Back in my Biggest Regrets article, I wanted to explain how I prepare for coding interviews. Well, today is the day I explain that to all of you!

Today I will be explaining the FREE resource that is NeetCode.io , what it is, how to use it, and how to improve your coding interview skills through it.

The Coding Interview: A Brief Overview

Before we go forward, I probably need to explain to some of you who may not be as familiar with the Software Dev/Engineer technical coding interview.

During these interviewers, it (probably) follows this format:

Obviously, I am exaggerating a bit, but this is the gist of the coding interview. If you have the time, here's a more funnier video regarding how coding interviews are like:

Candidates are meant to solve random coding questions, typically similar to those on websites such as LeetCode.

These type of interviews center around the candidate attempting to find the most optimal solutions in a fixed amount of time, typically around 30 minutes to an hour. Depending on the company, the interviewer may be looking for different criteria, such as algorithm & data structures knowledge, coding skill, how you communicate your solution, among a variety of other qualities.

Now, I must say that among the developer and tech community, especially in the online space, these types of interviews are very controversial. The modern coding interview structure was created by MAMAA companies, such as Google, Meta, and Amazon, to filter out the best of the best candidates for their positions.

The rest of the industry picked up on this practice, and it has raised many issues, as these interviews typically do not show if a candidate can perform the actual job duties, but rather that they studied and grinded the Blind 75 questions on Leetcode (more on that in a bit).

In my opinion, while I do agree to an extent that the modern coding interview has its flaws, I do acknowledge that at this point in time, passing the coding interview is a skill unto itself for Software Engineers/Developers to have.

The Blind 75

The Blind 75 are the 75 most asked questions from LeetCode by companies during coding interviews. Most interview questions you will be given are typically based on these 75 LeetCode questions or are very similar. The Blind 75 can be categorized into patterns, such as Arrays, Linked Lists, Dynamic Programming, and Greedy Algorithms, among others.

These various patterns are the basis of nearly all LeetCode questions, and thus mastering them all means you will mostly be prepared for the coding interview knowledge and skills-wise.

However, if you memorize the answers to these questions rather than actually applying the knowledge of recognizing the pattern, this may lead you to fail the interview process as well, as you may not able to explain the solution at all. Many companies also value their candidates to explain their solution in an understandable manner, and if you were to just memorize a question without understanding it, you may end up being rejected even if you got the optimal solution.

This is why these coding interviews can be difficult to some, as recognizing that you must use a specific algorithm to get the optimal solution in 45 minutes while dealing with the intricacies of your coding language of choice can be overwhelming.

Fortunately, this is where NeetCode.io comes in.

NeetCode & NeetCode.io

NeetCode is a YouTuber who posts coding solutions to LeetCode questions. NeetCode used to be a N.E.E.T (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) but has recently become a Software Engineer at Google. Neetcode is one of the best YouTubers at explaining solutions to LeetCode, as not only does he provide both a brute force and optimal solution, but he goes into detail regarding the actual algorithm and/or data structure needed to find the optimal solution.

NeetCode.io was created for people to prepare for coding interviews in a more efficient way. NeetCode.io has organized coding questions into categories with the intention to learn how to solve the patterns typically seen in these coding interview questions, rather than picking a random LeetCode problem or two a day.

NeetCode wanted to create a resource in which anyone could learn how to answer coding interview questions by recognizing that pattern and applying that pattern to find the optimal solution.

On NeetCode.io, NeetCode has kindly categorized 150 questions, which include the Blind 75, on this website. Each pattern has a series of questions, ranging from easy-hard LeetCode difficulty.

Each question links back to the LeetCode problem of the same name, where you can try to solve it.

NeetCode also includes both his own video solution, where he goes in-depth on how to solve the problem, as well as various code answers. All the LeetCode questions have answers in Python, and nearly all also have answers in Java, C++, and JavaScript, so you can study and understand the solution. This was of particular use to me, as the language I am most comfortable with is C++, so having the solutions I can look at to learn from in the programming language of my choice was amazing.

Once you understand, I recommend then trying it out on your own once with being able to reference both the video and code solutions.

After that, I recommend you attempt to start trying to solve each question on your own. I also recommend that you record yourself during these attempts, and as you solve them, say what you are coding and why.

This is because many companies will not be only checking to see if you can provide the optimal solution to a problem, but also if you can explain your thought process in an understandable way.

If you listen or watch back your recording and you cannot understand yourself, the engineers and developers interviewing you will not be able to understand either.

The way NeetCode.io is set up, you can easily go in any way you want. Maybe you want to finish all the easy problems. Maybe you want to brush up on a specific pattern like Graphs, so you complete all the Graph questions. Or maybe you just want to go in at random and try to solve 1 out of the 150 questions. All approaches are possible with NeetCode.io.

You can also sign in, so you can save your progress across devices. Say you were on your desktop in the middle of some Sliding Window problems, and you had to leave for work. Then, once you get on your lunch, you can open NeetCode.io on your work laptop, and start off where you left off.

In all honesty, I am jealous, as if I had this resource when I was in college, or even last year when I was graduating, I would have done at least a few problems every day.

Many resources even just a few years ago about how to solve coding interview LeetCode style questions were either a premium service, or scattered across YouTube, with varying levels of explanation on what the actual pattern was.

Now, NeetCode and NeetCode.io are here, and I could not be more thankful. I urge you guys to subscribe to NeetCode and tell you I sent you (though he probably will not even know who I am). He is amazing, and NeetCode.io is one of if not the main reasons I got to the final stage of that MAMMA/FAANG company interview process. I have no doubt that this incredible resource will be the reason one of you will be able to get the job of your dreams!