SDE Interview and Prep Roadmap

Overview

Welcome to the SDE Interview Preparation Roadmap! This repository is not just about my personal journey; it's a collaborative space for collective learning. As I prepare for Software Development Engineer (SDE) interviews, I've created a comprehensive checklist to guide my preparation. By sharing this roadmap, I aim to foster a community of learners where we can all grow together. It covers various domains including Data Structures, Algorithms, System Design, Operating Systems, Networking, Databases, Programming Languages and Concepts, System Architecture, Problem-solving and Coding, as well as Behavioral and Soft Skills.

Printable PDF Version of Checklist - Click Here

Domains and Topics

• Arrays
• Linked Lists
  • Singly linked lists
    • Circularly linked lists
    • Lock-free linked lists
  • Doubly linked lists
    • Circular doubly linked lists
  • Circular linked lists
  • Skip lists
  • Unrolled linked lists
• Stacks
  • Implementations using arrays and linked lists
    • Array-based stack
    • Linked list-based stack
  • Applications (e.g., expression evaluation, backtracking)
  • Priority stacks
• Queues
  • Implementations (e.g., array-based, linked list-based, priority queues)
    • Circular queue
    • Double-ended queue (Deque)
  • Applications (e.g., BFS, job scheduling)
• Trees
  • Binary Trees
    • Full binary tree
    • Complete binary tree
    • Perfect binary tree
  • Binary Search Trees (BST)
    • Self-balancing BST
      • Scapegoat tree
      • Tango tree
  • AVL Trees
  • Red-Black Trees
  • Splay Trees
  • B-Trees
  • Heap Trees (min-heap, max-heap)
  • Trie
  • Radix Trees
• Graphs
  • Representations (adjacency matrix, adjacency list)
    • Edge list
    • Incidence matrix
  • Traversal algorithms (DFS, BFS)
  • Weighted graphs
  • Directed graphs
  • Acyclic graphs
  • Bipartite graphs
  • Spanning trees (Minimum Spanning Tree, Maximum Spanning Tree)
  • Graphs with special properties (e.g., planar graphs, Eulerian graphs)
• Hash Tables
  • Collision resolution techniques (chaining, open addressing)
  • Hash functions
  • Perfect Hashing
  • Cuckoo Hashing
  • Robin Hood Hashing
  • Count-Min Sketch
  • Bloom Filters

• Sorting Algorithms:
  • Bubble Sort
  • Selection Sort
  • Insertion Sort
  • Merge Sort
  • Quick Sort
  • Heap Sort
  • Shell Sort
  • Counting Sort
  • Radix Sort
  • Bucket Sort
  • Comb Sort
  • Cocktail Shaker Sort
  • Tim Sort
  • Cycle Sort
  • Pancake Sort
  • Bitonic Sort
  • Gnome Sort
  • Strand Sort
• Searching Algorithms:
  • Linear Search
  • Binary Search
  • Depth-First Search (DFS)
  • Breadth-First Search (BFS)
  • Jump Search
  • Interpolation Search
  • Exponential Search
  • Fibonacci Search
  • Ternary Search

• Resources:

  • System Design Interview by Alex Xu
  • Designing Data Intensive Applications by Martin Kleppmann

• Design patterns

  • Creational patterns
    • Singleton
    • Factory Method
    • Abstract Factory
    • Builder
    • Prototype
  • Structural patterns
    • Adapter
    • Bridge
    • Composite
    • Decorator
    • Facade
    • Flyweight
    • Proxy
  • Behavioral patterns
    • Chain of Responsibility
    • Command
    • Iterator
    • Mediator
    • Memento
    • Observer
    • State

• Processes
• Threads
• Thread synchronization mechanisms:
  • Mutexes
  • Semaphores
  • Monitors
• Deadlock detection and prevention
• Scheduling algorithms
  • Fair share scheduling
  • Earliest Deadline First (EDF)
  • Weighted Fair Queuing (WFQ)
• Memory management
  • Page replacement algorithms (LRU, FIFO, Clock)
  • Memory-mapped files
  • Buddy memory allocation
• File systems
  • Journaling file systems (ext3, ext4)
  • Network file systems (NFS, SMB)
  • File system encryption
  • Distributed file systems (HDFS, Ceph)

• TCP/IP stack
  • OSI model layers
  • TCP vs. UDP
• HTTP protocol
  • Request methods (GET, POST, etc.)
  • Status codes
• DNS (Domain Name System)
  • Resolution process
• Routing algorithms
  • Shortest Path algorithms (Dijkstra's, Bellman-Ford)

• Relational databases (SQL)
  • Normalization forms
    • First Normal Form (1NF)
    • Second Normal Form (2NF)
    • Third Normal Form (3NF)
    • Boyce-Codd Normal Form (BCNF)
  • Joins
    • Inner joins
    • Outer joins (left, right, full)
    • Cross joins
  • SQL Data Manipulation Language (DML)
    • SELECT statement
    • INSERT statement
    • UPDATE statement
    • DELETE statement
    • MERGE statement
    • TRUNCATE statement
    • UPSERT operations
    • Explicit vs. Implicit transactions
    • Control-of-flow language (e.g., CASE, IF-ELSE)
  • SQL Data Definition Language (DDL)
    • CREATE statement
    • ALTER statement
    • DROP statement
  • SQL Data Control Language (DCL)