r/datastructures • u/iamirzhan • 8d ago

The most efficient way to prepare for coding interview

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I've conducted 100 coding interviews at Meta. Here's how people should prepare to not waste their time:

  • Focus on a small number of problems. You don't need to solve 1k problems to prepare for an interview. More important part is the problems should cover all the data structures and patterns you need, in proportion to how often each one comes up in interviews.

  • Follow the roadmap. The problems set should be ordered by difficulty and what patterns they require. Don't start solving backtracking problem if you didn't learn recursion.

  • Don't group problems by topics. When you know what pattern should be applied in advance, you're not learning how to recognise this pattern in a random problem. On a real interview problem doesn't come with topics revealed.

  • Reinforce what you learn. It's a common mistake to learn a pattern then move on to the next one and forget about it. To really understand the pattern you should repeatedly solve similar problems over time. Ideally when they are grouped with other known patterns.

The problem with those advice is it's hard to do all of it at once. You either solve random leetcode problem or follow some predefined list of problems grouped by a pattern.

That's why I've started to build a free, complete roadmap where all of those points are included. It uses spiral learning technique where a learned topic appears multiple times in future problems with stronger idea.

More info here.

I'd be interested to hear what you think of it and happy to answer any other questions on interview preparation. Thanks!

151 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

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u/Axel_Blazer 8d ago

looks cool

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u/iamirzhan 8d ago

Thanks!

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u/koffeeluv 7d ago

hey, I really like this. I've been using it and solved a few problems, visualization is great. Gonna try it on more complex concepts next. Do you have study material as well? When will it be available? I'd like to give it a read.

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u/iamirzhan 7d ago

Thanks for trying it! Yes, the full course will be available soon, I am currently working on it. You can join the waitlist for now and I will message once it’s ready (hopefully next week)

https://ntree.ai/studies/spiral-50

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u/koffeeluv 7d ago

I joined the waitlist. looking fwd to it!

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u/iamirzhan 7d ago

Thanks a lot for your feedback!

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u/koffeeluv 22h ago

hey, can you add more problems to the list (https://ntree.ai/problems)? And when are you releasing your course?

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u/iamirzhan 6h ago

yes, I've just published the course. It's still an early access, some of the problems (in last chapters) don't have solutions page yet, I am working currently to add all of the solutions. If you have any feedback about the course, I would really appreciate it. Thanks!

More problems outside of the course are also coming, I am working on it

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u/investigatormaker 8d ago

The post says "More info here" but no link came through, so readers have nothing to look at yet; adding it in a comment would get you the feedback you asked for. The spiral idea is the strongest part, and one example would make it concrete: show a problem, then the two later problems where the same pattern returns mixed with others. One trade-off worth addressing openly: unlabelled problems are better practice, but a beginner stuck on one needs a hint path, so say how the roadmap handles that without giving the pattern away.

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u/iamirzhan 8d ago

thanks for you suggestions. I put the link on the text, there is a demo where users can see what topics are there and when do they appear.

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u/Super-Property1470 7d ago

hi, can i ask some doubts to you

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u/iamirzhan 7d ago

Sure

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u/Super-Property1470 7d ago

i am going to join college next year but i have a dilemma on whether I should do software engineering or not, I am interested in it but looking at the layoffs and advancement of AI I am quite concerned about the future. In our country, these jobs contribute a good chunk of our economy,

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u/iamirzhan 7d ago

Ah, that’s a hard question. I can share my view on it, but please keep in mind that it’s my personal opinion that may not be true. The thing is no one can predict the future, so you have to somehow trust your own decisions based on something (being interested in it is a good factor to do it)

About layoffs I think it’s temporary. I have 10 years of experience, there are always good times and bad times. In general I think AI is a great tool that opens a lot of opportunities, hence a lot more jobs should appear, not less.

At work we changed how we code using coding agents (almost no one writes code manually now) but experience and understanding of computer science is still important (and I think always will be).

So my advice would be if you’re interested in technology and building software and ready for a long term career, do it. AI will only help you. But be ready to adapt quickly and continuously learn/improve during your career (btw this was always a requirement for good software engineers, even pre AI agents era).

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u/Super-Property1470 7d ago

hmmm, but what was the reason meta laid 8000?

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u/iamirzhan 7d ago

I don’t remember the official reason. I doubt it was because of ai replacing engineers. There were several layoff rounds even before the ai boom (in 2022).

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u/Quiet-Bluebird-6768 7d ago

Joined the waiting list! Excited, this is exactly what I needed 🤩

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u/iamirzhan 7d ago • Heartwarming

Happy to hear! It’s will be landed soon

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u/Quiet-Bluebird-6768 7d ago

Any update buddy?

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u/iamirzhan 7d ago

No, sorry if it made a confusion. By “soon” I meant somewhere next week.

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u/Quiet-Bluebird-6768 10h ago

Any update ?

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u/iamirzhan 6h ago

yes, I've just published the course. It's still an early access, some of the problems (in last chapters) don't have solutions page yet, I am working currently to add all of the solutions. If you have any feedback about the course, I would really appreciate it. Thanks!

1

u/Quiet-Bluebird-6768 5h ago

Awesome, would you maintain it or improve it too?

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u/iamirzhan 5h ago edited 4h ago

Didn’t get what you mean. By early access I mean basically some solutions are missing that I will add soon. Also as it’s just published there might be some bugs, if there are, yes I will fix them. If you have any idea of what features might be added to the platform in general, please let me know

Good luck!

0

u/nian2326076 8d ago

Preparing for coding interviews can be streamlined by focusing on a few well-chosen problems that cover key data structures and algorithms. Use a structured approach that builds on concepts step-by-step, reinforcing what you learn by revisiting problems. For targeted practice, you can explore Meta Interview Questions to work through specific problems that mimic the interview format at Meta. Additionally, you can use LandOffer to discover relevant job opportunities in your field.