[0:00] Today I'm going to explain to you how I
[0:01] mastered data structures and algorithms
[0:03] quickly without hating my life. Now I
[0:06] say that because a lot of people that
[0:07] get into this topic do it completely
[0:10] wrong. It takes up a massive amount of
[0:12] time and they just hate doing it. It's
[0:14] brutal. And let's not lie, no one enjoys
[0:16] data structures and algorithms. But
[0:17] there's a way to do it that's a lot less
[0:19] painful that I want to break down in
[0:21] this video. Okay, so let's get right
[0:23] into it. First things first, do yourself
[0:25] a favor and pick an easy language to do
[0:27] this in. Now, most people are going to
[0:29] be learning this either because they're
[0:31] in a computer science degree or because
[0:33] they're preparing for technical coding
[0:34] interviews. Now, I'm mostly speaking to
[0:36] that latter group there, people that are
[0:38] doing this because eventually they're
[0:39] going to be quizzed on this type of
[0:41] stuff and have to answer these le code
[0:42] style problems. So, I highly recommend
[0:45] use a language like Python when you're
[0:47] learning this and when you're going to
[0:49] be practicing these DSA style problems.
[0:51] The reason for that is it's a much more
[0:53] elegant language. It's way easier to
[0:55] write code in it and it's much easier to
[0:57] follow. So if you had to answer a
[0:59] question in Java, for example, it's
[1:00] going to take you just longer to write
[1:02] the code due to the syntax style of
[1:04] Java. Doesn't mean Java is a bad
[1:06] language, but for the purpose of passing
[1:08] coding interviews, you're just doing
[1:10] yourself a favor if you pick a language
[1:11] like Python. Okay? Even if you don't use
[1:13] it or it's not your primary language,
[1:15] it's very easy to learn enough of it to
[1:17] be able to answer coding questions in
[1:19] it. So I recommend that you pick
[1:21] something like Python, maybe even
[1:22] something like JavaScript. Anything that
[1:24] has relatively simple syntax and dynamic
[1:27] typing is going to help you a lot. Okay,
[1:29] moving on. Step number two. Now, I
[1:31] learned the theory quickly. A lot of
[1:34] people spend months learning the theory
[1:35] of data structures and algorithms.
[1:37] That's not necessary. There's three main
[1:39] things that you need to learn or kind of
[1:40] three main topics. I'll quickly go over
[1:42] them, but the point is don't spend too
[1:44] much time here. You need to understand
[1:45] the algorithms and data structures. Know
[1:47] the time complexity of the operations,
[1:49] but that's about it. You don't need to
[1:50] implement these from scratch. Sure, if
[1:52] you have extra time, it's a good idea,
[1:54] but it's not necessary. You're not going
[1:55] to be asked to write a heap, or at least
[1:57] very unlikely that they'd ask you to do
[1:59] that. It's more so understanding how to
[2:00] use the data structures and what the
[2:02] time complexity of the operations are.
[2:04] So, what I did is I started by learning
[2:06] bigo notation and time complexity
[2:08] analysis. This is the most fundamental
[2:10] thing. You need to understand this. Then
[2:12] I started looking at data structures. So
[2:14] I won't go through an entire exhaustive
[2:16] list because there's a lot of resources
[2:17] online that cover those better than this
[2:19] video can. But things like stack, Q
[2:21] linked list, trees, etc. I skipped the
[2:24] super complex stuff. So things like B
[2:26] trees, for example, red black trees, AVL
[2:28] trees, tries, if you're going for more
[2:31] senior positions, maybe you need to know
[2:32] those, but in my case, for internship or
[2:34] kind of entry level roles, you're just
[2:36] probably not going to be quizzed on
[2:38] those. Then I started looking at
[2:39] algorithms. So obviously famous
[2:41] algorithms, your sorting algorithms,
[2:43] your searching algorithms and I didn't
[2:45] implement all of these on my own. I just
[2:47] understood what they were enough that if
[2:49] I were asked a question about them, I
[2:50] would know the time complexity or I
[2:52] would know that they exist. I looked at
[2:54] things like graph algorithms and then I
[2:56] started looking at some more niche
[2:58] algorithms that come up in coding
[2:59] problems a lot. So things like dynamic
[3:02] programming, greedy algorithms, things
[3:04] like the two-pointer approach, the
[3:06] sliding window, and again not memorizing
[3:09] these, but just knowing that they exist
[3:11] and having some basic theory
[3:12] understanding so that when I start
[3:14] getting into solving problems, I know
[3:16] enough that I can at least reference
[3:18] back to that topic and then learn it
[3:20] more by applying it directly. Now, in
[3:22] terms of how I learned these, I pretty
[3:23] much just searched for a bunch of
[3:25] resources online. I found a solid road
[3:27] map that walked through a bunch of those
[3:28] topics and then I followed it and I
[3:30] looked up YouTube videos and used
[3:32] websites like Geeks for Geeks. Now,
[3:33] quick pause here because you'll probably
[3:35] find this relevant. If you are a
[3:36] software engineer right now or you are
[3:38] looking to become a software engineer
[3:40] and something like technical interview
[3:41] prep is holding you back, then consider
[3:43] applying for my program at Dev Launch.
[3:45] In this program, we take on a very small
[3:47] group of developers. Yes, it is
[3:49] expensive. It's a high ticket program,
[3:51] but it's designed to give people
[3:52] one-on-one guidance to help them land
[3:54] their next role. And we've already had a
[3:56] lot of success. For example, we had a
[3:58] senior software engineer come in really
[3:59] struggling with this topic specifically.
[4:02] We gave him the correct guidance, helped
[4:03] him with all the mock technical
[4:04] interviews, and he just landed 180K per
[4:07] year role and is interviewing with Meta
[4:09] right now where we expect him to receive
[4:10] an offer because he's in the final
[4:12] rounds. We have a lot of other examples
[4:14] like that. But if you're serious about
[4:15] this and you want someone to hold your
[4:17] hand through this whole process, then
[4:18] you can apply from Dev Launch down
[4:20] below. We don't just do technical
[4:22] interview prep, but obviously that's
[4:23] relevant to this video. Okay,
[4:24] continuing. Let's get into my prep when
[4:27] it came to the questions. So, I saw so
[4:29] many articles online of people saying
[4:31] they did like 400 lead code questions or
[4:33] 300 lead code questions or even 200.
[4:36] That is insane to do that many
[4:37] questions. First of all, that will take
[4:39] you like four, five, six months unless
[4:41] you're doing five a day or something
[4:42] along those lines. And I want to tell
[4:43] you for myself, I only did 60 lead code
[4:47] questions and I did about 50 algo expert
[4:50] questions. Okay? So my process when I
[4:52] was practicing these questions first of
[4:54] all was to always emphasize quality over
[4:57] quantity. Now yes you do need to put in
[4:59] sufficient volume. I think getting to
[5:01] about 75 to 100 questions for most
[5:03] people should be enough if they're
[5:05] practicing correctly and picking the
[5:06] right questions. But for me I started
[5:08] with a platform like Algo Expert. Now
[5:10] this is before I worked for Algo Expert
[5:12] in case you guys think this is like a
[5:13] sponsor. I don't actually make any money
[5:15] if you buy that uh platform so I don't
[5:17] care if you use it. But for me, I liked
[5:19] that platform because it had really
[5:21] in-depth video explanations of all of
[5:24] the questions. Now, I think Lead Code
[5:25] may have those now as well. It's been a
[5:27] while since I did this. But for me, when
[5:29] I was starting out, I really struggled
[5:31] with these questions. Like, I could
[5:32] hardly answer some of the easy
[5:33] questions. So what I would do is I would
[5:35] struggle at a question, but when I
[5:36] wasn't getting anywhere at all and I had
[5:38] put in the time and I had struggled, I
[5:40] would go and I would watch through the
[5:41] video explanation and really make sure
[5:43] that I understood it and then reattempt
[5:45] the question right after to see if I
[5:47] could actually do it on my own. So
[5:49] that's how I started getting good really
[5:50] fast was failing essentially watching
[5:53] the solution and then not just moving on
[5:55] to the next question, but doing it again
[5:57] after watching the solution. And then I
[5:59] might even revisit it another time,
[6:00] maybe the next day to make sure that I
[6:02] actually comprehended it. So even though
[6:04] I only did maybe 50 questions, I would
[6:06] do the same question multiple times
[6:08] until I actually got it correct. Okay,
[6:10] so that was where I started with Algo
[6:12] Expert, right? But they only have maybe
[6:14] 150, 200 questions on the platform and
[6:16] by the time you get through 50 or 60,
[6:18] you've done a lot of the easy medium
[6:20] ones, which is what I was targeting for
[6:22] kind of the internship level roles. So
[6:24] after that, I switched over to leak
[6:26] code. Now, leak code is a lot more
[6:28] challenging in my opinion because you
[6:29] don't have the same level of guidance or
[6:31] the same kind of quality of video
[6:32] explanations, but it's good when you
[6:34] want to put in more volume. So, then I
[6:36] switched over to leak code and again,
[6:38] same thing. I would do the questions. I
[6:40] would try to check the answers, but it
[6:42] wasn't always as good as Algo Expert.
[6:43] And that's when I put in more volume.
[6:45] Now, I was typically doing about two
[6:46] questions per day when I was preparing.
[6:49] And again, I was making sure that when I
[6:51] did these questions, I was emphasizing
[6:52] quality, which I'm going to move on to
[6:54] next. Okay. So, while I was doing these
[6:56] questions and especially in those last
[6:58] leak code questions, I made sure that I
[7:01] was practicing like I play, which I
[7:03] think is the number one mistake that
[7:04] people make when they do these types of
[7:06] problems. You can do as many problems as
[7:08] you want, but if you don't emulate a
[7:10] real coding interview, you're not going
[7:12] to succeed when you're just thrown into
[7:13] that environment. Now, I did a lot of
[7:15] research online. I knew people in the
[7:17] space, so I knew I'm probably going to
[7:18] have to write this out by hand. I'm
[7:20] going to have to verbalize my solution,
[7:22] and I'm going to have to walk through
[7:23] this very strict framework that I
[7:25] actually made a video about, which I'll
[7:26] put on screen right now. So, what I did
[7:28] is when I answered these questions, I
[7:30] literally bought a whiteboard, put it in
[7:32] my room, set up my camera, and recorded
[7:34] myself pretending I was in an interview
[7:36] environment. So, I would solve the
[7:38] question actually on the whiteboard. I
[7:40] would speak the entire time. I would
[7:42] time myself. And while I couldn't do as
[7:44] many questions when I did this, I really
[7:46] got comfortable in this environment
[7:48] where when I actually went into the real
[7:49] interview, it was the exact same thing
[7:51] that I've been practicing countless
[7:52] times. So, in my room alone like a crazy
[7:55] person, I would do that and I would
[7:56] highly recommend you do that because
[7:58] it's going to expose to you really
[7:59] quickly the other parts of the coding
[8:01] interview that most people end up
[8:03] failing, right? That are related to the
[8:04] communication. All right. Now, after I
[8:06] did a bunch of reps sitting in my room
[8:07] like a crazy person answering questions,
[8:09] I decided I should do some real mock
[8:11] interviews. So what I did is I reached
[8:13] out to people that I knew. For example,
[8:15] Clement, you guys might know him from
[8:16] Algo Expert. We did a mock interview on
[8:18] YouTube actually with him and I did a
[8:20] bunch of interviews using a platform
[8:22] called Prampt. Now I'm not sure if that
[8:24] platform is still around. This was a
[8:25] while ago, but essentially you could go
[8:27] on and you can volunteer and you ask
[8:29] someone a question and then they ask you
[8:30] a question and you're kind of both, you
[8:32] know, acting as the interviewer and the
[8:33] candidate. So I did a bunch of those. I
[8:35] probably did 15 mock interviews just to
[8:37] make sure again I was really really
[8:39] comfortable and I was not just worrying
[8:41] about memorizing all of these algorithms
[8:42] but actually how I presented them and
[8:44] how I spoke through the problem which is
[8:46] where I see most people failing. So just
[8:48] make sure you do as many interviews as
[8:50] you can. I even had some of my friends
[8:51] who are non-technical ask me a question
[8:53] that I had prepared for them to ask me
[8:55] that I didn't know the answer to and
[8:56] then I ran through it and I kind of got
[8:58] their opinion as a non-technical person
[9:00] on how well they thought I did. Okay, so
[9:02] those are the main things I did to
[9:03] prepare. The last point that I want to
[9:05] put on here, which is the reason I
[9:06] believe I succeeded in all of the
[9:08] interviews that I did, because I didn't
[9:09] fail any of them, is that I had
[9:11] confidence when I walked into the
[9:13] interview. Now, the reason I was
[9:15] confident was because I knew no matter
[9:17] what happened, I had done as much as I
[9:19] possibly could to prepare. I put in the
[9:21] time. I studied correctly. I did this
[9:24] properly, right? I was putting in
[9:25] quality. I wasn't just kind of wasting
[9:26] my practice. And I knew that even if I
[9:29] failed this interview, there's nothing
[9:30] more that I could have done. I prepared
[9:32] as best as I could. If you have that in
[9:35] the back of your mind and you know no
[9:36] matter what happens, it's honestly not
[9:38] your fault. You've done the preparation,
[9:40] you've done what you can and the result
[9:42] will be what it will be, then I think
[9:44] you just have some underlying confidence
[9:45] and kind of the way you present
[9:47] yourself, the calmness you have wears
[9:49] off in the interview. And at least for
[9:50] me, that's what I felt happened. And I
[9:52] knew doesn't matter if I fail, whatever.
[9:54] It's all good. I move on to the next one
[9:55] because I prepared as much as I can and
[9:57] there's just nothing more I can do. So,
[9:59] I challenge you, get to that point
[10:01] before you walk into some of your
[10:03] interviews and just know in the back of
[10:04] your mind, you've done everything you
[10:06] can. And if if you fail, you fail. Is
[10:08] what it is. You move on to the next one,
[10:09] right? There's nothing to be worried
[10:10] about. You did everything that was
[10:12] possible. Okay, that's all I have for
[10:14] this video. Again, if you guys want
[10:16] assistance with this, this is exactly
[10:17] what I do in Dev Launch. I literally
[10:19] teamed up with someone who's an ex
[10:20] Google, ex Amazon employee who's given
[10:22] hundreds of these technical interviews,
[10:24] who's really nailing the process for our
[10:26] students in this program. If you want
[10:27] help, apply from the link below and I
[10:29] will see you guys in another video.
[10:31] [Music]