Advanced Algorithms you should learn before your interview

It’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with a wide range of algorithms and data structures before going into a software design interview.

Manish Salunke
8 min readJan 6, 2023
Advanced Algorithms you should learn before your interview
Photo by Андрей Сизов on Unsplash
  • Sorting algorithms: bubble sort, selection sort, insertion sort, merge sort, quick sort, etc.
  • Search algorithms: linear search, binary search, depth-first search, breadth-first search, etc.
  • Graph algorithms: breadth-first search, depth-first search, dijkstra’s algorithm, bellman-ford algorithm, a* algorithm, etc.
  • Dynamic programming: knapsack problem, shortest path, etc.
  • Bit manipulation: bit shifting, bit masking, etc.
  • Hash tables: collision resolution, load balancing, etc.
  • Trees: binary trees, n-ary trees, balanced trees, etc.
  • Heaps: binary heaps, d-ary heaps, etc.
  • Tries: prefix trees, suffix trees, etc.

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Sorting algorithms:

  • Bubble sort is a simple sorting algorithm that repeatedly iterates through the list of items, compares adjacent items, and swaps them if they are in the wrong order. It is called bubble sort because the smaller items “bubble” to the top of the list like bubbles rising to the surface of a glass of soda. Bubble sort is not an efficient sorting algorithm and is generally not used in practice, but it is a good algorithm to learn because it is simple and easy to understand.
  • Selection sort is another simple sorting algorithm that works by repeatedly finding the minimum element in the unsorted portion of the list and appending it to the sorted portion of the list. It is called selection sort because it repeatedly selects the minimum element from the unsorted portion of the list.
  • Insertion sort is a simple sorting algorithm that works by iterating through the list of items, taking each item, and inserting it into its proper place in the sorted portion of the list. It is called insertion sort because it works by inserting each item into its proper place in the sorted list.
  • Merge sort is a divide-and-conquer sorting algorithm that works by recursively dividing the list of items into smaller sublists, sorting the sublists, and then merging the sorted sublists back together to form the final sorted list. It is an efficient sorting algorithm with a time complexity of O(n*log(n)).
  • Quick sort is another divide-and-conquer sorting algorithm that works by selecting a pivot element from the list and partitioning the other elements into two sublists based on whether they are less than or greater than the pivot. It then recursively sorts the sublists and combines them to form the final sorted list. Quick sort is an efficient sorting algorithm with a time complexity of O(n*log(n)) on average, but it has a worst-case time complexity of O(n²).

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Search algorithms:

  • Linear search is a simple search algorithm that works by iterating through the list of items one by one and returning the index of the first item that matches the search key. It has a time complexity of O(n) in the worst case, which means that it may take up to n iterations to find the item if it is not present in the list.
  • Binary search is a more efficient search algorithm that works by dividing the list of items into two halves and repeatedly comparing the search key to the middle element. If the search key is less than the middle element, it searches the left half of the list. If it is greater, it searches the right half. It continues this process until the search key is found or it is clear that the search key is not present in the list. Binary search has a time complexity of O(log(n)) in the worst case, which means that it can find the item in a list of n items with a maximum of log(n) comparisons.
  • Depth-first search (DFS) is a search algorithm that traverses a tree or graph by exploring as far as possible along each branch before backtracking. It is called depth-first search because it explores the depth of the tree or graph first before the breadth.
  • Breadth-first search (BFS) is a search algorithm that traverses a tree or graph by exploring all the neighbors of a node before moving on to the next level. It is called breadth-first search because it explores the breadth of the tree or graph first before the depth.

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Graph algorithms:

  • Dijkstra’s algorithm is a graph search algorithm that works by starting at the source node and exploring all the possible paths to the destination node, keeping track of the shortest distance from the source to each node. It is used to find the shortest path between two nodes in a graph with non-negative edge weights. It has a time complexity of O(n²) or O(n*log(n)) depending on the implementation.
  • Bellman-Ford algorithm is an algorithm for finding the shortest path between a given source node and all other nodes in a graph. It works by relaxing the edges of the graph repeatedly until the shortest path to each node is found. It is more versatile than Dijkstra’s algorithm because it can handle negative edge weights, but it has a slower time complexity of O(n*m) where n is the number of nodes and m is the number of edges.
  • A* algorithm is a graph search algorithm that combines the strengths of both Dijkstra’s algorithm and a heuristic function to find the shortest path between a given source node and a destination node. It uses a heuristic function to guide the search and helps to reduce the time complexity by pruning the search space. A* has a time complexity of O(b^d) where b is the branching factor and d is the depth of the solution, making it more efficient than Dijkstra’s algorithm in many cases.

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Dynamic programming:

  • The knapsack problem is an optimization problem that asks you to maximize the value of a collection of items with given weights and values, subject to the constraint that the total weight of the items must be less than or equal to a given capacity. It can be solved using dynamic programming by building up a table of the maximum value that can be obtained for each weight up to the capacity.
  • The shortest path is a problem that asks you to find the shortest path between two nodes in a graph. It can be solved using dynamic programming by building up a table of the shortest path between each pair of nodes in the graph.

Bit manipulation:

  • Bit shifting is the process of shifting the bits of a binary number to the left or right. Shifting the bits to the left multiplies the number by 2 for each shift, and shifting the bits to the right divides the number by 2 for each shift.
  • Bit masking is the process of using a mask to extract or modify specific bits in a binary number. A mask is a binary number with 1s in the positions of the bits that you want to extract or modify and 0s in the other positions.

Hash tables:

  • Collision resolution is the process of handling the case when two keys hash to the same index in a hash table. There are several different techniques for collision resolution, including chaining and open addressing.
  • Load balancing is the process of distributing the keys evenly across the indices of a hash table to minimize the number of collisions and improve the performance of the table. There are several techniques for load balancing, including resizing the table and rehashing the keys when the load factor exceeds a certain threshold.

Trees:

  • Binary trees are tree data structures in which each node has at most two children. The left child and right child are usually called the left subtree and right subtree, respectively.
  • N-ary trees are tree data structures in which each node has at most n children.
  • Balanced trees are tree data structures in which the height of the tree is kept as small as possible to improve the performance of operations such as search and insert. Examples of balanced trees include AVL trees and red-black trees.

Heaps:

  • heaps are complete binary trees in which the values of the nodes satisfy a heap property. There are two types of binary heaps: min heaps and max heaps. In a min heap, the value of each node is greater than or equal to its children, and in a max heap, the value of each node is less than or equal to its children.
  • D-ary heaps are generalizations of binary heaps in which each node has at most d children. Like binary heaps, they can be either min heaps or max heaps.

Tries:

  • Prefix trees (also called trie trees or digital trees) are tree data structures in which each node represents a prefix of a set of strings. They are used to store dictionaries and are useful for efficiently searching for words or prefixes in a large set of strings.
  • Suffix trees are tree data structures in which each node represents a suffix of a given string. They are used to efficiently search for patterns within a string and to perform other string processing tasks.

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Here are some additional tips that can help you prepare for your software design interview.

Practice solving problems and writing code. The best way to prepare for a software design interview is to practice solving problems and writing code. You can find a variety of problems for practice online or in textbooks, and it is recommended that you work through as many problems as possible. We also recommend practicing writing code on a whiteboard and in a collaborative code editor to familiarize yourself with the interview format.

Understanding the Basics of Computer Science It is important to have a good understanding of the fundamentals of computer science, such as the complexities of time and space, the Big O technique, and recursion. These concepts often come up in interviews in software design and are important for understanding trade-offs between different algorithms and data structures.

Review of basic data structures and algorithms. Make sure you have a good understanding of basic data structures such as arrays, linked lists, stacks, queues, and trees, and basic algorithms such as sorting and searching. This topic is the basis for advanced algorithms and is useful for a variety of problems.

Understanding Common Design Patterns Familiarity with common design patterns such as factories, singletons, and observers. They are solutions to common design problems and can be applied in many contexts.

Being able to explain your solution. For software design interviews, writing code is not enough. You will also need the ability to explain your solutions and justify your design decisions. Be clear about your thought process and allow the interviewer to explain your code.

Always sensitive to current trends. Keep up with the latest trends in software development and be prepared to talk about them in an interview. This includes new programming languages, frameworks or familiar tools, and trends in software design and development techniques.

Conclusion

In conclusion, to prepare for a software design interview, it is important to identify a wide range of algorithms and data structures, understand the basics of computer science, practice problem-solving and coding, and keep up with current trends in software development. is. Taking the time to review these topics and practice your skills can increase your chances of success in a software design interview. good luck.

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