The Coding Interview

Cracking the Coding Interview

One of the main reasons I started my personal blog was to create a space where I could centralize my own notes and share valuable information with others. Over the past few years, one of the most common questions I've received is, “How do I prepare for a software engineering interviews?” It’s a question that resonates with engineers at various stages of their careers, myself included. Having successfully navigated interviews for everything from startups, mid-sized companies, to a giant like Amazon, I’ve learned firsthand how important it is to be prepared, especially for FAANG roles, which are known for requiring a special degree of preparation.

AI Generated Podcast?

For some time now, I’ve been thinking about how to organize my knowledge, notes, and experiences on the topic of coding interviews into a cohesive format. Initially, I considered writing an article on the subject for my blog, but there are already countless guides out there on interview preparation.

Recently, I came across Notebook LM, a new tool from Google that leverages various text sources to create audio overviews (which are basically podcast episodes), among other things. After experimenting with the tool, I was impressed by how natural the voices sounded and how engaging the format of a conversation can be for learning. The more I explored this new format, the more I realized that transforming my notes and insights into a podcast could be a fresh, enjoyable way to share the information with others.

Thus, instead of simply writing another article about coding interviews, I decided to create a 10-chapter podcast miniseries that breaks down the process into digestible episodes. Each chapter focuses on a specific aspect of the interview process, from mastering behavioral questions to tackling advanced algorithmic problems. I called it The Coding Interview.

🎙️ The Coding Interview

One of the most exciting parts of this project, besides playing around with a new AI tool, was the chance to dive deeper into podcasting itself. I used this as an opportunity to learn about creating and self-hosting an RSS feed, which allowed me to understand how podcasts are published and distributed across different platforms. I plan to write more about that technical process in a future post.

Check it out!

I’m excited to share that The Coding Interview is now available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music! Additionally, I’m embedding each chapter in this article, so you can follow along as you prepare for your coding interviews.

1. Understanding the Interview Process

2. Mastering Behavioral Questions

3. Demystifying Big O Notation

4. Essential Data Structures

5. Tackling Algorithms

6. Dynamic Programming and Recursion

7. System Design Fundamentals

8. Object-Oriented Design Principles

9. Mock Interviews and Whiteboard Practice

10. Final Tips, Common Pitfalls, and Real Interview Stories

Closing Thoughts

I hope you find The Coding Interview both insightful and engaging. However, it's important to note that this podcast is not a substitute for comprehensive preparation. I highly recommend using classic resources like the book Cracking the Coding Interview and practicing coding exercises from the popular Blind 75 list for a thorough foundation. Instead, think of this podcast as a valuable starting point for newcomers to the interview process or a helpful refresher for experienced engineers returning to interview prep after some time away.

I hope you find this podcast as enjoyable and informative as I did in creating it. If you have any feedback or thoughts, feel free to reach out to me. I’d love to hear from you!