How long does it take to complete Grokking the coding interview?

The time it takes to complete Grokking the Coding Interview: Patterns for Coding Questions course can vary widely depending on several factors, including your prior experience, how deeply you dive into each concept, and how much time you dedicate to study each day. The course is designed to help candidates tackle coding interviews by focusing on patterns within the types of questions commonly asked by tech companies.

Grokking the Coding Interview by Design Gurus has approximately 27 coding patterns. These patterns are taught using 250 LeetCode-style coding problems. If you practice 3 patterns a week, it will take about 9 weeks to complete this course. However, the actual time may vary depending on your individual experience level.

Here's a rough breakdown of the time it could take to complete the course:

Factors Affecting Completion Time:

1. Background Knowledge: If you're already familiar with basic data structures and algorithms, you might progress through the course more quickly. Beginners might need additional time to grasp foundational concepts.

2. Study Schedule: The amount of time you can dedicate each day will significantly impact how quickly you can complete the course. For example, someone studying full-time might finish much faster than someone studying only on weekends.

3. Depth of Study: If you're aiming to deeply understand each pattern, including solving all the associated problems and reviewing solutions, it will take longer than if you're just skimming through the material.

4. Practical Application: Taking the time to apply what you've learned by solving additional problems from other sources or implementing the patterns in different contexts will add to your study time but also deepen your understanding.

Estimated Timelines:

• For Experienced Programmers: If you have a strong background in data structures and algorithms and are studying intensively (e.g., 3-4 hours a day), you might be able to complete the course in 2-4 weeks.

• For Intermediate Learners: With some familiarity with the concepts but perhaps needing more time to absorb the material and practice, studying around 2 hours a day could take you 4-8 weeks to complete the course.

• For Beginners: If you're new to many of the concepts and are balancing study with other commitments (e.g., studying 1 hour a day), it might take 3-6 months to thoroughly understand and apply the material.

Tips for Efficient Study:

• Set Clear Goals: Decide what you want to achieve each week. Breaking down the course into smaller, manageable goals can help keep you on track.
• Active Learning: Don't just watch the videos or read the content passively. Engage with the material by coding along, taking notes, and solving problems on your own before reviewing the solutions.
• Consistent Practice: Regularly solving coding problems, even beyond those in the course, will help reinforce the patterns and improve your problem-solving speed.
• Review and Reflect: Regularly review what you've learned to ensure you understand the concepts and can apply them to new problems. Reflecting on your mistakes and understanding why an approach works is crucial for deep learning.

Conclusion:

"Grokking the Coding Interview" doesn't have a one-size-fits-all completion time. It depends greatly on your existing knowledge, learning speed, and the depth of understanding you aim to achieve. Setting a consistent study schedule and actively engaging with the material will help you make the most of the course.

Reference:

• Grokking the Coding Interview: Mastering the 20 Coding Patterns
• Don’t Just LeetCode; Follow the Coding Patterns Instead