The DevInterview Blog
Practical interview prep guides written around real questions from our interview bank, plus living pages we keep current as tech hiring changes.
Big-O Analysis: Nail Complexity Questions in Interviews
Big-O questions test whether you can analyze and explain complexity out loud. Learn to derive time and space complexity fast and say it clearly in interviews.
Living guides
How Companies Interview Software Engineers in 2026
How tech companies interview software engineers in 2026: AI-assisted coding at Meta and Google, Amazon's loop, and exactly how to prepare.
Tech Hiring Trends 2026: Late-Summer Market Snapshot
The 2026 tech market is stable but selective. July payrolls fell 23,000 and hiring tilts to AI, security, and data. Here is what engineers face now.
Tech Layoffs in 2026: What Job Seekers Should Do Now
Tech layoffs topped 205,000 in 2026 and passed all of 2025 by early August. Here is how the cuts change your interview prep and where hiring still is.
More articles
interviewing.io Review (2026): Is It Worth $180+ a Session?
An honest review of interviewing.io in 2026: what you actually get, what it really costs, who it is worth it for, and when a cheaper option does the same job.
Hello Interview Ended Mock Interviews: What to Use Instead (2026)
Hello Interview shut down live mock interviews and mentorship on May 31, 2026. Here is what actually replaces them for system design practice, with real prices.
Mock Interviews vs LeetCode: What the Data Says
Mock interviews vs LeetCode grinding: what the research shows, why volume hits diminishing returns, and a hybrid plan that actually gets offers.
New Grad Software Engineer Job Search: 2026 Timeline
Graduating in 2027? Your new-grad software engineer job search opens in August. A month-by-month timeline, practice plan, resume checklist, and outreach scripts.
Bloomberg Software Engineer Interview Guide (2026)
Bloomberg's SWE loop is 4-5 rounds: recruiter, two coding interviews, and a hiring manager round. Here is the format, real questions, and how to prep.
LinkedIn Software Engineer Interview Guide (2026)
LinkedIn runs a recruiter screen, a technical phone screen, and a 5-6 round onsite of coding, system design, and behavioral. Here is how to prep.
Phone Screen vs Onsite Coding Interviews: How to Prep
Phone screens filter, onsites decide. Learn how each round differs in length, format, and difficulty, plus concrete tips to prep for both.
Adobe Software Engineer Interview Guide (2026)
Adobe software engineer interviews run 3-5 rounds mixing DSA, OOP, and system design. Here's the format, the exact problems asked, and how to prep.
How Coding Interviews Are Scored: Inside the Rubric
Coding interviews are scored on a 4-part rubric: communication, problem solving, technical competency, and testing. Here is how each one is graded.
How to Talk About Your Projects in Interviews
Talk about your projects in interviews with a structure interviewers actually score: scope, your decisions, trade-offs, and measurable impact. Templates included.
How to Explain a Layoff in a Job Interview (2026)
Laid off? Here is exactly what to say in an interview: a 30-second script, resume lines for small and large cuts, and answers to the hard follow-ups.
Meta Behavioral Interview: Signals Interviewers Want
Meta's behavioral interview (the "Jedi" round) scores you on five signal areas that scale by level. Here is exactly what interviewers look for and how to prep.
Design a Rate Limiter: Algorithms and Where They Fail
Token bucket, leaky bucket, and sliding window explained for the design a rate limiter interview, plus where each algorithm breaks and how to go distributed.
7 Best interviewing.io Alternatives in 2026 (Cheaper and Free)
interviewing.io charges roughly $180 to $340 per mock. Here are 7 alternatives for 2026, from unlimited AI voice interviews to free peer practice, with real prices.
Best AI Mock Interview Tools for Software Engineers (2026)
An honest 2026 comparison of AI mock interview tools for software engineers: real prices, free tiers, and which fits coding, system design, and behavioral prep.
7 Best Pramp Alternatives in 2026 (Pramp Is Now Exponent Practice)
Pramp merged into Exponent Practice in 2024. Here are the best 2026 alternatives to peer mock interviews, from AI voice interviewers to human coaching, with prices.
Best System Design Interview Practice Tools in 2026
System design interviews are spoken, not read. The best 2026 tools for practicing out loud, plus the strongest study resources: real prices and honest tradeoffs.
Best AI Tools for Coding Interview Prep in 2026
The AI tools that actually help you pass coding interviews in 2026: live voice mock interviewers, AI tutors, and code review, plus which copilots to avoid and why.
Back-of-the-Envelope Estimation for System Design
Back-of-the-envelope estimation for system design interviews: the numbers to memorize, a repeatable method, and worked QPS and storage examples.
Common Coding Interview Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
The most common coding interview mistakes, from skipping clarification to coding in silence, and the concrete habits that fix each one before your next round.
Amazon SDE Interview Process: Phone Screen to Offer
The Amazon SDE interview runs from a recruiter call and online assessment through a 4 to 6 round virtual loop. Here is every stage and how to prep.
Interval Problems in Interviews: Merge, Insert, Overlap
Interval problems come down to one move: sort by start, then scan. Learn merge, insert, and overlap patterns with code and the mistakes that cost offers.
Bit Manipulation Interview Questions: 5 Core Patterns
Bit manipulation interview questions cluster around five patterns: XOR cancellation, bit counting, masking, subset enumeration, and binary construction. Here they are.
Union-Find Explained for Coding Interviews (2026)
Union-find (disjoint set union) solves connectivity, cycle detection, and grouping problems in near-constant time. Here are the patterns and problems to know.
Stack Interview Questions: Patterns That Actually Matter
Stack interview questions come down to a few patterns: matching pairs, expression parsing, and the monotonic stack. Here is how to spot and solve each one.
PayPal Software Engineer Interview Guide (2026)
PayPal runs a HackerRank screen plus a 4-6 round onsite of coding, payments system design, and behavioral. Here is the format, real problems, and a prep plan.
Meta Coding Interview: Format, Questions, and 2026 Prep
Meta's coding interview now includes an AI-enabled round. Here's the 2026 loop by level, the problems Meta actually asks, and how to prepare fast.
How to Handle Follow-Up Questions in Coding Interviews
Follow-ups fall into four buckets: optimize, scale, generalize, and design. Here is a concrete playbook and scripts for handling each under pressure.
How to Warm Up on Interview Day: A Coder's Guide
A concrete, hour-by-hour warm-up plan for coding interview day: which problems to solve, when to exercise, when to arrive, and how to nail the first five minutes.
Google Behavioral Interview Questions and How to Answer
Google behavioral interview questions decoded: what the Googleyness & Leadership round tests, real question types, and a proven answer structure.
Apple Coding Interview: What Makes It Different
Apple's coding interview is team-owned, so each team writes its own questions. Here's how the loop works, the real timeline, and a six-week prep plan.
Binary Search Interview Questions: Beyond Sorted Arrays
Binary search interview questions rarely say "sorted array." Learn the three patterns (index, answer space, helper) and the bugs that cost offers.
Tree Traversal Interview Questions: BFS vs DFS Guide
Tree traversal interview questions decoded: when to use BFS vs DFS, the four traversal orders, complexity, and eight practice problems to drill.
Two Pointers Technique: When to Use It and Spot It
The two pointers technique turns O(n²) scans into O(n) passes. Learn the triggers that signal it, the four main variants, and how to spot it fast.
How to Debug Under Pressure in a Coding Interview
A calm, repeatable process for debugging in a coding interview: isolate the bug fast, narrate your reasoning, and recover without losing the room.
How to Practice Mock Interviews With AI (Do It Right)
AI mock interviews give on-demand, conversational practice that sharpens delivery and problem framing far better than silent LeetCode grinding.
The STAR Method for Software Engineers (Real Examples)
The STAR method structures behavioral interview answers into Situation, Task, Action, Result. Here is how engineers use it, with copyable examples.
Topological Sort Interview Questions: A Guide
Topological sort interview questions decoded: Kahn's algorithm, cycle detection, and the DAG patterns that unlock course scheduling and dependency problems.
Dynamic Programming Interview Questions: A Framework
Dynamic programming interview questions are pattern-based. Use this decision framework to spot DP, pick a state, and choose memoization vs tabulation fast.
Matrix Interview Questions: 5 Patterns That Cover Most
Most matrix interview questions reduce to five patterns: traversal, flood fill, grid DP, BFS shortest path, and state-space search. Here is how to spot each.
How to Master Arrays and Hashing in Interviews
Arrays and hashing power most coding interview rounds. Learn the core patterns, a Two Sum walkthrough, complexity templates, and a 4-week practice plan.
String Manipulation Interview Questions: Core Patterns
String interview questions reduce to five patterns: two pointers, sliding window, frequency counting, stack parsing, and ordering. Here is how to drill them.