How to Prepare Data Structures and Algorithms for Coding Interviews?

Here is how you can prepare DSA for Coding interviews without getting panicked.

8 min readJul 23, 2025

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Hello guys, Whether you’re aiming for FAANG, a high-growth startup, or a top-tier enterprise company, Data Structures and Algorithms (DSA) are the foundation of every coding interview.

Mastering DSA not only helps you clear interviews but also makes you a better problem solver, which directly reflects in your software development career.

But where do you begin? The topic is vast, and it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer amount of resources available online.

in the past, I have shared best DSA courses, books, platforms, resources, and interview questions and in this article I will share my approach to prepare for DSA in quick time like few weeks to a couple of months.

In this guide, I’ll break down a practical and strategic approach to preparing for DSA interviews in 2025 — along with the best courses and books to master it

As I told you before, one of my close friend lost his job 2 month back and since then he has been giving interviews left and right and preparing for DSA and System Design.

I am also helping him actively whether in terms of which platform he should prepare first to which pattern he should learn and which algorithms he should learn because he is racing against time and couldn’t follow a proper structure.

This happens when you have left DSA and System Design for a long time and haven’t given any interview recently, which is not ideal. You should definitely be always interview ready and should give one or two interview every 6 month or year to see where you are.

Coming back to the topic of how to prepare DSA for coding interviews, let’s start with why DSA matters in interviews?

Why DSA Matters in Interviews?

Interviewers use DSA problems not just to test your coding skills, but to assess:

Your problem-solving approach
Your ability to optimize solutions
Your communication under pressure
How well you understand time and space complexity

In short, DSA reflects how you think as an engineer and as a problem solver. It’s also your chance to amaze your interview with clever solution like using sliding window pattern instead of two loops while solving sub-array problems.

Step-by-Step Strategy to Prepare for DSA Interviews

Now, let’s go through the step-by-step strategy to prepare for DSA interviews.

1. Master the Basics First

Before jumping into LeetCode or competitive programming, ensure your foundations are strong. Learn about:

Arrays and Strings
Linked Lists
Stacks and Queues
Hash Maps and Hash Sets
Recursion and Backtracking

💡 Recommended Course:
Data Structures Deep Dive Using Java — A deep dive into core structures with clean explanations in Java programming language.

📘 Recommended Book:
Introduction to Algorithms 4th Edition by Thomas H. Corman is a great book to learn key data structure concepts and algorithms.

2. Understand Key Algorithms

As a developer or programmer, you should be fluent in:

Binary Search
Sorting (Quick, Merge, Heap)
Recursion and Dynamic Programming
Graph Algorithms (BFS, DFS, Dijkstra’s, Union-Find)
Greedy and Divide & Conquer

💡 Recommended Course:
DSA by Andrei Negaoie — Ideal for software developers looking to solidify core algorithms with hands-on implementation.

📘 Bonus Resource:
“Grokking Algorithms” by Aditya Bhargava — Perfect for beginners who want a visual, intuitive grasp of algorithms.

3. Use Coding Patterns to Practice Smarter

Instead of solving random problems, focus on patterns that commonly appear in interviews like:

Sliding Window
Two Pointers
Fast & Slow Pointers
BFS/DFS
Prefix-Sum
Top-K Elements
Backtracking
Subsets & Permutations

💡 Recommended Platform:
Coding Patterns on AlgoMonster — One of the smartest ways to practice real-world interview patterns without grinding aimlessly.

📘 Recommended Book:
Coding Interview Patterns: Nail Your Next Coding Interview — This one is the latest book from ByteByteGo, where you can learn all the key coding patterns which are important for interviews.

Their explanation of two pointer pattern is really amazing.

Another good thing is that now this book is also part of ByteByteGo portal, so if you already have a ByteByteGo subscription then you can get this book/material for free.

4. Apply Knowledge with Interview-Focused Courses

Once you know the patterns and basics, transition to interview-style mock questions with constraints, time pressure, and real feedback.

You should also start giving mock interviews on Exponent, one of my favorite platform where you can do peer-to-peer mock interview for free.

I recently give 3 interviews just to see how good are the matches and I was pleasantly surprised with meeting with a lot of good guys who are very well versed in Data Structures and Coding problems.

You can also schedule interview with expert for some dress rehearsal but for that you would need an Exponent subscription which cost around $70, almost like 6$ per month.

Very affordable.

I highly recommend you to start giving mock interviews on Exponent, here is the link.

Coaching and Mock Interviews for Your Tech Job — Exponent

Connect with an expert in your field to practice mock interviews, review your resume, or create a study plan.

www.tryexponent.com

Apart from mock interviews, you can also focus on interview problems and courses which share those like the ones given below.

💡 Top Interview-Focused Courses:

Data Structure for Interviews — Focused on practical interview prep.
Master the Coding Interview: DSA + Algorithms by ZTM — Excellent coverage of both theory and practice.
Algorithms and Data Structures in Python — Ideal if you’re targeting Python-heavy roles.
Educative.io’s Data Structures for Coding Interviews in Java — One of the most comprehensive and Java-centric options.

📘 Suggested Reading:
“Cracking the Coding Interview” by Gayle Laakmann McDowell — Still one of the most effective books to simulate the real interview environment with over 189 questions and solutions.

5. Mock Interviews and Code Reviews

After mastering the theory and solving 100–150 problems, start giving mock interviews and doing peer code reviews. This helps:

Improve your communication
Spot code smells and inefficiencies
Learn how to justify your design choices

As I told before, I have been taking/giving mock interviews on Exponent recently and I am impressed with the quality of folks who are using platform.

You can get interviewed by peer for free and if you can afford you can also schedule mock interviews with expert.

Bonus Platform:
Exponent — Highly recommend Exponent for mock interviews, you can give 5 mock interview for free and also your credit get replenished over time. It also allow you to schedule mock interview with expert for a cost like $100 or by joining their coaching program.

Pro Tips for Consistent Progress

It’s not easy to prepare for DSA in short time because you will not just learn new things but also forget whatever you have learned in few days. Here are few tips to retain as much as possible and prepare well for timed exam.

Track your problems in a spreadsheet or Notion board
Timebox each question (30–45 minutes max)
Focus more on why the solution works, not just how
Review your wrong answers and patterns weekly
Practice whiteboard coding if you’re interviewing onsite

You can also use this DSA Cheat sheet for quick reference of key patterns based upon data structures

Final Thoughts

While Cracking interview is definitely not easy, its not that difficult also and you don’t need to solve 500 problems to crack your next coding interview.

Instead, learn smart. Focus on understanding the patterns, underlying concepts, and interview mindset. Pick high-quality resources and stick with them.

Recap: Best Courses to Learn Data Structures and Algorithms

Other Programming and Interview Articles you may like

Thanks for reading this article so far. If you like this article then please share them with your friends and colleagues. If you have any questions or feedback, then please drop a note.

P. S. — If you are serious about getting into FAANG companies and want to leave no stone unturned then I also suggest you to join Algomonster for DSA and ByteByteGo for System Design, and start practicing mock interviews on Exponent. This is the perfect recipe to crack coding interviews in quick time.

System Design · Coding · Behavioral · Machine Learning Interviews

Everything you need to take your system design skill to the next level

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