1582 articles
The complete interview readiness reference: pattern recognition guide, complexity cheatsheet, STAR story index with LP mapping, UMPIRE checklist, company quick reference, and the three closing mindset principles that carry candidates through FAANG loops.
A practical, interview-ready guide to recursion and backtracking covering 7 core patterns, the choose-explore-unchoose template, pruning strategies, and complexity analysis. Build the mental model that unlocks subsets, permutations, combinations, partitioning, N-Queens, and Sudoku.
LeetCode 78 Subsets and 90 Subsets II are the foundation of every backtracking interview. Master the include-exclude decision tree, the duplicate-skip rule, and the bitmask alternative that interviewers use to test depth.
LeetCode 46 Permutations and 47 Permutations II are essential backtracking problems at top-tier companies. Master the used-array pattern, in-place swap variant, and the tricky `not used[i-1]` duplicate-skip condition that separates strong candidates from average ones.
LC 77 Combinations, LC 39 Combination Sum, and LC 40 Combination Sum II form a trilogy that every FAANG interviewer loves. Master the start-index pattern to enumerate selections without duplicates and the i+1 vs i reuse trick.