Introduction

In this section, the speaker introduces the topic of preparing for software engineering interviews and acknowledges their bias towards a coding interview prep company.

Speaker's Background

• The speaker has worked for a coding interview prep company called Algo Expert for about 10 months.

• The speaker will try to approach things from an objective perspective and share their process before joining Algo Expert.

Importance of Preparing for Coding Interviews

• Candidates spend months studying for interviews in industries like software engineering where the interview questions are often unrelated to the actual job.

• Regardless of opinions on the system, it is important to prepare for coding interviews as they are part of the hiring process.

Prerequisites

In this section, the speaker discusses prerequisites that should be met before preparing for coding interviews.

Proficiency in Coding

• Before preparing for coding interviews, one needs to be proficient in basic topics like functions and loops.

• The assumption is made that viewers already have this level of proficiency.

Data Structures

• A major component of most interview questions is choosing the right data structures for the problem.

• One needs to be comfortable with all major data structures including strings, arrays, maps, sets, stacks, queues, linked lists, trees (including different types), graphs.

• There are plenty of options available online to learn data structures such as university courses or free/paid courses on platforms like YouTube or GeeksforGeeks.

Complexity Analysis and Big-O Notation

• Complexity analysis and big-o notation classify algorithms based on their efficiency with respect to time and space usage.

• It is important to understand high-level concepts initially and then practice more with time.

How to Practice Problem Solving

In this section, the speaker discusses how to practice problem-solving effectively.

Choosing a Platform

• Choose a platform or platforms to practice on.

• The speaker used a mixture of LeetCode and AlgoExpert when studying.

• If you are considering purchasing a premium product like AlgoExpert, try the free problems first before deciding whether to buy it.

Solving Actual Questions

• Don't get obsessed with numbers like "I need to solve 500 questions" because that's not true.

• Choose good problems. For free products, find problems with high like ratios. For more premium products, carefully choose categories of problems.

• Treat solving a problem like a real interview by thinking of clarifying questions and verbally articulating your approach.

Efficient Way to Practice

• Focus on fundamentals as they will help you solve problems more efficiently.

• Work on problems that use different data structures to test yourself on different concepts.

• Describe drawbacks and time complexity if you have a potential solution in mind. If not, describe the brute force solution first as it shows an interviewer that you are considering multiple options.

Tips for Solving Coding Problems in Interviews

In this section, the speaker provides tips on how to approach coding problems during interviews.

Use of Test Cases

• Go through some test cases manually and walk yourself through your code for a simple case as well as some edge cases such as an empty input.

• Describe the time and space complexity of your solution and explain why that is the case based on your code.

Dealing with Unsolved Problems

• If you can't solve a problem after 10 or 15 minutes, look at the hints on the interview prep platform if it has them.

• If you still can't solve it or there just weren't any hints, then it's time to look at the solution.

• When looking at the solution, focus on the conceptual overview of that solution rather than just looking at the code.

• Don't try to immediately code it; instead, come back one to two days later to try the problem again.

Emphasizing Communication Skills

• Make sure you are emphasizing your ability to communicate even if it means talking to your computer screen all the time.