AMCAT Automata Test Questions and Answers: Comprehensive Guide for Success

The AMCAT Automata Test is designed to assess your programming skills beyond basic code correctness. It evaluates your understanding of key concepts like algorithms, data structures, recursion, dynamic memory allocation, and modular programming. A good performance in this test can greatly enhance your chances during the recruitment process, as many leading IT companies consider the Automata Test a benchmark for evaluating candidates’ coding proficiency. In this guide, we’ll explore some common AMCAT Automata questions, share solutions, and offer tips to help you prepare.

Overview of the AMCAT Automata Test

The AMCAT Automata Test typically consists of two programming questions:

• Easy-level question: A question designed to test basic problem-solving skills.
• Hard-level question: A more challenging problem that tests deeper knowledge of algorithms and data structures.

Easy-Level Questions (Basic Problem-Solving Skills)

1. Find the Largest Number
   • Problem: Write a program that takes three integers as input and prints the largest of the three.
   • Input: a = 5, b = 10, c = 3
   • Output: 10
   • Concept Used: Conditional statements (if-else).
2. Sum of Digits
   • Problem: Given an integer, find the sum of its digits.
   • Input: n = 1234
   • Output: 10 (1+2+3+4)
   • Concept Used: Loops and arithmetic operations.
3. Check Even or Odd
   • Problem: Write a program that checks whether a given number is even or odd.
   • Input: n = 15
   • Output: Odd
   • Concept Used: Modulus operator (%).
4. Reverse a String
   • Problem: Given a string, print its reverse.
   • Input: "hello"
   • Output: "olleh"
   • Concept Used: String manipulation.
5. Factorial Calculation
   • Problem: Write a function to calculate the factorial of a given number.
   • Input: n = 5
   • Output: 120 (5! = 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1)
   • Concept Used: Recursion or loops.

Hard-Level Questions (Advanced Algorithms & Data Structures)

1. Find the Missing Number in an Array
   • Problem: Given an array containing n-1 numbers from 1 to n with one number missing, find the missing number.
   • Input: [1, 2, 4, 5, 6]
   • Output: 3
   • Concept Used: Mathematical formula or XOR approach.
2. Longest Substring Without Repeating Characters
   • Problem: Given a string, find the length of the longest substring without repeating characters.
   • Input: "abcabcbb"
   • Output: 3 ("abc")
   • Concept Used: Sliding Window Technique.
3. Find the Majority Element
   • Problem: Given an array of size n, find the element that appears more than n/2 times.
   • Input: [3, 3, 4, 2, 3, 3, 3, 1]
   • Output: 3
   • Concept Used: Boyer-Moore Voting Algorithm.
4. Merge Two Sorted Arrays Without Extra Space
   • Problem: Given two sorted arrays, merge them in a sorted manner without using extra space.
   • Input: arr1 = [1, 4, 7, 8], arr2 = [2, 3, 5, 6]
   • Output: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]
   • Concept Used: Two Pointers Technique.
5. Find the Kth Smallest Element in an Unsorted Array
   • Problem: Given an unsorted array, find the k-th smallest element.
   • Input: arr = [7, 10, 4, 3, 20, 15], k = 3
   • Output: 7
   • Concept Used: Min-Heap or QuickSelect Algorithm.

Candidates can write the program in any programming language, as the Automata 2.0 software supports multiple languages. The test evaluates:

• Correctness: Does the code run correctly for all test cases?
• Complexity: How optimized is your code?
• Run-time Errors: Does your program handle errors and exceptions correctly?
• Industry Compatibility: Does your approach align with real-world industry standards?

The code is evaluated based on its performance on basic, advanced, and boundary test cases.

AMCAT Automata Question 1: Print Distinct Elements of Two Arrays

Problem Statement: Given two arrays, print all the distinct elements from both arrays and the total count of distinct elements.

Input:

• Arr1 = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
• Arr2 = {2, 6, 8, 10}

Approach: This can be solved by checking for distinct elements in both arrays and printing them.

C Code Solution:

#include<stdio.h>

int Not_common(int *arr1, int *arr2, int l1, int l2) {
    int count = 0, flag1, i, j;
    for(i = 0; i < l1; i++) {
        flag1 = 0;
        for(j = 0; j < l2; j++) {
            if(arr1[i] == arr2[j]) {
                flag1 = 1; break;
            }
        }
        if(flag1 == 0) {
            count++;
            printf("%d, ", arr1[i]);
        }
    }

    for(i = 0; i < l2; i++) {
        flag1 = 0;
        for(j = 0; j < l1; j++) {
            if(arr2[i] == arr1[j]) {
                flag1 = 1; break;
            }
        }
        if(flag1 == 0) {
            count++;
            printf("%d, ", arr2[i]);
        }
    }
    return count;
}

int main() {
    int len1 = 5, len2 = 4, result, i;
    int arr1[] = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}, arr2[] = {2, 6, 8, 10};
    result = Not_common(arr1, arr2, len1, len2);
    printf("\nTotal distinct elements: %d\n", result);
    return 0;
}

Output:

1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 
Total distinct elements: 7

AMCAT Automata Question 2: Remove Vowels from a String Using Pointers

Problem Statement: Remove all vowels from the given string using pointers in C.

Input:

• String: FOCUS ACADEMY

Approach: This can be achieved by traversing the string with pointers and removing vowels.

C Code Solution with Pointers:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>

#define TRUE 1
#define FALSE 0

int check_vowel(char);

int main() {
    char string[100], *temp, *pointer, ch, *start;
    gets(string);  // Input the string
    
    temp = string;
    pointer = (char*)malloc(100);
    
    if (pointer == NULL) {
        exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
    }
    
    start = pointer;

    while (*temp) {
        ch = *temp;
        if (!check_vowel(ch)) {
            *pointer = ch;
            pointer++;
        }
        temp++;
    }

    *pointer = '\0';  // End the modified string
    pointer = start;
    strcpy(string, pointer);  // Copy back the modified string
    free(pointer);

    printf("Modified string: %s\n", string);
    return 0;
}

int check_vowel(char a) {
    if (a >= 'A' && a <= 'Z') {
        a = a + 'a' - 'A';  // Convert to lowercase if uppercase
    }
    if (a == 'a' || a == 'e' || a == 'i' || a == 'o' || a == 'u') {
        return TRUE;
    }
    return FALSE;
}

Output:

Modified string: FCS CDMY

Tips and Strategies for the AMCAT Automata Test

To excel in the AMCAT Automata Test, follow these strategies:

1. Understand the Basics: Make sure you’re comfortable with basic programming concepts like loops, conditionals, and arrays.
2. Learn Recursion: Practice recursion as many Automata problems require recursive solutions.
3. Dynamic Memory Allocation: Ensure you’re familiar with memory management, especially when dealing with pointers and arrays.
4. Optimize Code: Focus on writing optimized code with minimal time and space complexity. Avoid redundant calculations.
5. Test Thoroughly: After writing your code, test it against different test cases, including edge cases, to ensure robustness.

Conclusion

The AMCAT Automata Test is a crucial part of the recruitment process for IT companies, assessing your coding skills and ability to solve real-world problems. By practicing coding problems, understanding core concepts, and following efficient problem-solving approaches, you can significantly improve your chances of acing the test.