Practical Guide to LeetCode | How I Passed Facebook’s Coding Interviews

A PRACTICAL coding interview prep guide!
When preparing for a big tech coding interview, it is important to have a strategy that will help you use your time efficiently and get ready FAST.
In this video I will share advice and tips for using LeetCode efficiently to prepare for coding interviews.
Data structures overview, mentioned in the video:
• Data Structures for Co...

[@hp5072]

Here are my takeaways: 1) Start with the brute force/naive solution. Think without any constraints. 2) Understand what is causing inefficiency in the naive solution and optimize it. 3) Write small example inputs and try solving them. Look for patterns and come up with rules for solution. 4) Think of more complex inputs and corner cases. Test your solution on those. 5) If you can't solve it, don't spend too much time and watch the solution. Finally implement the solution yourself. 6) Make a note of what you missed in this question so that you can recognize it next time you see it in another question.

[@JA-yj6yb]

I never leave comments on videos but I need you to know that this video was an aha moment for me. Your philosophy about generalizing via exposure makes a ton of sense, and gives purpose when the grind can feel relentless. I think you spoke the quiet part out loud, and I for one needed to hear it! Thanks for the philosophy and the analogy to ML. Also very much appreciated the tips on sorting Leetcode questions, and which filters to use. Goes hand in hand with the first point. Great work.

[@ShiranAfergan]

Thanks for taking the time to write this! So happy that the video helped! :)

[@morenomt27]

Thank you! I am currently studying and hoping to get my first screening interview!! It gets tough when coding is stripped off at work and a struggle to focus when studying. Thank you for the tips!

[@steeveen]

Just passed the coding interview for data engineering at Facebook, partially by watching your videos so thanks for posting! I agree that you shouldn't really expect to see Leetcode questions exactly in your interview. I did basically all of the top 100 in Leetcode and I think I would notice if any question was public. Apart from that, it looks like we had different roles, and I also had SQL challenges to answer.

[@ShiranAfergan]

That’s awesome! Congratulations 🎉🍾 so happy my videos helped :)

[@NirmalSilwal]

congrats Steven

[@kgpcodes]

Congrats! I am not sure about my interviews. Still reviewing. This channel is very helpful. I am looking to book for a call with someone to discuss to culture in the company.

[@rodney5269]

Dude, I got a dev job at cisco , just studying leetcode, cracking coding interview and the algorithm book. I dont even have a CS degree or even bootcamp cert.

[@SphoenixBlue]

@@rodney5269impressive! what were your main resources you used?

[@OrdinaryPersonah]

just started with leetcode and this is gold 💫

[@jlecampana]

Congratulations Shiran for your new position at Facebook! You definitely deserve it, your content is top notch high quality, and it radiates your passion for computer science and programming in general, and also you're such a good sport by always replying to your viewers here!

[@ShiranAfergan]

This just put a really big smile on my face! Thank you! 😊

[@cowCuddler]

@@ShiranAfergan Hey you're cute, can you actually train me? I have to take an FB interview like...in the next few weeks! Thanks!

[@Metallian2112]

@@cowCuddlerHey I just want to let you know that when you talk to people like this, you come across as a creep. If you don't want to come across as a creep, don't talk like that. Cheers.

[@cowCuddler]

@@Metallian2112 I like smart women that do the same thing I do (in this case probably 5x what I do) and I'm trying to get married soon, so why should I stay silent? I'm not a creep. I like certain types of women. Smart, highly motivated, compassionate etc. You have no idea why I expressed interest and just choose to decide it's for the wrong reason just to virtue signal. How about you mind your business?

[@vivekpujaravp]

Fantastic advice and summary. Your videos are really helpful, thank you.

[@vishalmishra7018]

Ohh congratulations on that, I have been following your channel for a while you solve the problems with very clear thinking.

[@ShiranAfergan]

Thank you! 🎉

[@user-xv2no9dj4f]

Thank you so much! Congrats for your new job! Good luck!

[@ShiranAfergan]

Thanks 🎉🙂

[@menparasrushtisureshbhai2323]

Your videos are helping a lot while preparing for interviews.

[@alexchu414]

Thanks for the sharing and the tips to get started.

[@Cloud-577]

Thank you this was helpful. Congratulations for your new position! Your team is lucky to have!

[@ShiranAfergan]

Thank you! :)

[@angelostraight4476]

Congratulations.. great advice. I will definitely take heed to these wise words.

[@sergioavila2720]

Damn, you really know your stuff

[@_0_o_924]

This video should be the first video shown to someone who started grinding leetcode

[@Shivakumar-ik3tt]

Thank you, For making this video. I was struggling for some days. Now I am motivated.

[@ShiranAfergan]

That’s awesome! 💪🏽 glad it helped

[@carefree_ladka]

Congratulations on your new job and thanks for all the videos :).

[@ShiranAfergan]

Thank you 🙏🏽

[@positiveoptimist5060]

I've watched so many videos on tips for passing coding interviews, this is by far the best! I will post here when I get an offer from a big tech company :)

[@ShiranAfergan]

Can’t wait to see that post! Best of luck 🤞🏻

[@ronrozen2105]

Congrats. Also, really good guidance and advises. Thanks!

[@ShiranAfergan]

Thanks Ron! 🙂

[@annettejohn6829]

Congratulations on the new role! :) Loved the video ❤️

[@ShiranAfergan]

Thank you 🙏🏽 😊

[@yogeshdharya3857]

Why is this so motivating ? 🤝

[@lucasmmaidana]

This is really helpful! thanks Shiran

[@Ab-gf8pz]

Thanks Shiran for motivating me.

[@ishaankulkarni49]

Great video. Amazing tips and everything was to the point. 👏

[@ShiranAfergan]

Thanks! 😊

[@sahilattri2089]

Loving your thought process... subscribed!! :)

[@ShiranAfergan]

Thanks! Welcome on board:)

[@nabilaldhaleai5213]

Congratulations, Really happy for you. well deserved :)

[@ShiranAfergan]

Thank you 🙏🏽😊

[@xluats]

great advice, thank you!

[@achievefinancialindependen5430]

Hmm... going to use ALL of your advice actually. Thanks a LOT.

[@ShiranAfergan]

Awesome! 💪🏽💪🏽

[@jasonsantillan9136]

Thank you so much for the information! :D

[@dominicktunac9562]

Just found out your channel, really great resource! Keep it up.

[@ShiranAfergan]

Thanks :)

[@ziyunzheng3520]

really useful thank you!

[@MalikFaizanHeatstoler]

This is absolutely remarkable. I loved it, very helpful. Its my humble request to you please make a video on how to get the interview call from company like facebook because its so hard for so many people to get the interview call. it would be highly apprecited. Thanks

[@dinamohamed13600]

I love your video, such a nice person ❤️

[@shivamathiya8384]

After watching so many experiance videos - i can rate yours - The best one So clean clear and effective advice. Btw, u r very beautiful 😍

[@djohnjimmy]

Congratulations Shiran. More power to you 👍🏿

[@ShiranAfergan]

Thanks 😊

[@sononsoft5253]

I'm coming from no software background, I'm mainly in the hardware side, I started with C++ and then now Java just because I found so many Java tutorials. Doing leetcode that you've mentioned and thanks for the advice.

[@atech_guide]

Thanks Shiran for sharing your experience. Well Done. All the best for new role

[@ShiranAfergan]

Thank you 🙏🏽

[@marko90000]

Great advice. Thanks.

[@ManojKumarManuSai]

Congratulations for the new role

[@ShiranAfergan]

Thank you 🙏🏽

[@samuhvarta]

Congratulations Shiran!

[@ShiranAfergan]

Thank you 🙏🏽

[@andriidanylov9453]

Appreciate for sharing. Actually it took time for me to understand this over personal pain already. But this is great advice with few fresh ideas. Saved this video to memories.

[@ShiranAfergan]

Thanks! glad you found it useful 🙂

[@deepaksutihar6454]

Hello Shiran, I am an international student at Caldwell University, a sophomore majoring in Computer Science. Your videos are really helpful. Thank you very much for all the valuable information. Please continue this good work which is going to help a lot of students like me. Once again, thank you very much.

[@ShiranAfergan]

Thanks for your comment Deepak! I’m glad to hear my videos help. It’s a great motivation to continue making them! 🙏🏽

[@deepakmodi10]

Helpful for sure

[@orangepotatoleo]

Great video!

[@salimkachemela]

Congratulations Shiran. It's my first time to see your video, and I loved it. And it's also my first time preparing for a coding interview at one of the FAANG companies, I'm kinda scared to be honest. I'll come visit this channel often. There's lots of good content. Thank you so much.

[@ShiranAfergan]

Thank you! Good luck in your interviews! 💪🏽😎

[@salimkachemela]

Thanks a lot.

[@Orenrs]

Great Video! Thank you

[@ShiranAfergan]

Thanks 😊 glad you liked it

[@rohan_webdev]

Thank you Shiran for this 🙏❤️ I was wondering over it for long time ,where to start and prepare for interview. I couldn't find a better explanation than yours.❤️ I am looking for a Senior software Engineer too....hope this helps me..Thanks once again 👍

[@ShiranAfergan]

You’re very welcome:) I’m glad you found it helpful!

[@itaydali]

thanks, Shiran for this great video !!

[@ShiranAfergan]

You’re welcome! I’m glad you enjoyed it :)

[@karmeshduggar6694]

Thank you so much!!

[@vinitgite5581]

Nice tutorial

[@symbol767]

Wow congrats! Hoping my interviews go well too

[@ShiranAfergan]

Thank you! Good luck in your interviews!

[@muhammadainulhassan6128]

Very infomative

[@flyfreewithme]

Helpful advice: - mediums are better for teaching general skills, frequency search is useful - cover the main topics - brute force gives hints to final run time and the bottleneck is where you optimize

[@AndyWallWasWeak]

Great analogy to AI, learn like machine would have had to. A bit sad that it’s impossible to evaluate candidates comprehensively in an interview, and now most firms resorts to such game/algorithm. As long as game changes over time, it can be meritocratic and help with selecting well on average. But over time even its ‘fairness on average’ will become questionable though, as more candidates would learn to hack it. Nice recruiting loop: ML of process, which also learns/adapts from how others learn it

[@bingobingo4636]

super helpful im graduating soon and i was feeling lost thanks so much shiran :)

[@ShiranAfergan]

Happy it helped! :)

[@pageegap1]

Hi Shiran, thanks for your insightful and well made videos. They have been very useful. How many leetcode problems would you recommend for each category do? I tend to keep doing exercises and not completely confident I am ready to start interviewing...

[@tombrady7390]

Omg I am soo happy for do your best

[@ShiranAfergan]

Thanks :)

[@lavanyam3224]

Glad I clicked this video xD Very useful and straightforward :) U didn't mention to subscribe, but I still did😂

[@ShiranAfergan]

Haha super glad you did 😆

[@vinaykenguva362]

Congratulations.

[@ShiranAfergan]

Thank you!

[@shubhamgupta8723]

Congratulations shiran

[@ShiranAfergan]

Thank you!

[@sanathkumarshenoy9955]

Congratulations

[@markleung5733]

Love the tips! Really appreciate the advice here! Btw which lavmic are you using?

[@ShiranAfergan]

Glad you enjoyed it! The mic I’m using is boya by-m1

[@srivatsa3176]

Hi , thanks so much for your crack. It really works. But from the beginning it did not work for some reason, I updated visual studio and oh my god it worked. Thank you!

[@MilindGupta]

Hey shiran congratulations on your new journey 😀😀😄

[@ShiranAfergan]

Thank you Milind! 🎉

[@matanroginsky9895]

Amazing, Alufa Mamash!!!:)

[@ShiranAfergan]

Toda!! :)

[@matanroginsky9895]

@@ShiranAfergan Could I ask you some questions on email maybe? Iaboun officer from Mamram unit about to be released soon and preparing for job interviews

[@ShiranAfergan]

Sure, you can find me on LinkedIn

[@thesouthsidedev1812]

How did youtube algo know I was leetcoding, and recommended your video to me lol. Good one, I hear your on the stop part when your are taking too much time on a question

[@ShiranAfergan]

Haha Google knows all

[@AviRecital]

Thanks for sharing Shirin. I have the Meta interview coming up...I wanted to ask if they give example test cases with the questions (in the first tech remote interview)? Thanks. Prashant

[@shaydratler4777]

Best of luck and have fun at Meta

[@ShiranAfergan]

Thanks Shay!

[@the_Adam_]

Congrats on the meta offer, and thanks for this. It's really useful content.

[@ShiranAfergan]

Thank you 🙂

[@lynateniyo3529]

Thanks a lot, this is very helpful. i get way too many errors in Java can this help or i only focus on python.

[@kgpcodes]

I haven't Leetcoded ever in my life. Just started in recent days. Passed coding interview phase. Those who practiced more have a great advantage, but there other factors they weigh in including ability to collaborate. I already made it through tech phases of smaller U.S companies with similar base pay. And I am done with all crucial interviews. APAC Meta pays lower, but it is good to consider for those who are fit for the role. I will be booking for a call with a Meta Engineer to help me better understand the Engineering culture. Since you work for Meta, I would like to ask now a rather important question: Do you think that having worked for Meta had a negative impact on your CV, or did it increase your chances of being emailed by recruiters?

[@kapishdhiman]

Great Video, thanks for the advice. Also, has anybody ever told you, you look like Aubrey Plaza😅?

[@cdnggk6455]

and here i m doing cp 🗿 u guessed it right i m from india 😅

[@nimash1612]

Congrats Shiran, Would you also clarify how you get prepared for the system design interview at FB?

[@ShiranAfergan]

Thanks! Yes, Actually filming a video on this today :)

[@xeroshogun]

Interested in this as well. Have an onsite at FB coming up

[@NirmalSilwal]

hello, new subs here from iowa

[@chilly2171]

Leetcode hard you learn the problem solving skills to solve those hards. But for beginners, people should definitely focus on mediums, they're the highest value for time. Hard takes too much time.

[@nikhilreddy6476]

♥️

[@LuayMualem]

Congratulations, Facebook. The company just won the jackpot.

[@ShiranAfergan]

😂😂Thanks!

[@bickyjaiswal5619]

Hi Shiran, Congratulations for the new role. If possible can u pls share ur experience in leetcode or probably in a video

[@ShiranAfergan]

Thanks Bicky! I’m actually working on a video about my Google interview experience for my next one :) I’ll probably do a Facebook one after if people will find it interesting

[@bickyjaiswal5619]

@@ShiranAfergan ok

[@eyalyasovsky1963]

On the interview, how much time were you given to solve each question? and did you have to write the code or just explain the algorithm?

[@ShiranAfergan]

You get asked 2 questions in each interview. You have 20 minutes for each question and yes you need to write the code.

[@sarveshchavan4391]

Congratulations shiran 🥳 Can i know how many leetcode questions you solved and do you do competitive programming?

[@ShiranAfergan]

Thank you 😊 I actually don’t know how many I solved for it. No I don’t do competitive programming.

[@rockmanohar9006]

Hi , im actually studying in tier 3 college. So just my learning’s DSA and ststem design can i have a chance in SDE role in FAANG . Pls help me in the question

[@larrasket]

3:26 Didn't Facebook ban dynamic programming coding questions? I think it has a lower frequency in interviews.

[@ShiranAfergan]

You’re the second person to ask me that but I haven’t heard anything about this when I was interviewing. I’ll try to get an official answer for this

[@chrissun9960]

@@ShiranAfergan In the latest mock interview, it is confirmed that no dynamic programming in the coding interview.

[@aemericenglish2417]

Im just curious, what knowledge implemented at previous job if not familiar with data structure and algorithm. #junior

[@rohankamath794]

Hey, does language matter? For instance I am pretty confortable with Python, is that cool to use in the interview?

[@ShiranAfergan]

It doesn’t matter which language you use. Python is perfectly fine :)

[@stevegonzales4411]

This but for Data Engineering (not Back End).

[@pneo708]

מה נשמע? לדעתך כדאי לי בתור נער (בן 17) כבר להתחיל לפתור בעיות בליטקוד? אני אישית מתעניין בתחום הדאטה, והאם בראיוני קוד זה שונה בין מקצוע למקצוע?

[@ShiranAfergan]

היי :) אם אתה נהנה מזה וזה מעניין אותך אז זה בטח לא יזיק אבל אין לחץ גם אם תתחיל כשתתחיל לחפש עבודה. כן הראיונות יכולים להיות מאוד שונים בדאטה (data scientists, data engineers) כנראה שיהיה ראיונות קוד אבל דגש הרבה פחות גבוה על אלגוריתמים, סיבוכיות ומבני נתונים ודגש גבוה יותר על ידע שרלוונטי לתחום הספיציפי.

[@HawaMariee]

What language did you code in for your interview?

[@ShiranAfergan]

C++

[@jamieg1802]

i dont watn to go backwards only forward in jobs

[@akashpatel5132]

Is competitive programming necessary for interview or leetcode is enough

[@jamesmandla1192]

Leetcode is enough, competitive programming is kinda overkill. You can still do CP for fun though

[@SMOMEGA1]

Why would you want to work for Facebook?

[@Parth.Deshpande]

Congratulations Shiran 🎉🎉 What was your preparation strategy for dynamic programming ?

[@ShiranAfergan]

Thanks! For dynamic programming I think what helps most is doing a bunch of small examples and trying to find the pattern.

[@kapilvaishnav6851]

congratulation ma'am, ヽ(•‿•)ノ

[@ShiranAfergan]

Thank you 😊

[@eliel10268]

Are you based in Tel-Aviv?

[@ShiranAfergan]

Yes

[@Cdswjp]

you're pretty

[@user-gb6gw9hj3s]

at first glance i thought billie eilish wanted to change career

[@CollDott]

Just interested in knowing how Much they pay you!!! 😆

[@The_Wizards_Path]

I have a question. Please try to answer me. If I had tried for a solution for an hour and couldn't able to find it, Should I go and watch the solution? or try until I get a solution? If answer is to watch the solution, Can I do it for every problem? How long would it take to find a solution on my own to every problem?

[@mrdevicesomali5004]

How to develop pyhton 😂only 😂

[@yurilsaps]

I think the last place on earth I'd like to be in is faang