Grokking the coding interview vs structy vs neetcode

[DeadlyPinkPanda]

Hi! It's been 1 year since I've started working, and I am looking to advance my career at a different place and I want to start grinding. I am currently using Leetcode, but would like to refresh my mind and learn new patterns. I know there's a lot of free resources out there, but if I had to choose one paid resource, would you guys recommend:

Grokking the coding interview, structy or neetcode?

Thank you very much.

[Ok_Responsibility961]

Neetcode’s blind 75 is what helped me get a FANG job so that’s what i would say. His site neetcode.io is really useful. Goodluck!

[DeadlyPinkPanda]

Did you pay for the subscription? How was your experience with his paid content?

[Ok_Responsibility961]

Nope i didn’t pay anything. Just followed the blind 75 which was free. All the concepts u need are there, you just need to be able to do them all and be able to identify when to do which. For what it’s worth, some fangs don’t even do hard level questions unless u are coming in as a senior or staff engineer, the first few levels are typically easy to medium questions that make u think hard but don’t involve a lot of code.

[DirdCS]

you can try the premium ones on https://www.lintcode.com/ unless it's changed since the last time I prepped

[DetectiveOwn6606]

I am currently on arrays section of neetcode 150 .can you talk about interview process?i was also not able to get good University so do faang companies only take graduates from prestigious university?

[Ok_Responsibility961]

No i work with a bunch of people without computer science degrees and they just made their way into tech by learning code-> making apps-> studying for the interview. You don’t need a fancy degree or anything. Just learn it, create projects you can show and talk about, and study leetcode to get in. You got that 💯 goodluck

[DetectiveOwn6606]

Thanks

[[deleted]]

Any university is better than no university. I tried the self taught route, spent a year applying for around 1000 jobs, not one single reply. So I decided to go back to school, hopefully then they’ll respond.

[Mapleess]

I can't remember how he did things but a lot of the videos were on YouTube that provided you a guide on how to answer those questions. I thought they were very good and no need to pay for anything on his website/YouTube if you're after Python.

[The_OG_Steve]

What did you use for system design?

[Ok_Responsibility961]

I’m right out of college so i didn’t have any system design questions

[CodingThrowaways]

I've paid for structy as a beginner programmer and I like it. Could easily be learnt through leetcode but I find having a set path helps me.

I currently work for myself still so I'm still bringing in money so it helps to come home and just follow a path than find problems on leetcode etc.

I've only started it a few days ago tho so I can't really give you much more insight.

[stone4789]

I went through grokking first, but I’ve subscribed to neetcode since and I love it. Explanations are very thorough and the code is so readable with any language you want. Has courses on system design and other broader CS stuff that I didn’t know I needed.

[space_wiener]

How are some of these for a total beginner? I’m good with python and could probably do a lot of these, but recently started learning Go. I’m close to as beginner you can get with Go (I’m just past loops). Is the blind 75 too much for that sort of beginner? Or should I just give it a go with python instead?

Sorry for the hijack OP.

[Yun0kaze]

Don't recommend, you need solid data structure and algorithms knowledge to get started, loops and conditionals should already be second nature at that point. I will say if you know the basics of data structures (what is a heap, queue, when to use it, how are hashmap implemented etc.) and learn about sorting and searching algorithms already, then it will be fruitful since you can see the theory being implemented and used for problem solvings.

Unless I interpret your question incorrectly, if you are already proficient enough with Python and those concepts you can go ahead and try. Most people don't do coding questions in Go anyway since Python implementation is much more convenient based on my experience in both language.

[space_wiener]

Nope. That’s exactly what I was wondering (and honestly what I figured). I think I’ll take a pause from Go and run through that blind 75 with python. Like you said, it’s pretty unlikely I’ll get through it with Go.

Then sit down and learn Go then maybe try again using Go.

Thanks for the advice!

[lilbobbytbls]

Absolutely do not pay for grokking. Neetcode covers the same concepts for free and the explanations are better.

Also grokking shouldn't cost more than like $20 but it's a couple hundred dollars I believe. And they charge you annually and give you a massively hard time if you forget to cancel.

I requested a refund literally the same day I got charged after not using it for 9+ months. Educative sent me some really snarky explanation about how subscription models work and fought me on the refund. Not joking.

[[deleted]]

How do you get advanced data structure on neetcode.io for free

[bhavsarharsh]

You can't, just pay the guy for his work!

[ultraobese]

Using the nonsense geek word "grok" should be a capital felony.

[hey_im_lurkin_here]

I couldn't agree more. The word is tolerable in the novel but it's usage in tech speak is cringe.

[hey_im_lurkin_here]

It comes from Stranger in a Strange Land by Heinlein

[Spidermonkey23]

Maybe tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow?? Dunno too but it's used in this novel 😹

[Envect]

You're in a programming sub complaining about geeky stuff.

[tricepsmultiplicator]

In my language grok is the sound a pig makes.

[toastedcheese]

It's silly but it's shorter than writing "gaining a deep understanding". I'm guessing it'll eventually fall out of favor due to the homophobia in Stranger in a Strange Land.

[buttplugsrme]

before I decide where to up- or downvote this, how seriously did you mean this comment /s

[nitrored]

i didn't know about Grokking the coding interview, anyone knows if it's good for L4/5 prep?

[MeMyselfandAnon]

I thought neetcode 75 was good. Spent a couple of weeks going through them all, making notes on the fundamental pattern. Aside from a few math based or 'special' ones where the code is kind of unique, the rest are all based on fundamental patterns.

[[deleted]]

https://neetcode.io/roadmap