interview-problem-bank

interview-problem-bank

A specialized skill for curating, organizing, and recommending coding interview problems, with support for company-specific preparation, pattern-based practice, and progress tracking.

Purpose

Provide a comprehensive interview problem bank with:

• Problems organized by FAANG company and difficulty
• Pattern-based categorization (Blind 75, NeetCode 150, etc.)
• Difficulty progression recommendations
• Coverage tracking and weak area identification
• Premium problem alternatives

Capabilities

Core Features

1. Problem Organization

• By company (Google, Meta, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, etc.)
• By pattern (Two Pointers, Sliding Window, DP, etc.)
• By difficulty (Easy, Medium, Hard)
• By topic (Arrays, Trees, Graphs, etc.)
• By frequency (most asked in interviews)

1. Curated Problem Lists

• Blind 75 (essential problems)
• NeetCode 150 (expanded essential list)
• LeetCode Top Interview Questions
• Company-specific top questions
• Pattern-specific problem sets

1. Progress Tracking

• Problems solved by category
• Weak area identification
• Time spent per problem type
• Success rate tracking
• Spaced repetition for review

1. Recommendations

• Next problem based on progress
• Problems to strengthen weak areas
• Company-specific practice plans
• Time-based study schedules

Problem Lists

Blind 75

The essential 75 problems covering all major patterns:

| Category | Count | Topics |

|----------|-------|--------|

| Arrays & Hashing | 9 | Two Sum, Group Anagrams, Top K Frequent |

| Two Pointers | 5 | Valid Palindrome, 3Sum, Container with Water |

| Sliding Window | 6 | Best Time to Buy Stock, Longest Substring |

| Stack | 7 | Valid Parentheses, Min Stack, Daily Temperatures |

| Binary Search | 7 | Search Rotated Array, Find Minimum |

| Linked List | 11 | Reverse LL, Merge Lists, Detect Cycle |

| Trees | 15 | Invert Tree, Max Depth, Level Order |

| Tries | 3 | Implement Trie, Word Search II |

| Heap/Priority Queue | 7 | Merge K Lists, Top K Frequent |

| Backtracking | 9 | Subsets, Permutations, Combination Sum |

| Graphs | 13 | Number of Islands, Clone Graph |

| Dynamic Programming | 12 | Climbing Stairs, House Robber, Coin Change |

| Greedy | 8 | Maximum Subarray, Jump Game |

| Intervals | 6 | Merge Intervals, Meeting Rooms |

| Math & Geometry | 8 | Rotate Image, Set Matrix Zeros |

| Bit Manipulation | 7 | Single Number, Number of 1 Bits |

NeetCode 150

Extended list with 150 problems for comprehensive preparation:

• All 75 Blind 75 problems
• 75 additional problems for deeper coverage
• More advanced problems per category

Company-Specific Lists

| Company | Focus Areas | Top Patterns |

|---------|-------------|--------------|

| Google | Problem solving, optimization | Arrays, DP, Graphs |

| Meta | Arrays, Trees, System Design | Binary Trees, Arrays |

| Amazon | OOP, System Design, Leadership | Trees, BFS/DFS |

| Apple | iOS/macOS, algorithms | Arrays, Trees |

| Microsoft | Coding, System Design | DP, Arrays, Graphs |

| Netflix | Distributed Systems | Graphs, DP |

Usage

Get Recommended Problems

# Get next problem based on progress
interview-problem-bank recommend --user progress.json

# Get problems for specific pattern
interview-problem-bank list --pattern "dynamic-programming" --difficulty medium

# Get company-specific problems
interview-problem-bank company --name google --count 50

Track Progress

# Mark problem as solved
interview-problem-bank solve --problem "two-sum" --time 15 --attempts 1

# Get progress report
interview-problem-bank progress --user progress.json

# Identify weak areas
interview-problem-bank analyze --user progress.json

Generate Study Plan

# Generate 4-week study plan
interview-problem-bank plan --weeks 4 --target google --level intermediate

# Generate daily practice set
interview-problem-bank daily --count 3 --user progress.json

Output Schema

Problem Entry

{
  "id": "two-sum",
  "title": "Two Sum",
  "difficulty": "Easy",
  "patterns": ["Arrays", "Hash Table"],
  "companies": ["Google", "Amazon", "Meta", "Apple", "Microsoft"],
  "frequency": 95,
  "url": "https://leetcode.com/problems/two-sum/",
  "premiumAlternative": null,
  "hints": [
    "Use a hash table for O(1) lookup",
    "Store complement as key, index as value"
  ],
  "timeToSolve": {
    "target": 10,
    "beginner": 20,
    "expert": 5
  },
  "relatedProblems": ["3sum", "4sum", "two-sum-ii"]
}

Progress Report

{
  "user": "user123",
  "totalSolved": 150,
  "byDifficulty": {
    "Easy": 50,
    "Medium": 80,
    "Hard": 20
  },
  "byPattern": {
    "Arrays": { "solved": 25, "total": 30 },
    "DP": { "solved": 15, "total": 25 },
    "Graphs": { "solved": 10, "total": 20 }
  },
  "weakAreas": ["Graphs", "Advanced DP", "Tries"],
  "recommendations": [
    { "problem": "course-schedule", "reason": "Strengthen Graphs" },
    { "problem": "word-break", "reason": "Practice DP" }
  ],
  "streak": 15,
  "lastPracticed": "2025-01-24"
}

Study Plan

{
  "duration": "4 weeks",
  "target": "Google",
  "level": "intermediate",
  "schedule": [
    {
      "week": 1,
      "focus": ["Arrays", "Strings", "Two Pointers"],
      "problems": [
        { "day": 1, "problems": ["two-sum", "valid-anagram", "contains-duplicate"] },
        { "day": 2, "problems": ["best-time-to-buy", "max-subarray", "product-except-self"] }
      ]
    },
    {
      "week": 2,
      "focus": ["Sliding Window", "Stack", "Binary Search"],
      "problems": [...]
    }
  ]
}

Pattern-Based Organization

Array Patterns

| Pattern | Key Problems | Technique |

|---------|--------------|-----------|

| Two Pointers | 3Sum, Container with Water | Converging pointers |

| Sliding Window | Longest Substring, Min Window | Expand/contract window |

| Prefix Sum | Subarray Sum Equals K | Cumulative sum |

| Kadane's | Maximum Subarray | Track max ending at i |

Tree Patterns

| Pattern | Key Problems | Technique |

|---------|--------------|-----------|

| DFS Recursive | Max Depth, Path Sum | Recursion |

| BFS Level Order | Level Order Traversal | Queue |

| Construct Tree | Build from Preorder/Inorder | Divide and conquer |

Graph Patterns

| Pattern | Key Problems | Technique |

|---------|--------------|-----------|

| BFS Shortest Path | Word Ladder | Level-by-level |

| DFS Connected Components | Number of Islands | Visit all nodes |

| Topological Sort | Course Schedule | Kahn's algorithm |

| Union Find | Number of Connected | DSU |

DP Patterns

| Pattern | Key Problems | Technique |

|---------|--------------|-----------|

| 1D Linear | House Robber, Climbing Stairs | dp[i] depends on dp[i-1], dp[i-2] |

| 2D Grid | Unique Paths, Min Path Sum | dp[i][j] from neighbors |

| String DP | Edit Distance, LCS | dp[i][j] for substrings |

| Knapsack | Coin Change, Partition | Include/exclude item |

Integration Options

MCP Server

InterviewReady MCP Server:

# Access curated interview content
npm install -g interviewready-mcp-server

External Resources

• Tech Interview Handbook
• Coding Interview University
• FAANG Coding Interview Questions
• neerazz/FAANG
• Interviews (kdn251)

Integration with Processes

This skill enhances:

• faang-interview-prep - Structured FAANG preparation
• mock-coding-interview - Problem selection for mocks
• interview-problem-explanation - Explaining solutions
• skill-gap-analysis - Identifying weak areas

Interview Preparation Timeline

1 Week Preparation

Focus on high-frequency problems:

• Day 1-2: Arrays and Strings (15 problems)
• Day 3-4: Trees and Graphs (10 problems)
• Day 5-6: DP and Backtracking (10 problems)
• Day 7: Review and mock interview

1 Month Preparation

Comprehensive coverage:

• Week 1: Fundamentals (Arrays, Strings, Hash Tables)
• Week 2: Data Structures (Trees, Graphs, Heaps)
• Week 3: Algorithms (DP, Backtracking, Greedy)
• Week 4: Review, mock interviews, weak areas

3 Month Preparation

Deep mastery:

• Month 1: All Easy + Medium fundamentals
• Month 2: Advanced Medium + Hard problems
• Month 3: Company-specific + mock interviews

References

• Blind 75 List
• NeetCode
• Sean Prashad's LeetCode Patterns
• Tech Interview Handbook
• InterviewReady MCP

Error Handling

| Error | Cause | Resolution |

|-------|-------|------------|

| PROBLEM_NOT_FOUND | Problem not in database | Search by alternate name |

| PREMIUM_LOCKED | LeetCode premium required | Use alternative problem |

| INVALID_COMPANY | Company not recognized | Check supported companies |

| PROGRESS_LOAD_FAILED | Cannot load progress file | Initialize new progress |

Best Practices

1. Quality over quantity - Understand solutions deeply
2. Pattern recognition - Group problems by pattern
3. Time yourself - Practice under interview conditions
4. Review regularly - Spaced repetition helps retention
5. Mock interviews - Practice explaining solutions
6. Company research - Focus on company-specific patterns