Software engineer interview preparation, round by round
Most SDE interviews use a similar set of rounds: DSA coding, core CS theory, low-level design or machine coding, system design, then HR. This page follows that order.
54 resources · 42 free · plus 23 for every role · Links checked 15 October 2026 · How we pick
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Start here
Three resources, in this order. Everything below is for going deeper on one round.
- Striver's A2Z DSA Sheet (takeUforward)
Website · Free tier
DSA is the first round in most SDE loops. This sheet gives one ordered path from basics to DP, and the curriculum is free.
- GeeksforGeeks CS Subjects Interview Questions
Website · Free
Fresher SDE interviews often ask OS, DBMS, networks and OOP theory. Use this for quick revision in the last week.
- Awesome Low Level Design (AlgoMaster)
GitHub repo · Free
Many product companies add an LLD or machine-coding round. Check your parking lot or Splitwise design against worked code.
How SDE interviews usually run
This page covers interview rounds only. Most SDE loops at product and service companies use some of the rounds below, in roughly this order. Not every company runs all of them, so ask your recruiter which rounds you will get and how long each one is.
- Coding (DSA). One to three rounds of 45 to 60 minutes each. You solve one or two problems in a shared editor and talk through your approach. See DSA.
- Core CS. Theory questions on operating systems, DBMS, computer networks and OOP. These are common for freshers and in campus hiring. See core CS.
- Low-level design or machine coding. You design the classes for something like a parking lot, or build a small working app in about 90 minutes. Many product companies run this round. See LLD and machine coding.
- System design. You design a large service, such as a URL shortener or a chat app. This round is common from about two years of experience. Some freshers get a lighter version. See system design.
- Hiring manager and HR. Questions on your projects, teamwork and why you want this job, plus practical points like your notice period. See career, and the behavioral resources for every role.
A 2-week plan
Use this plan if your interview is already booked. Two weeks is enough time to revise and practise, not to learn DSA from zero. Plan for 3 to 4 hours a day.
- Days 1 to 5: coding patterns. Open Grind 75, enter the hours you have, and follow the schedule it gives you. Solve 3 to 4 problems a day. Say your approach out loud before you write code, because that is what the interviewer hears.
- Days 6 and 7: core CS. Use GeeksforGeeks CS Subjects Interview Questions. Give half a day each to OS, DBMS, networks and OOP.
- Days 8 to 10: LLD. Read three solved problems in Awesome Low Level Design, such as parking lot, elevator and Splitwise. Then try one workat.tech machine coding problem with a 90-minute timer.
- Days 11 and 12: system design. Read the free parts of Hello Interview: System Design in a Hurry. Then work through one problem end to end: requirements, APIs, data model, then scaling. If your recruiter says there is no design round, spend these two days on coding.
- Day 13: behavioral. Write five short stories from your projects or internships in the STAR format. The MIT STAR guide has a worksheet for this. Pick two or three questions to ask your interviewer from reverse-interview.
- Day 14: review and rest. Redo five problems that you got wrong earlier. Stop early and sleep well.
An 8-week plan
Use this plan if you are starting DSA from the basics, or if you have not interviewed in a few years. Plan for 2 to 3 hours on weekdays and more at weekends.
- Weeks 1 to 3: DSA foundations. Work through Striver's A2Z DSA Sheet, starting with sorting, arrays, hashing, binary search, strings, recursion and linked lists. When a topic does not make sense, watch the matching take U forward playlist, or Abdul Bari for the theory.
- Weeks 4 and 5: harder DSA. Trees, heaps, graphs and dynamic programming. If DP feels hard, Aditya Verma teaches it in Hindi, one pattern at a time. Then test yourself on NeetCode 150: can you spot the pattern in a problem you have not seen? Join one LeetCode weekly contest each week for timed practice.
- Week 6: core CS and LLD. Revise with GeeksforGeeks CS Subjects, and read the OSTEP chapters for any OS topic you only half understand. Learn the common design patterns on Refactoring.Guru, then solve two workat.tech problems against a timer.
- Week 7: system design. Learn the building blocks from The System Design Primer: load balancers, caches, databases and queues. Gaurav Sen explains the same ideas on a whiteboard. Practise three problems, such as a URL shortener, a chat app and a news feed.
- Week 8: practice and HR. Do at least two live practice sessions with another candidate on Aced Practice, and watch a few recorded interviews on interviewing.io. Write your STAR stories. Read recent round-by-round write-ups for your target companies on AmbitionBox.
What to skip
- More than one DSA sheet. Pick one of Striver's A2Z, NeetCode 150 or Grind 75 and finish it before you open another. People who start three lists often finish none.
- Competitive programming extras. Segment trees, number theory and hard contest problems are rarely asked in SDE rounds. Leave Codeforces and CP-Algorithms for later, unless you are aiming at firms known for very hard coding rounds.
- Memorised solutions. Interviewers change the problem a little and ask why your approach works. Learn the pattern and the reason, not the code.
- Deep distributed-systems reading as a fresher. Spend that time on DSA and LLD. Learn enough system design to explain a simple design clearly.
- PDF lists of "company questions". They are often copied, out of date or pirated. AmbitionBox write-ups and the companies' own pages, such as Amazon - How We Hire, are more useful.
- Paid courses, at first. Everything in the two plans above is free or has a free tier.
Questions people ask
Which language should I use in coding rounds?
Use the language you write fastest and debug best. C++, Java and Python are widely accepted. If the job post names a language, check with your recruiter. The Tech Interview Handbook has a short guide on choosing one.
How many problems should I solve?
There is no fixed number. A list of 75 to 150 problems that you understand well is a better use of time than 500 that you rushed through. After each problem, write one line on the pattern you used. LeetCode Patterns helps you practise one pattern at a time.
Will I get a system design round as a fresher?
Sometimes, and it is usually a lighter one. Freshers at product companies more often get an LLD or machine-coding round. Ask your recruiter. If you have spare time, the System Design course by Karan Pratap Singh is one free course you can read from start to end.
Can I use AI tools during the interview?
Only if the company allows it, and the rules differ. Anthropic asks candidates not to use AI in live interviews unless it is allowed. Thoughtworks India welcomes good use of AI tools in assessments and interviews, as long as your answers show your own real-time skills. Canva expects candidates to use AI coding tools in its coding interviews. Read the company's policy, and ask your recruiter if it is not clear.
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Coding and DSA 32 resources
Solving problems with data structures and algorithms, and explaining your approach
Striver's A2Z DSA Sheet (takeUforward)
Website · takeuforward.org
An ordered DSA curriculum of roughly 500 topics in 20 modules, from language basics and sorting through graphs, DP and tries, taught by Raj Vikramaditya (Striver).
Best for Indian freshers starting DSA from zero who want one ordered path
Coding Interview University
GitHub repo · jwasham/coding-interview-university
A months-long self-study checklist of computer science topics with linked videos and readings, for building a strong CS base before big-tech interviews.
Best for self-taught developers and non-CS graduates who need the full CS foundation
Also in Core CS
Hello Algo
Book · hello-algo.com
A free, picture-heavy introductory book on data structures and algorithms, with step-by-step diagrams and runnable code in about a dozen languages.
Best for visual learners who want a beginner-friendly book before grinding problems
Kunal Kushwaha DSA Bootcamp (Java)
GitHub repo · kunal-kushwaha/DSA-Bootcamp-Java
Notes, code and assignments for a free YouTube course that teaches Java and DSA from scratch, from arrays and recursion through OOP, trees, heaps and hashing.
Best for beginners learning Java and core DSA by video (add Striver or NeetCode for graphs and DP)
VisuAlgo
Website · visualgo.net
Step-by-step animations of sorting, trees, heaps, graphs and more, with built-in lectures and quizzes, built at the National University of Singapore.
Best for seeing how an algorithm actually moves before you code it
Tech Interview Handbook
Website · techinterviewhandbook.org
An open-source guide to the whole software interview process, from picking a language and drilling algorithm topics to resumes, behavioral answers and offer negotiation.
Best for planning your coding-interview prep from start to finish
Also in Resume, companies and offers
Amazon - How We Hire (role-specific interview prep)
Official guide · amazon.jobs
Amazon's hiring hub, explaining each stage from application to the final loop, with role-specific prep pages for SDE, front-end, BI engineer and scientist roles.
Best for finding out what Amazon tests for your role and level, and how its loop works
Also in System design, Resume, companies and offers
Atlassian - Engineering interviews
Official guide · atlassian.com
Atlassian's walkthrough of each engineering round, from two coding parts and system design to a manager chat, a values interview and the hiring committee.
Best for Atlassian candidates (it has a large Bengaluru hub) and anyone curious what a values interview is like
Also in LLD and machine coding, System design, Resume, companies and offers
Grind 75
Website · techinterviewhandbook.org
A study-plan generator that turns a ranked list of high-frequency LeetCode problems into a week-by-week schedule sized to the hours you have.
Best for candidates with a fixed number of weeks who want the highest-value problem list
LeetCode Patterns (Sean Prashad)
Website · seanprashad.com
A filterable table of about 180 LeetCode problems tagged by solving pattern (sliding window, two pointers, BFS and more), difficulty and the companies that ask them.
Best for practising one pattern at a time until you can spot it in a new problem
codestorywithMIK - Interview_DS_Algo
GitHub repo · MAZHARMIK/Interview_DS_Algo
A topic-wise library of LeetCode-style problems where each file gives the problem link, company tags, several C++ and Java approaches with complexity, and a Hinglish video.
Best for Hindi and Hinglish speakers solving the LeetCode daily problem who want a clear explanation
Canva - "Yes, you can use AI in our interviews"
Official guide · canva.dev
A Canva engineering post on why it now expects backend, frontend and ML candidates to use AI coding tools in interviews, and what interviewers assess instead.
Best for understanding AI-assisted coding rounds and how to show good judgement with an AI tool
Also in Resume, companies and offers
Meta Careers - Preparing for your full loop (SWE)
Official guide · metacareers.com
Meta's official prep page for software engineers who have reached the onsite stage, whose main value is the free Full Loop Interview Guide it links to.
Best for candidates with a Meta onsite scheduled (confirm the exact rounds with your recruiter)
Also in System design, Resume, companies and offers
NeetCode Roadmap (NeetCode 150)
Website · neetcode.io
A visual topic map of 150 core LeetCode problems, each linked to a free video walkthrough on the NeetCode YouTube channel.
Best for learning problem patterns topic by topic, with a video solution for every problem
Beyond Cracking the Coding Interview
Book · beyondctci.com
The 2025 sequel to the classic interview book, with new pattern chapters, 150+ problems, and guidance on job search, referrals and negotiation.
Best for candidates who prefer one well-edited book (nine sample chapters are free to read first)
Also in Resume, companies and offers
CP-Algorithms
Website · cp-algorithms.com
A community-maintained reference of precise algorithm write-ups on graphs, number theory, strings and data structures, with proofs and C++ code.
Best for looking up a correct, proven implementation of an advanced algorithm
Algorithms by Jeff Erickson
Book · jeffe.cs.illinois.edu
A free university algorithms textbook from UIUC that teaches recursion, dynamic programming and graph algorithms with an emphasis on reasoning over memorising.
Best for deep intuition for recursion and DP when pattern lists stop being enough
Abdul Bari YouTube
YouTube channel · youtube.com
Clear whiteboard lectures on algorithm fundamentals such as asymptotic analysis, greedy, divide and conquer, dynamic programming and graph algorithms.
Best for understanding the theory behind algorithms before practising problems
CodeHelp by Babbar YouTube
YouTube channel · youtube.com
Love Babbar's second channel, with a complete free C++ DSA placement series in Hindi, plus topic series on recursion, trees, graphs and DP.
Best for beginners in India who want to learn DSA in C++ from scratch, in Hindi
take U forward (Striver) YouTube
YouTube channel · youtube.com
Long playlists on graphs, dynamic programming, trees and other topics, with explanations aimed squarely at product-company coding rounds.
Best for topic-wise DP and graph playlists that go with the A2Z sheet
Aditya Verma YouTube
YouTube channel · youtube.com
Hindi playlists that teach dynamic programming, recursion, sliding window, binary search and heaps by first working out how to spot the pattern.
Best for candidates who find DP hard and want a pattern-spotting approach in Hindi
MIT 6.006 Introduction to Algorithms (OCW)
Course · ocw.mit.edu
MIT's full undergraduate algorithms course with lecture videos, notes and problem sets, free through OpenCourseWare.
Best for a rigorous university-level grounding in algorithms and complexity
WilliamFiset YouTube (Graph Theory)
YouTube channel · youtube.com
Animated, code-along videos on graph theory and advanced data structures such as union-find, Fenwick trees and sparse tables, with an open-source Java repo.
Best for mastering BFS, DFS, shortest paths, topological sort and minimum spanning trees
HackerRank Interview Preparation Kit
Practice site · hackerrank.com
A short set of hand-picked problems on HackerRank's own editor, grouped by topic, to warm up for interviews held on that platform.
Best for getting used to HackerRank's editor and input format before a coding round hosted there
GeeksforGeeks
Practice site · geeksforgeeks.org
An Indian learning site with about 2,500 practice problems filterable by topic and company, a daily Problem of the Day, and articles on almost every DSA and CS topic.
Best for looking up any DSA or CS concept quickly, and Indian service and product company prep
Also in Core CS
Aced Practice (formerly Exponent; Pramp moved here)
Practice site · aced.io
Free peer mock interviews where you pair with another candidate and take turns as interviewer, in DSA, system design, behavioral, SQL, data science, ML and frontend.
Best for regular, cheap live practice and a feel for the interviewer's side of the table
Also in System design
CodeChef
Practice site · codechef.com
An Indian competitive programming platform with weekly Starters contests and guided DSA practice paths for beginners.
Best for Indian students who want regular contests and a rating to point to
LeetCode
Practice site · leetcode.com
The default site for interview-style coding practice: thousands of problems, free study plans such as Top Interview 150 and SQL 50, and weekly contests.
Best for daily practice and timed contests (Premium mainly adds company-tagged lists)
InterviewBit Programming Track
Practice site · interviewbit.com
A levelled coding-practice path where each topic, from complexity and arrays to graphs and DP, unlocks the next, with short concept notes, timed problems and hints.
Best for a structured, gamified practice track with an Indian company focus
interviewing.io - Mock interview replays
Practice site · interviewing.io
A free library of recorded, anonymised mock interviews run by big-tech engineers, filterable by company, round and level, with paid live mocks available.
Best for watching real interviewer feedback on coding, design and behavioral rounds before your own mocks
Also in System design
Codeforces
Practice site · codeforces.com
A competitive programming site with rated contests several times a week and a huge archive of problems sorted by difficulty rating.
Best for building speed and depth for hard coding rounds at top product, HFT and quant firms
CSES Problem Set
Practice site · cses.fi
A clean set of 400 classic algorithm problems from the University of Helsinki, paired with the author's free Competitive Programmer's Handbook.
Best for mastering graphs, DP and range queries once you are comfortable on LeetCode
Core CS 5 resources
Operating systems, DBMS, computer networks and OOP basics
GeeksforGeeks CS Subjects Interview Questions
Website · geeksforgeeks.org
A hub linking question banks for OOP, operating systems, DBMS, computer networks and software engineering, organised around what Indian companies ask.
Best for last-week revision of OS, DBMS, networks and OOP theory for campus and fresher interviews
What happens when you type google.com
GitHub repo · alex/what-happens-when
A crowd-written, step-by-step account of everything from the keypress through DNS, TCP, TLS and HTTP to the browser parsing and painting the page.
Best for answering the classic 'what happens when you load a URL' question with depth
Operating Systems: Three Easy Pieces (OSTEP)
Book · pages.cs.wisc.edu
A free, very readable operating systems textbook from two University of Wisconsin professors, covering processes, scheduling, memory, concurrency and file systems.
Best for actually understanding OS concepts instead of memorising one-line answers
Neso Academy YouTube
YouTube channel · youtube.com
English lecture series on operating systems, computer networks, DBMS and C and C++ OOP, taught in the style of a university course.
Best for structured core-CS lectures when theory rounds are part of the process
Kurose and Ross Computer Networking Video Lectures
Course · gaia.cs.umass.edu
Free video lectures and slides from the authors of the most widely used networking textbook, covering the application, transport, network and link layers.
Best for a solid grasp of TCP/IP, HTTP, DNS and routing for networking questions
LLD and machine coding 8 resources
Class design, design patterns, and building a small working app in about 90 minutes
Awesome Low Level Design (AlgoMaster)
GitHub repo · ashishps1/awesome-low-level-design
A free LLD repo covering OOP, SOLID, design patterns, UML and concurrency, plus 30+ classic problems like parking lot, elevator and Splitwise solved in six languages.
Best for LLD and machine-coding rounds at Indian product companies, with worked code to compare against
Refactoring.Guru: Design Patterns
Website · refactoring.guru
A free, illustrated catalogue of the 22 classic design patterns, each with the problem it solves, a structure diagram, trade-offs and sample code in many languages.
Best for learning or revising design patterns before LLD rounds
Head First Design Patterns, 2nd Edition
Book · wickedlysmart.com
A visual, example-heavy introduction to object-oriented design principles and the most-used design patterns in Java, for readers who find the Gang of Four text too dry.
Best for freshers and career-switchers who need LLD foundations before practising problems
workat.tech Machine Coding Problems
Website · workat.tech
Ten original machine-coding problem statements, such as Splitwise, Snake and Ladder and an in-memory key-value store, with precise specs modelled on Indian product-company rounds.
Best for timed 90-minute self-practice for Flipkart-style machine-coding rounds
Hello Interview: Low-Level Design in a Hurry
Website · hellointerview.com
A short primer on object-oriented design rounds covering scoping, finding entities and classes, and worked problems, with notes on how India and Asia rounds differ.
Best for last-mile LLD prep when you know OOP basics and need an interview structure
Gaurav Sen (YouTube)
YouTube channel · youtube.com
Whiteboard explanations of building blocks like consistent hashing, load balancing and message queues, plus classic design walkthroughs in separate HLD and LLD playlists.
Best for beginners who want intuition for core building blocks before denser material
Also in System design
sudoCODE (YouTube)
YouTube channel · youtube.com
Beginner-friendly primer playlists on low-level design, SOLID, design patterns, system design and distributed systems, taught with everyday analogies.
Best for freshers starting LLD from zero before moving to problem practice
Also in System design
Concept && Coding by Shrayansh (YouTube)
YouTube channel · youtube.com
Basics-to-advanced playlists on low-level design (patterns, UML, Splitwise, BookMyShow) and high-level design, mostly in Hindi with an English-dubbed LLD series.
Best for Hindi-speaking candidates preparing LLD and machine-coding rounds at Indian product companies
Also in System design
System design 8 resources
Designing a large service: APIs, data, scaling and the trade-offs between options
System Design 101 (ByteByteGo)
GitHub repo · ByteByteGoHq/system-design-101
Hundreds of short, diagram-led explainers on APIs, caching, databases, messaging, cloud and security, also served as free guide pages on bytebytego.com.
Best for quick visual refreshers on one concept at a time, such as the night before an interview
System Design course by Karan Pratap Singh
GitHub repo · karanpratapsingh/system-design
A free, book-length course in one README, from networking and storage basics through consistency, messaging and architecture patterns to full interview case studies.
Best for freshers and SDE-1s who want one linear course to read start to finish
The System Design Primer
GitHub repo · donnemartin/system-design-primer
A free, community-maintained study guide that explains scalability building blocks and their trade-offs, applies them to sample problems, and ships Anki decks for revision.
Best for the first stop for any high-level design round, and the reference you keep returning to
roadmap.sh interview question guides
Website · roadmap.sh
Free topic-by-topic Q&A guides with quiz cards, from backend, frontend, Java, Spring Boot, Go, Python and Node.js to SQL, Kubernetes, DevOps and data analysis.
Best for quick topic-wise revision of language, framework and tool questions before an interview
Awesome System Design Resources (AlgoMaster)
GitHub repo · ashishps1/awesome-system-design-resources
A topic-by-topic link list that pairs the author's free AlgoMaster articles with outside videos, engineering posts, papers and a graded set of interview problems.
Best for building a free study plan with concept pages and practice problems in one ordered list
Hello Interview: System Design in a Hurry
Website · hellointerview.com
A condensed course by former big-tech interviewers that teaches an answer framework, core concepts and recurring patterns, then applies them in full problem walkthroughs.
Best for candidates with one to four weeks who want high-yield material and a repeatable answer structure
System Design Interview, Vol. 1 & 2 (Alex Xu / ByteByteGo)
Book · bytebytego.com
Two volumes of fully worked design answers, from a rate limiter and chat to payments and a stock exchange, built on a four-step framework and also sold as a course.
Best for seeing many complete, interview-length answers to common design questions
ByteByteGo (YouTube)
YouTube channel · youtube.com
Short animated videos that each unpack one system design concept or one real company's architecture.
Best for fast, visual concept revision in 5 to 10 minute chunks
Resume, companies and offers 1 resource
Getting shortlisted, researching companies, and comparing and negotiating offers
interviewing.io - Senior engineer's guide to FAANG interviews
Website · interviewing.io
A free long-read built from talks with FAANG interviewers that compares how Meta, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Google and Microsoft run their loops and team matching.
Best for experienced engineers planning a FAANG or big-tech job search end to end
Same for every role
Behavioral rounds, resumes, pay and company guides do not change with the job. These 23 live on the interview resources hub.
Behavioral and HR
- GeeksforGeeks - HR interview questions
- Microsoft Careers - Interview tips
- MIT CAPD - The STAR method for behavioral interviews
- Tech Interview Handbook - Behavioral interviews
- reverse-interview
- Amazon Leadership Principles
- Google Careers - Interview tips
- Jeff H Sipe - Practice Interviews (YouTube)
- A Life Engineered (Steve Huynh, YouTube)
Practice and communities
Resume, companies and offers
- Tech Interview Handbook - Software engineer resume guide
- Reactive Resume
- Jake's Resume (LaTeX template on Overleaf)
- Hiring Without Whiteboards
- r/developersIndia Community Wiki
- AmbitionBox
- Anthropic - Candidate AI guidance
- Haseeb Qureshi - Ten rules for negotiating a job offer
- Thoughtworks India - AI policy for recruitment
- Levels.fyi - Software engineer pay in India
- r/EngineeringResumes wiki
From the team that keeps this list
Helpwing is a desktop app for interviews where AI help is allowed: it hears the question and drafts an answer from your resume. It is not for online assessments or tests.