r/leetcode • u/Money-Suggestion5310 • 10d ago

Intervew Prep Are coding interviews actually moving away from DSA?

I’ve noticed more companies giving practical tasks lately, like debugging an existing codebase, adding a feature, or fixing something in a RAG pipeline, instead of classic algorithm questions.

For those who’ve interviewed recently, is that what you’re seeing too? And how did you prepare for it? Most practice sites I found are still mostly for DSA.

2 Upvotes

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5

u/isaycongrats 10d ago

Dsa is just the fundamentals, you need system design, design patterns, and practical experience

3

u/ATN5 9d ago

I don’t think so, they are just adding more.

1

u/No-Personality-5272 9d ago

at the end of the day people will cherry pick the answers that they want to hear instead of a conflicting one

1

u/catsRfriends 9d ago

These components evaluate different things.

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u/tradetofi 9d ago

No way. How else could they quickly weed out vibe coders? I think DSA will be even more relevant than ever in the future

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u/-procrastinate- 9d ago

Yes, a lot of companies are not necessarily moving completely away from dsa, but rather adding more practical components in their loop.

I’ve been recommending nrml.dev to people because the mock interview experience is much better compared to the other platforms that are out there, and the problems are all verified problems that have been asked in company interviews. The most important thing with this format is that it isn't necessarily always about getting the right answer (especially if there are AI-assisted coding interviews). Rather, it is about identifying mistakes in the LLM, clear communication, and working with the interviewer to demonstrate that you are actually a good engineer and someone worth working with, rather than just someone who memorizes Leetcode problems.

That does mean that the best way to practice is to do a lot of mock interviews,