How can you sharpen your programming skills for interviews?

To sharpen programming skills for interviews below are the 12 points to remember: 1. Practice coding on LeetCode, HackerRank, and Codeforces. 2. Master data structures (arrays, linked lists, trees) and algorithms (sorting, searching, DP). 3. Do mock interviews for real scenarios. 4. Review basics: time & and space complexity, Big O. 5. Work on personal projects for your resume. 6. Learn system design, e.g., "Designing Data-Intensive Applications" by Martin Kleppmann. 7. Prepare for behavioral questions. 8. Practice whiteboard coding explanations. 9. Research the company culture and tech. 10. Seek feedback on coding and problem-solving. 11. Stay updated with tech trends. 12. Develop soft skills: communication and problem-solving.

1. Practice on multiple platforms e.g. hackerrank, leetcode etc. 2. Maintain cheatsheets to remember important points. 3. Dedicate some time daily to practice with no distractions. 4. Practice with mock interviews.

I want to start by stating that “you do not need to know everything about a programming language, to apply for a job.” However, you do need to show a strong understanding of majority of the intricacies within the skill(s) needed. Review the job description and requirement. Ensure that for every requirement, you are atleast 60% comfortable with it. Every programming language, no matter the complexity is built on foundational logic - prioritize this!

Programming fundamentals are language agnostic. Understanding of key characteristics of different programming paradigms and some key algorithms and data structures should allow you to learn basics of any language quickly - a skill that is more useful in most cases than knowledge of esoteric edge cases of any specific language. Practicing programming kata can help with building muscle (and actual) memory.

To sharpen your programming skills for interviews, focus on reviewing fundamental concepts, solving coding challenges, studying common interview topics, practicing problem-solving, participating in mock interviews, learning from others, reading programming resources, keeping up with technology trends, developing a portfolio, and conducting mock interviews. Practice consistently, persist, and maintain a growth mindset.

Practicing with online platforms, such as LeetCode and HackerRank, is essential for aspiring programmers. It involves solving coding challenges, participating in competitions, and engaging with a coding community. This practice sharpens problem-solving skills, exposes individuals to diverse coding scenarios, and builds confidence, ultimately preparing them for coding interviews and enhancing their programming prowess.

chat GPT can really help you to prepare for your next interview. You should first set the chat conversation by giving system prompt like : - "Act as expert interviewer for iOS app development. You can ask questions related to OOPS and can also ask questions to app life cycle and architecture"

The main key to practicing with Online problems is to read the Editorials. This approach has really helped me a lot during my Competitive programming and Job search phase. Once we try and solve the problem in Leetcode, HackerRank or other platforms, spend some time reading the authors/expert's solution for the problem. 1. Learn multiple and efficient ways to solve the same problem 2. See how to boil down a complex text to a solvable problem 3. Learn best practices in code

And don’t forget to give mock interviews or try practicing with your friends. Trust me you can’t imagine how pair programming will improve your problem solving skills.

Learning to Leetcode is like learning to ride a bike. You might feel intimidated when you’re new to it, but once you learn it you’ll just need a short refresh for future interviews.

Avoid interview tutorials other than those which focus on communication and human interaction. Learn how to build good software, not how to interview well.

There are people out there who have already gone through the same or similar problems or had the same requirements, if they have been able to share the solution you will learn it, review it and apply it. And there will come a time when that role will be yours, you will have the experience and knowledge to train other people.

You can learn a lot from other programmers who have more experience or different perspectives than you. You can join online communities, forums, or social media platforms where you can ask questions, share your work, and get feedback. You can also find a mentor, a peer, or a tutor who can guide you and help you overcome your challenges.

It is important to collaborate, not just for the sake of practicing for interviews and cracking them but also to build great products. Connect with people, take up small projects, do pair-programming, reviews and take constructive feedbacks. There are a lot of platforms which provide exposure to open-source contributions. Seek advise from people who are already there, where you want to be. Learn from their learnings, don't try to be them

Learning from the experiences of others is invaluable! Watching videos, reading blogs, and listening to podcasts can provide you with diverse perspectives and strategies for tackling technical interviews. Additionally, joining online communities or forums allows you to engage with fellow programmers, share insights, and learn from each other's experiences. Seeking out mentors or peers who have navigated through interviews successfully can offer personalized guidance and support tailored to your needs. Remember, leveraging the collective knowledge and experiences of others can significantly accelerate your growth and preparation for interviews. Keep learning and evolving!

Can't stress this enough! It's one thing knowing a concept, completely another getting your hands dirty. Work on as many real-world projects as you can and put those up on github and of course on your resume - goes a long way in demonstrating your hands-on experience to potential employers and gives you that x factor as well.

In the vast realm of software development, mastering every language or API is a tall order. Instead, diversifying with side projects can be a game-changer. These projects don't just showcase technical skills; they reflect adaptability, passion, and problem-solving acumen. Interviewers often value what you can demonstrate over rote knowledge. As you gear up for your next tech interview, remember: side projects are more than code—they're a testament to your potential in the ever-evolving tech landscape.

If your personal project is targeted to audience of one (yourself) skip it. Committing (even the smallest change) to a widely used open source project is much more valuable than crating another unused todo app or calculator. Programming is for delivering value, your unused personal project will provide hardly any.

Personal projects are great for learning how to build something end-to-end. They can help improve "big-picture" skills and give you experience in newer tools and languages. This is great especially earlier in your career when you don't have a lot of traditional experience under your belt. It's basically the way self-taught programmers learn. And who knows, what starts out as a personal project can become a larger collaboration - Linus Torvalds comes to mind among thousands of others. If you've been working in Industry A for years, personal projects might be a way to break into Industry B.

One thing I've noticed through my experience and conversations with other software engineers is that you should have personal projects, or at least one, to be attached to. Treat them with love and care. Always revisit them and check if there's something you can improve. When you go through a new selection process, implement the job requirements quickly into your favorite personal project. When you are not in a process, refactor your code to enhance readability, performance, and adhere to good programming practices.

I cannot support this point enough... you don't really know your code until you've exercised it. Attaching my IDE to a debugger during live development was the biggest leap in my career. I had used a debugger and also written tests, but not in conjunction from the start. I had an amazing mentor that made me do both. I'll never code without a live debugger again. You cannot write good code without tests. And you have to write a lot of crappy tests(redundant or false positives) to know how to write good tests. Learning how to write good tests allows you to write less of them.

Testing your code is essential for any programmer and can sharpen your skills for interviews by ensuring your code is correct, efficient, and robust. Testing helps you identify and fix bugs, errors, and edge cases that might otherwise compromise your solution. Using testing tools and frameworks can automate, simplify, and speed up the process. Some examples of these tools are JUnit, PyTest, Mocha, and Selenium. Incorporating thorough testing into your workflow ensures your solutions are reliable and demonstrates your attention to detail and commitment to quality to potential employers.

Testing is crucial for any programmer, and it's vital for interview readiness too. By testing your code, you ensure its correctness, efficiency, and robustness. Identifying and fixing bugs and edge cases early on can prevent issues later. Using testing tools like JUnit, PyTest, Mocha, or Selenium streamlines the process, making it faster and more effective. Understanding various testing types showcases your attention to detail, improving your performance in interviews. So, keep testing and refining your code for success!

Familiarity with the terminology, practices, and value of testing (from small unit tests to large integration tests) is vital

This article talks about programming. There is no programming without testing. Don’t rely on tests to find your bugs. Test are a verbalization of your assumptions about what your program is ought to do. If your test passed it doesn’t mean you don’t have bugs, it only means your assumption thus far was valid (it may and most likely change as the program grows).

The premise of this entire article is wrong. You shouldn't even be interviewing if you aren't already skilled. This is a difference in mindset. Your preparation for your first job should be creating quality projects that solve real problems using the correct tools and current best practices. Your preparation for your subsequent jobs should be each preceding job. If you feel the need to bone up on something for an interview, you probably shouldn't have applied to that position.

I think it depends on the person. Feel free to train in anything that will make you more comfortable solving problems. There are so many ways, platforms like leetcode, codinggame etc but also fun challenges such as advent of code or even regular competitions in programming communities. The biggest thing you need to remember is that you don't do this for the recruiters, you do this for you, to have fun, challenge yourself and expand your skills.

Many people think that the most important skill for an interview is coding. However, coding is just a tool to translate thoughts from your brain to a machine. As your interviewers are usually humans and not machines, you have to also translate thoughts from your brain to these humans. The appropriate skill for this is talking. You therefore have to learn to translate your thoughts not only into programming languages but also human languages. Learn and practice explaining your thoughts. To practice, use a smart rubber duck (aka a friend or colleague) and explain your thoughts. Then, take another smart rubber duck and try again because each human is different and you have to adapt your explanations to your audience.

Reading other people’s code can help you learn new techniques, best practices, and coding standards. You can read code from books, blogs, tutorials, or online repositories. Try to understand how the code works, what problems it solves, and how you would improve it. The best way to improve your programming skills is to practice them regularly. You can work on personal projects, join online coding challenges, or contribute to open source projects. The more you code, the more you will learn from your mistakes and feedback.

Engaging in pair programming sessions can significantly enhance your programming skills for interviews. This collaborative approach allows you to work with another programmer on the same code. It helps in gaining different perspectives and techniques for solving problems. You can learn new strategies and coding styles, and also improve your ability to explain your thought process and code, which is a crucial skill in technical interviews. Additionally, it simulates a team environment, preparing you for real-world programming scenarios. Pair programming can be done with a colleague, through online communities, or at coding meetups.