Skip to main content

FAQ

Site conventions​

What do the different problem and exercise label groupings mean?​

Problems and exercises in various sections may be grouped together by means of different labels. The labeling convention is modeled after the convention used in [5]. Specifically:

  • Warmups are exercises that every reader should try to do when first reading the material.
  • Basics are exercises to develop facts that are best learned by trying one's own derivation rather than by reading somebody else's.
  • Homework exercises are problems intended to deepen an understanding of the content (e.g., pattern, data structure, algorithm, etc.) under consideration.
  • Exam problems typically involve ideas from two or more distinct content streams simultaneously (e.g., a tip or trick concerning string manipulation may be combined with the sliding window pattern as well as a few other disparate things); these problems may generally be intended for use in take-home exams (i.e., not for in-class exams under time pressure).
  • Bonus problems go beyond what an average student is expected to handle while preparing for data structure and algorithms interviews; they extend things in interesting ways.
  • Research problems may or may not be humanly solvable, but the ones presented here seem to be worth a try (without time pressure).