Have you applied for several coding jobs? Well, you will likely have to go through an interview process. Preparing for a coding interview can be daunting. You might not know what to expect or prepare, but the answer is simple: practice. By preparing yourself beforehand, going into the interview will be much less intimidating and stressful. This blog post will walk you through some helpful features of the top coding platform for interview to help you nail your next interview.

Helpful Tips on How to Prepare Yourself for the Coding Interview

Practice, Practice, Practice

You cannot go wrong by practising. In the real world, it is unlikely that you will have a coding challenge to complete in front of a non-technical interviewer staring over your shoulder. Following this, completing it from scratch on your own without any help or guidance can be pretty tricky. If you are not in a different setting, it can be easy to fool yourself into thinking you have completed the challenge. As you prepare for the interview, it’s essential to practice and meet coding challenges in a different workspace and make sure you are not cheating yourself. Be sure to check out the top coding platform for interview to hone your skills ahead of time.

Be Fluid

Keep your mind open and fluid when developing solutions for the challenge. If you have specific ideas that you want to explore, you should go for them. Nevertheless, during the interview, you will not be given much guidance or hints. It’s good to keep your mind open for new ideas that you might not have thought of before. Also, if you are stuck partway through the challenge and don’t know how to proceed, do not stop completely trying different approaches but still think about possible ways to solve the challenge.

Know your Algorithms

Regardless of the specific challenge, you will have to know basic data structures and algorithms to implement them efficiently in code. Try not to memorise any of these as it could be a bad sign. Instead, know them to explain the steps required to implement these data structures and algorithms. Additionally, if you are asked a question where you have to choose between 2 different approaches, you should always think of the one that would be more efficient.

Know your Tools

You will likely be asked to complete the challenge using a specific language/framework like Python, C++, or Java. As such, ensure you get familiar with one of these if you are not already and know their main features. For example, if the language is Java, then learn how to iterate through lists quickly. If it is Python, you should know how to implement the map function. If you are allowed to use any IDE (Integrated Development Environment) of your choice, make sure you also get familiar with it before the interview.

Know the Basics

You must understand the common data structures, typical algorithm complexities and understand how computers work. With this, you can quickly solve an issue when given a string as input. If you don’t understand a question or how to be implemented, do not shy away from asking questions.

Top 5 Coding Interview Resources You Can Use

1. Geektastic

Geektastics Coding Platform offers a weekly podcast with experienced senior managers who talk about technical topics like coding interviews. The guests include engineers from companies like Google, Facebook, and Microsoft. Hosted by an experienced software engineer, the platform will give you great insights for your following interview.

2. ProjectEuler

This website contains numerous coding challenges that are often mathematical, but it does offer a beginners track where you can learn the basics of programming to complete them.

3. Coderbyte

This website offers hundreds of coding challenges in different categories like algorithms, cryptography, and big data. It also has an interesting section where users can submit their questions, and other users can solve them.

4. HackerRank

This website has hundreds of coding challenges that require you to complete them within hours using Java or Python. It also has coding challenges where you can learn how to implement common data structures and algorithms.

5. Glassdoor

Last but not least, Glassdoor is an exceptional resource for learning what questions might be asked at each company and other tips.

Coding Platform for Interview Closing Thoughts

Coding interviews can be very stressful, but they don’t have to be if you know the basics and prepare well. By following this guide and doing your research, you should feel more confident going into your next interview.