Preparing for the Coding Interview

Most helpful resources

★★★★★ Blind 75 & Neetcode's YouTube Playlist

There are thousands of coding questions to study from, which can make it very difficult to prioritize. The Blind 75 is a list of questions that's been distilled down to cover the most common patterns found in solutions. Neetcode has a great YouTube Playlist that has excellent explanations to these questions.

★★★★★ seanprashad's Tips to Consider

This is an easy to memorize outline of what type of data structures and algorithms to use under certain scenarios:

https://github.com/seanprashad/leetcode-patterns#tips-to-consider

★★★★☆ Leetcode.com with filters.

Leetcode allows questions to be filtered by company. For example, there is a filter specifically for Facebook.

"I did the top 70-100 from Meta's most frequent in the past six months list, and all the coding questions I got on the interview were quite similar to those I did." --Xecp02 on Blind

Leetcode also lets you sort by difficulty. Note, sort by acceptance rate instead of using Leetcode's labels (Easy, Medium, Hard). Some Medium questions are actually Easy, and vice-versa. To build your confidence, start with the easiest questions and work your way up.

★★★★☆ Algo Monster Problem Stats

This guide shows a breakdown of what types of questions companies ask: https://algo.monster/problems/stats

Use this to help prioritize your preparation. For example, Google is more likely to ask Dynamic Programming questions than Facebook.

★★★★☆ TechInterviewHandbook.org Algorithm Tips

This guide gives very specific tips for handling certain types of algorithms: https://www.techinterviewhandbook.org/algorithms/introduction

Other tips

Prioritize

The surface area for the problems is huge. To save time:

Focus on interview preparation guides instead of general algorithm/data structure books (e.g., The Algorithm Design Manual).
Using Leetcode with heavy filters is sufficient. No need to use multiple platforms concurrently.

Stay motivated

Preparing for the coding interview is an investment for future interviews with FAANG-tier companies. Unfortunately these coding interviews are becoming a standardized part of the tech industry. There is also a growing business market focused on coding interview preparation. CalTech now even has a dedicated class to coding prep.

Don't rush a solution

If you receive a question you previously saw and know the answer to, then try walking through the problem with fresh eyes. Some people shared their experience with getting rejected for answering too quickly.

Learn from others

People most anecdotes of how they prepared to successfully receive an offer. Here are some:

Preparation that led to a Facebook offer

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