Data Analyst · Senior · Theory

You have a pandas script that processes a 20 GB CSV file, and it runs out of memory on a machine with 32 GB of RAM. What would you do?

~4 min by voice

How to approach it

The interviewer wants to see whether you understand why pandas inflates data in memory and whether you can solve the problem systematically: measure first, then cut the volume (columns, types, chunks), then change the format or the tool to fit the task, rather than just asking for more hardware.

Have you seen this question in a real interview?

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Topics

python pandas

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Answer by voice

The interviewer will ask this question and listen. Think out loud and ask for a hint if you need one. When you're done, pause or tap “That's my answer”. In about a minute, your score and the points you covered show up here.

Best with headphones · ~4 min