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Coding Interview Rules

This document outlines 10 heuristics for solving coding questions in interviews: 1) Use a heap data structure for finding top/maximum/minimum/closest 'K' elements among 'N' elements. 2) Use binary search or two pointers for sorted arrays/lists. 3) Use backtracking or breadth-first search for trying all combinations or permutations. 4) Use breadth-first search or depth-first search for trees and graphs problems. 5) Convert recursive solutions to iterative using a stack. 6) For O(n^2) time and O(1) space, optimize to O(n) time and O(n) space using hashmap/set or O(n

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127 views12 pages

Coding Interview Rules

This document outlines 10 heuristics for solving coding questions in interviews: 1) Use a heap data structure for finding top/maximum/minimum/closest 'K' elements among 'N' elements. 2) Use binary search or two pointers for sorted arrays/lists. 3) Use backtracking or breadth-first search for trying all combinations or permutations. 4) Use breadth-first search or depth-first search for trees and graphs problems. 5) Convert recursive solutions to iterative using a stack. 6) For O(n^2) time and O(1) space, optimize to O(n) time and O(n) space using hashmap/set or O(n

Uploaded by

ananthvishwanath4
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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10 Golden Rules

for
Solving Coding Questions
in
Interviews

DesignGurus.io
Heuristic # 1

If we are dealing with


top/maximum/minimum/closest
'K' elements among 'N' elements, we
will be using a Heap.

DesignGurus.io
Heuristic # 2

If the given input is a sorted array


or a list, we will either be using
Binray Search or the Two Pointers
strategy.

DesignGurus.io
Heuristic # 3

If we need to try all combinations


(or permutations) of the input, we
can either use Backtracking or
Breadth First Search.

DesignGurus.io
Heuristic # 4

Most of the questions related to


Trees or Graphs can be solved
either through Breadth First
Search or Depth First Search.

DesignGurus.io
Heuristic # 5

Every recursive solution can be


converted to an iterative solution
using a Stack.

DesignGurus.io
Heuristic # 6

For a problem involving arrays, if


there exists a solution in O(n^2)
time and O(1) space, there must
exist two other solutions: 1) Using a
HashMap or a Set for O(n) time
and O(n) space, 2) Using sorting
for O(n log n) time and O(1) space.

DesignGurus.io
Heuristic # 7

If a problem is asking for


optimization (e.g., maximization
or minimization), we will be using
Dynamic Programming.

DesignGurus.io
Heuristic # 8

If we need to find some common


substring among a set of strings,
we will be using a HashMap or a
Trie.

DesignGurus.io
Heuristic # 9

If we need to search/manipulate
a bunch of strings, Trie will be the
best data structure.

DesignGurus.io
Heuristic # 10

If the problem is related to a


LinkedList and we can't use extra
space, then use the Fast & Slow
Pointer approach.

DesignGurus.io
➡ Follow these techniques to
distinguish yourself from others! A
number of these approaches are
discussed in "Grokking the
Coding Interview" from
DesignGurus.io

DesignGurus.io

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