Working with coding agents interview questions
6 questions across 2 sections, in the order you would learn them. Every answer here is one that works — but an answer you have read is not an answer you can give, so use Test yourself and say it out loud first.
What is actually being scored
Read the section that teaches thisIf this comes up in an interview
How do you use AI tools when writing code?
For scoped, well-understood pieces where I can review the result quickly: boilerplate, test scaffolding, a function with a clear contract. I keep the design and the structure myself, read every diff, and run tests before accepting anything. I do not delegate work I could not have written.
How do you make sure AI-generated code is correct?
Scope the request narrowly enough that the output is reviewable, read the diff rather than the summary, check it against the actual requirement rather than plausibility, and run tests. For anything non-trivial I write the test first so there is something objective to check against.
When do you not use an AI agent?
When I do not yet understand the problem, because I would be delegating the thinking rather than the typing. Also on anything security-sensitive or subtly stateful, where a plausible-looking wrong answer is expensive and hard to spot in review.
Practising the process
Read the section that teaches thisIf this comes up in an interview
You are given a large task and an AI agent. What do you do first?
Clarify the requirements and state my assumptions. Then get a plan and revise it before any code is generated. Then work in small pieces I can review properly. Generating first and understanding later is how you end up with code you cannot defend.
How do you review generated code?
Read the diff rather than the summary, check it against the requirement rather than plausibility, and pay particular attention to error handling and boundary cases, which is where generated code is usually weakest. Then run tests.
The agent produces working code you do not fully understand. What now?
Stop and understand it, or replace it with something I do. Shipping code nobody on the team understands is a liability, and in an interview it guarantees failing the part where the tool is taken away.
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