What is the best Software engineer interview prep course?

The best software engineer interview prep courses typically focus on coding, system design, and behavioral interviews. Below are some top courses and resources that offer comprehensive preparation:

1. Grokking the Coding Interview

• Focus: This course helps recognize common coding patterns often seen in interviews. It is especially helpful for algorithmic problem-solving in coding interviews.
• Why It's Good: It teaches you to solve problems using patterns, which can be a highly efficient approach during interviews.
• Platform: DesignGurus.io

2. Grokking the System Design Interview

• Focus: This is one of the most popular resources for system design interviews, teaching you how to design large-scale, scalable systems.
• Why It's Good: System design interviews are often the most challenging for senior engineers. This course breaks down complex topics in a digestible way.
• Platform: DesignGurus.io

3. AlgoExpert

• Focus: AlgoExpert is a coding interview prep platform that offers a curated list of 160+ coding interview questions, each with detailed video explanations and coding environments.
• Why It's Good: AlgoExpert covers a wide range of difficulty levels, helping you prepare from basics to advanced coding problems.
• Platform: AlgoExpert

4. InterviewCake

• Focus: This course emphasizes coding challenges and algorithmic thinking, offering in-depth problem explanations.
• Why It's Good: Its focus on understanding the “why” behind coding solutions makes it a great tool for developing problem-solving intuition.
• Platform: Interview Cake

5. Cracking the Coding Interview (Book)

• Focus: This classic book by Gayle Laakmann McDowell is one of the most widely used resources for coding interview prep.
• Why It's Good: It offers 189 coding questions and explanations along with insights into the interview process, making it a comprehensive guide.
• Platform: Amazon

6. LeetCode

• Focus: A widely used platform for practicing coding problems across a variety of data structures and algorithms, ranging from easy to hard.
• Why It's Good: LeetCode offers a vast array of coding challenges, discussion forums, and mock interview opportunities.
• Platform: LeetCode

7. Exponent

• Focus: Exponent focuses on technical interviews and system design, particularly for companies like Google, Uber, and Amazon.
• Why It's Good: It offers mock interviews, detailed explanations of technical concepts, and tutorials for behavioral interview prep.
• Platform: Exponent

8. CodeSignal

• Focus: It offers hands-on coding exercises, timed challenges, and mock interviews that simulate real coding environments.
• Why It's Good: It features interactive challenges with real-time feedback to enhance coding efficiency.
• Platform: CodeSignal

Conclusion

The best prep course for you depends on your specific needs and the type of interviews you're preparing for. If you need coding interview preparation, LeetCode, AlgoExpert, and Grokking the Coding Interview are top choices. For system design interviews, Grokking the System Design Interview and Exponent are excellent.