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SDE - Intern

Cisco
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2 rounds | 4 Coding problems

Interview preparation journey

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Preparation
Duration: 8 months
Topics: Data Structures, OOPs, Algorithms, Dynamic Programming, Graphs and Graph algorithms(BFS, DFS)
Tip
Tip

Tip 1 : Regulalry particpate in contests.
Tip 2 : along with DSA prepare your CS core subjects also.
Tip 3 : Make atleast 2 personal projects on trending tech stacks.

Application process
Where: Campus
Eligibility: above 7 CGPA
Resume Tip
Resume tip

Tip 1 : Don't bluff in resume.
Tip 2 : You should have atleast 2 personal projects.

Interview rounds

01
Round
Medium
Online Coding Interview
Duration90 Minutes
Interview date1 Sep 2021
Coding problem2

It was around 7 - 8 pm. it was the online coding round and 10 MCQs.

1. Number of Islands

Easy
0/40
Asked in companies
PhonePeExpedia GroupRazorpay

You have been given a non-empty grid consisting of only 0s and 1s. You have to find the number of islands in the given grid.

An island is a group of 1s (representing land) connected horizontally, vertically or diagonally. You can assume that all four edges of the grid are surrounded by 0s (representing water).

Problem approach

as in this question i have to find number of islands i will iterate my grid and call dfs, wherever, i find a[i][j] = 1 ,
then i increase my ans variable and call dfs for that index and I will explore all 4 dimensions wherever i can visit and also on visiting i will make that cell 0 as i dont want to visit it again.

this is my dfs function ---->
function dfs = [&](int i,int j)
{
if(i>=0 && j>=0 && i {
a[i][j] = '0';
dfs(i+1,j);
dfs(i-1,j);
dfs(i,j+1);
dfs(i,j-1);
}
};

Try solving now

2. Broken Calculator

Easy
20m average time
80% success
0/40
Asked in companies
SnapdealPaytm (One97 Communications Limited)Arcesium

You are given two integers ‘X’ and ‘Y’. You can convert the number ‘X’ into another integer ‘Y’ using the following two operations in any order.

i) Multiply ‘X’ by 2 
ii) Subtract 1 from ‘X’

Your task is to find the minimum number of operations needed to convert ‘X’ into ‘Y’.

Note: It is always possible to convert ‘X’ into ‘Y’

Problem approach

i will move backwards start with the target try to move to the start value . whenever target%2 ==1 i will increase value of target as intially was decrment operation and otherwise i will do target /= 2; as intially it was multiply by 2 operation.
solution is-->
sv --> starting value
while(target>sv)
{
ans++;
if(target%2==1)
{
target++;
}
else
{
target /= 2;
}
}
ans += (sv - target);

Try solving now
02
Round
Medium
Video Call
Duration60 Minutes
Interview date6 Sep 2021
Coding problem2

it was around 10 - 11 am. Interviewer was good but at the end he asked system design in which i was not comfortable in my 5th semester. I wasn't familiar with system design at that time.

1. 3Sum

Moderate
15m average time
85% success
0/80
Asked in companies
CiscoMathworksSamsung

You are given an array/list ARR consisting of N integers. Your task is to find all the distinct triplets present in the array which adds up to a given number K.

An array is said to have a triplet {ARR[i], ARR[j], ARR[k]} with sum = 'K' if there exists three indices i, j and k such that i!=j, j!=k and i!=j and ARR[i] + ARR[j] + ARR[k] = 'K'.

Note:
1. You can return the list of values in any order. For example, if a valid triplet is {1, 2, -3}, then {2, -3, 1}, {-3, 2, 1} etc is also valid triplet. Also, the ordering of different triplets can be random i.e if there are more than one valid triplets, you can return them in any order.
2. The elements in the array need not be distinct.
3. If no such triplet is present in the array, then return an empty list, and the output printed for such a test case will be "-1".
Problem approach

firstly i sorted the string and tried to change this problem target sum problem which can be easily solved by binary search approach. as a[i] + a[j] + a[k] = 0;
so we can say that , a[i] + a[j] = (-a[k).

Try solving now

2. Design Question

design the database of zomato

Problem approach

Tip 1: i was not able to solve it as i was not familiar with system design at that time.
 

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