Cracking the Coding Interview, Fourth Edition: 150 Programming

310 Pages·2010·2.05 MB·English

by  Gayle Laakmann

FOURTH
CRACKING THE
EDITION
G
Gayle Laakmann founded CareerCup com in
CA C O D I N G
2005 to provide technical interview coaching AY
RL
for software engineers As a Software Engineer
EE
at Microsoft, Apple and Google, she interviewed ER L
over one hundred and twenty applicants in CA
three countries UA
PK I N T E R V I E W
She holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in .CM
OA
Computer Science from the University of Penn-
MN
sylvania
N
Now in the 4th edition, Cracking the Coding Interview gives you the interview prepara- C 150 programming interview questions and solutions
tion you need to get the top software developer jobs This book provides: R Plus:
A
• 150 Programming Interview Questions and Solutions C • Five proven approaches to solving tough algorithm questions
From binary trees to binary search, this list of 150 questions includes the most K
• Ten mistakes candidates make -- and how to avoid them
common and most useful questions in data structures, algorithms, and knowledge I
N
based questions • Steps to prepare for behavioral and technical questions
G
• Interviewer war stories: a view from the interviewer’s side

• Five Proven Approaches to Solving Tough Algorithm Questions T
Using these fi ve approaches to solving algorithm questions, you can conquer H
tough interview questions and impress your interviewer E

C
• Ten Mistakes Candidates Make -- And How to Avoid Them O
Don’t lose your dream job by making these common mistakes Learn what many D
candidates do wrong, and how to avoid these issues
I
N
• Steps to Prepare for Behavioral and Technical Questions G
Stop meandering through an endless set of questions, while missing some of the
I
most important preparation techniques Follow these steps to more thoroughly N
prepare in less time T
E
R
• Interview War Stories: A View from the Interviewer’s Side
V
Humorous but instructive stories from our interviewers show you how some can-
I
E
didates really fl opped on the most important question - and how you can avoid
W
doing the same
GAYLE LAAKMANN
Founder and CEO, CareerCup.com
CRACKING THE
CODING
INTERVIEW

CRACKING THE
C O D I N G
I N T E R V I E W
150 Programming Interview
Questions and Solutions
GAYLE LAAKMANN
Founder and CEO, CareerCup.com
CareerCup, LLC
Seattle, WA
CRACKING THE CODING INTERVIEW, FOURTH EDITION
Copyright © 2008 - 2010 by Gayle Laakmann. All rights reserved.
Published by CareerCup, LLC, Seattle, WA. Version 3.21090410302210.
Visit our website at: www.careercup.com. No part of this book may be used or repro-
duced in any manner without written permission except in the case of brief quota-
tions in critical articles or reviews.
For more information, contact [email protected].
Printed in United States of America
978-1-450-59320-5 9781450593205 (ISBN 13)

Table of Contents
Foreword 4
Introduction 5
Behind the Scenes 7
The Microsoft Interview 8
The Amazon Interview 9
The Google Interview 10
The Apple Interview 11
The Yahoo Interview 12
Interview War Stories 13
Before the Interview 20
Resume Advice 21
Behavioral Preparation 23
Technical Preparation 25
The Interview and Beyond 28
Handling Behavioral Questions 29
Handling Technical Questions 31
Five Algorithm Approaches 34
The Offer and Beyond 37
Top Ten Mistakes Candidates Make 39
Frequently Asked Questions 41
Interview Questions 44
Data Structures 46
Chapter 1 | Arrays and Strings 47
Chapter 2 | Linked Lists 49
Chapter 3 | Stacks and Queues 51
Chapter 4 | Trees and Graphs 53
Concepts and Algorithms 56
Chapter 5 | Bit Manipulation 57
Chapter 6 | Brain Teasers 59
1 Cracking the Coding Interview
Table of Contents
Chapter 7 | Object Oriented Design 61
Chapter 8 | Recursion 63
Chapter 9 | Sorting and Searching 65
Chapter 10 | Mathematical 67
Chapter 11 | Testing 69
Chapter 12 | System Design and Memory Limits 71
Knowledge Based 74
Chapter 13 | C++ 75
Chapter 14 | Java 77
Chapter 15 | Databases 79
Chapter 16 | Low Level 81
Chapter 17 | Networking 83
Chapter 18 | Threads and Locks 85
Additional Review Problems 88
Chapter 19 | Moderate 89
Chapter 20 | Hard 91
Solutions 94
Index 301
Mock Interviews 303
About the Author 304
CareerCup com 2

Foreword
Dear Readers,
Welcome to the 4th edition of Cracking the Coding Interview This volume updates the 3rd
edition with new content and refreshed information Be sure to check out our website, www
careercup com, to connect with other candidates and to discover new resources
For those of you new to technical interviews, the process can seem overwhelming Inter-
viewers throw questions at you, expect you to whip up brilliant algorithms on the spot, and
then ask you to write beautiful code on a whiteboard Luckily, everyone else is in the same
boat, and you’re already working hard to prepare Good job!
As you get ready for your interviews, consider these suggestions:
» Write Code on Paper: Most interviewers won’t give you a computer and will instead
expect you to write code on a whiteboard or on paper To simulate this environment, try
answering interview problems by writing code on paper first, and then typing them into
a computer as-is Whiteboard / paper coding is a special skill, which can be mastered
with constant practice
» Know Your Resume: While technical skills are extremely important, that’s no reason to
neglect your own resume Make sure to prepare yourself to give a quick summary of any
project or job you were involved with, and to discuss the hardest and most interesting
problems you encountered along the day
» Don’t Memorize Solutions: While this book offers a representative sample of interview
questions, there are still thousands of interview questions out there Memorizing solu-
tions is not a great use of your time Rather, use this book to explore approaches to
problems, to learn new concepts, and to practice your skills
» Talk Out Loud: Interviewers want to understand how you think and approach prob-
lems, so talk out loud while you’re solving problems Let the interviewer see how you’re
tackling the problem, and they just might guide you as well
And remember -- interviews are hard! In my years of interviewing at Google, I saw some
interviewers ask “easy” questions while others ask harder questions But you know what?
Getting the easy questions doesn’t make it any easier to get the offer Receiving an offer
is not about solving questions flawlessly (very few candidates do!), but rather, it is about
answering questions better than other candidates So don’t stress out when you get a tricky
question - everyone else probably thought it was hard too!
I'm excited for you and for the skills you are going to develop Thorough preparation will give
you a wide range of technical and communication skills It will be well-worth it no matter
where the effort takes you!
Study hard, practice, and good luck!
Gayle Laakmann
CareerCup com 4