🧩 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐬 ?
They are common strategies or techniques that can be applied to solve different types of problems. For example, some coding patterns are:
🪟 Sliding window: use a fixed or variable size window to scan the array or string.
👉👈 Two pointers: use two pointers to move towards the beginning, end, or middle of the array or string.
🐇🐢 Fast and slow pointers: use two pointers that move at different speeds to find the middle or detect a cycle in a linked list.
📊 Merge intervals: sort and merge overlapping intervals.
🔁 Cyclic sort: sort an array containing numbers from 1 to n by placing each number in its correct index.
↔️ In-place reversal of a linked list: reverse a linked list without using any extra space.
🌳 Tree breadth-first search: traverse a tree level by level using a queue.
🌳 Tree depth-first search: traverse a tree using recursion or a stack.
⚖️ Two heaps: use two heaps (max heap and min heap) to find the median of a stream of numbers.
📚 Subsets: generate all the subsets of a given set using recursion or iteration.
🔍🔎 Modified binary search: use binary search to find the missing or smallest element in a sorted array that is rotated or has duplicates.
📈 Top K elements: use a heap or a quickselect algorithm to find the top k elements in an array.
➡️➡️ K-way merge: use a heap to merge k sorted arrays or lists.
🎒 0/1 knapsack: use dynamic programming to solve problems that involve choosing items with maximum value under a capacity constraint.
🔝➡️ Topological sort 🔝➡️: use a graph and a stack to find the order of execution of tasks with dependencies.
🚀 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥 ?
Coding patterns are useful because they can help you:
Recognize the underlying structure of the problem and apply the appropriate pattern 🧠
Reduce the time and effort spent on solving the problem ⏳
Avoid getting stuck or frustrated by not knowing how to approach the problem 🤯
Improve your coding skills and confidence 💪
📚 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐬 ?
Learning coding patterns involves a systematic approach:
📖 Read about the coding patterns and understand how they work and when they can be used.
🛠️ Practice solving problems that belong to each coding pattern on LeetCode or other platforms.
🔍 Review the solutions and explanations provided by LeetCode or other sources.
🧠 Try to solve the same problems again without looking at the solutions.
🔁 Repeat the process until you master each coding pattern.
💡 I hope this tip helps you ace your coding interviews.
Mastering coding patterns can be a game-changer for your coding journey. If you have any questions or feedback, feel free to comment below. Happy coding! 🎉
Journey From College to Amazon as SDE