Technical Interview

This course proivdes resources need to pull off the trick: data structures or a common pattern in the problem. Not every little details like the laws of physics, not at the level of mathematician.

In a real technical interview, you just need to show that you can successfully perform the trick and that you understand the concepts behind it.

outline

1. Introduction and Efficiency
   Course Introduction
   Syntax
   Efficiency

   run time, storage space

   rely on you creativity and ability

   Notation of Efficiency

   big O notation

   worst case scenario ; upper bound

2. List-Based Collections
   Lists

   https://wiki.python.org/moin/TimeComplexity

   https://developers.google.com/edu/python/lists

   append(), insert(),remove(elem), sort(), reverse() # these command don’t return new list

   pop(index)

   Arrays
   Linked Lists
   Stacks
   Queues
3. Searching and Sorting
   Binary Search
   Recursion
   Bubble Sort

   n^2

   memory: O(1), in-position

   Merge Sort

   n log(n)

   Quick Sort

   worst case: O(n^2)

   average case: nlog(n)

4. Maps and Hashing
   Maps
   Hashing
   Collisions
   Hashing Conventions
5. Trees
   Trees
   Tree Traversal
   Binary Trees
   Binary Search Trees
   Heaps
   Self-Balancing Trees
6. Graphs
   Graphs
   Graph Properties
   Graph Representation
   Graph Traversal
   Graph Paths
7. Case Studies in Algorithms
   Shortest Path Problem

   greedy algorithm

   Knapsack Problem

   brute force solution, 2^n

   Traveling Salesman Problem

   NP hard.

   Not always have efficient solution

8. Technical Interview Tips
   Mock Interview Breakdown

   1 clarifying the question

   prove to interviewer that you won’t dive head first into a probelm and potentially waste time writing code that doesn’t solve the initial issue.

   2 generating inputs and output

   3 generating test cases

   handle weird input

   4 brainstorming

   the interviewer is there to help you and being able to take in their feedback demonstartes your teamwork skills

   5 runtime analysis

   coding

   debugging

   Additional Tips
   Practice with Pramp
   Next Steps

Data Types

boolean = True
number = 1.1
string = "Strings can be declared with single or double quotes."
list = ["Lists can have", 1, 2, 3, 4, "or more types together!"]
tuple = ("Tuples", "can have", "more than", 2, "elements!")
dictionary = {'one': 1, 'two': 2, 'three': 3}
variable_with_zero_data = None

Conditionals

if cake == "delicious":
    return "Yes please!"
elif cake == "okay":
    return "I'll have a small piece."
else:
    return "No, thank you."

Classes

class Person(object): # inherit from object
    def __init__(self, name, age):
        self.name = name
        self.age = age 

    def birthday(self):
        self.age += 1

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