are high. You can say like this-- As software field requires people who are more innovative and who are good problem solvers and who can accustom to changes, Iam sure that Iam having all these qualities and can easily learn the required technical skills for being a software Engineer.(One way of answering the question). One thing I would like to mention is dont try to bluff the interviewer. When You dont know something, Say sincerely sorry. Be cool throughout the interview. Make some study on the company before attending the interview. Listen carefully to the power point presentation given by the HR during the pre placement talk in your college. Note down the points as you cant remember all the points till the interview. These points will help you to answer some HR questions. Dont put what you dont know in your resume. Be thorough with your resume. Hope this paper will help all the students who are attending for Sonata Software Limited. I take this opportunity to thank my parents, who gave me a lot of encouragement throughout my life. I also thank faculty and my friends who are always there behind my success. Finally I am grateful to GOD for his blessings. All the best and see you all at Sonata Software Limited.