Table of contents
1.
Introduction 
2.
How to start with dynamic Programming? 
3.
How to solve Interview Questions on Dynamic Programming?
4.
Problems on Dynamic Programming for Coding Interviews 
5.
Cracking the Dynamic Programming Coding Interview 
6.
Frequently Asked Questions
6.1.
Is Dynamic Programming capable of solving all issues?
6.2.
What are the two most important characteristics for a problem to be suitable for dynamic programming?
6.3.
What disadvantages does dynamic programming have over recursion? 
6.4.
What is the significance of dynamic programming?
6.5.
What is the difference between dynamic programming and recursion?
7.
Conclusion 
Last Updated: Mar 27, 2024
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Preparing Dynamic Programming for your next tech interview in 2022

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Introduction 

If you want to be a real contender for the finest software engineering jobs available, you must learn to answer dynamic programming interview questions. DP is a problem-solving approach that breaks down complicated problems into smaller subproblems, solves them once, and saves the results. Dynamic Programming (DP) may be considered a more efficient recursive approach that avoids repeatedly solving the same subproblem. This article describes how to approach Dynamic Programming interview questions and includes sample questions.

If you are preparing for the tech interviews, you can refer to the experience of the top product-based companies and specifically prepare for dynamic programming algorithms. You can refer to these dynamic programming problems

Having trained over 50,000 software engineers, we know what it takes to crack the most challenging tech interviews. Since 2016, Coding Ninjas alums have landed lucrative offers from FAANG and Tier-1 tech companies. Coding Ninjas Provides you with curative guided paths to prepare for the technical interviews.

  1. Competitive Programming
  2. Data Structures and Algorithms
  3. Interview Guide for Product Based Companies 
  4. and many more…..

Get detailed information about FAANG companies here.


How to start with dynamic Programming? 

To start with the Dynamic Programming algorithm, you need to learn the following topics thoroughly:

  1. Overlapping subproblems
  2. Optimal substructure property
  3. Memoization
  4. Tabulation
  5. Recursive solution 
  6. Memoized solution 
  7. Tabulated solution
  8. Dynamic Programming basic concepts

To get in-depth knowledge of how to start solving dynamic programming problems, you can also refer to this article on coding ninjas. 

Recommended Topic, Cognizant Eligibility Criteria, Product Based Companies

How to solve Interview Questions on Dynamic Programming?

Step 1: Identifying the problem can be solved using DP

Step 2: Identifying problem variables

Step 3: Clearly express the recurrence relation

Step 4: Identifying the base cases

Step 5: Deciding whether to implement recursive or iterative

Step 6: Adding memoization

Step 7: Determining time complexity

Dynamic programming is also one of the most important topics to ace in competitive programming contests, as it is one of the most difficult and most rewarding parts of programming. So to study how to ace dynamic programming in a competitive contest, you can refer to this brilliant article on coding ninjas. 

Problems on Dynamic Programming for Coding Interviews 

  1. 0-1 Knapsack 
  2. Min binary Partition 
  3. Shortest Common Supersequence 
  4. Colorful Knapsack 
  5. Maximum Subarray Sum 
  6. Longest Increasing Subsequence 
  7. Rod Cutting Problem 
  8. Partition to K equal subsets 
  9. Ways to arrange Balls
  10. Longest Palindromic Subsequence  
  11. Minimum Cost to buy N items
  12. Painting Fences Problem
  13. And many, many more….  

Must Read Julia Programming Language

Cracking the Dynamic Programming Coding Interview 

A consistent process for arriving at the best DP solution can give you an advantage over your competition. The FAST Dynamic Programming approach does exactly that. The FAST technique involves four steps, as the name suggests:

  • Find the first answer.
  • Analyze the first option.
  • Subproblems must be identified.
  • Turn the problem around.

 

Using the FAST technique can help you breeze through your coding interview when handling DP issues.

Also Read About, Interpolation in Angular

Check out Longest Common Substring

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Dynamic Programming capable of solving all issues?

No, DP cannot address all issues. The DP method can be used if the problem has optimum substructure and overlapping sub-problems.

What are the two most important characteristics for a problem to be suitable for dynamic programming?

The two most important characteristics for DP to work are optimum substructure and overlapping sub-problems. The divide and conquer method is used when a solution to a problem can be discovered by combining optimum solutions to non-overlapping sub-problems.

What disadvantages does dynamic programming have over recursion? 

Some disadvantages of dynamic programming over recursion include the need for a large amount of memory to keep the estimated outcome of each subproblem. It's impossible to say if all saved values will be used. Frequently, the cached result is never used in later subproblems.

What is the significance of dynamic programming?

The DP approach aids us in efficiently solving tough situations. It is so widely used in academia, business, and top software engineering interviews.

What is the difference between dynamic programming and recursion?

Recursion is a technique for solving optimum substructure problems and maybe split down into comparable subproblems.

Conclusion 

In this article, we will discuss in brief what is a dynamic programming algorithm, how to approach problems on dynamic programming in interviews, and what are the different types of dynamic programming questions are asked in the interview. 

Refer to our Guided Path on Coding Ninjas Studio to upskill yourself in Data Structures and AlgorithmsCompetitive ProgrammingJavaScriptSystem DesignMachine learning and many more! If you want to test your competency in coding, you may check out the mock test series and participate in the contests hosted on Coding Ninjas Studio! But if you have just started your learning process and are looking for questions asked by tech giants like Amazon, Microsoft, Uber, etc; you must look at the problemsinterview experiences, and interview bundle for placement preparations.

You can also consider our Competitive Programming Course to give your career an edge over others!

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