Interview Rounds Requirements
1. DSA (Most Important)
Usually 50–70% of the technical interview weight.
Core Topics
● Arrays
● Strings
● Linked Lists
● Stacks
● Queues
● Hashing
● Recursion
● Binary Search
● Sliding Window
● Two Pointers
Intermediate Topics
● Trees
● Binary Search Trees (BST)
● Heaps / Priority Queues
● Greedy Algorithms
● Backtracking
● Tries
Advanced Topics
● Graphs
● Dynamic Programming (DP)
● Union Find (DSU)
● Segment Trees (for top companies)
2. Aptitude
Important for Online Assessments and Campus Placements.
Quantitative Aptitude
● Percentages
● Ratio & Proportion
● Profit & Loss
● Time & Work
● Time, Speed & Distance
● Simple & Compound Interest
● Probability
● Permutation & Combination
● Averages
● Number System
Logical Reasoning
● Seating Arrangements
● Blood Relations
● Direction Sense
● Coding-Decoding
● Syllogisms
● Puzzles
Verbal Ability
● Reading Comprehension
● Sentence Correction
● Vocabulary
● Para Jumbles
3. OOP (Object-Oriented Programming)
Core Concepts
● Encapsulation
● Inheritance
● Polymorphism
● Abstraction
Frequently Asked Comparisons
● Interface vs Abstract Class
● Composition vs Inheritance
● Method Overloading vs Overriding
● Runtime vs Compile-Time Polymorphism
Java-Specific
● Access Modifiers
● Constructors
● Static Keyword
● Final Keyword
4. DBMS
Database Fundamentals
● Primary Key
● Foreign Key
● Candidate Key
● Composite Key
Normalization
● 1NF
● 2NF
● 3NF
● BCNF (basic understanding)
Transactions
● ACID Properties
● Concurrency Control
● Locks
Performance
● Indexing
● Clustering vs Non-Clustering Index
5. Operating Systems (OS)
Processes & Threads
● Process vs Thread
● Multithreading
● Context Switching
Synchronization
● Mutex
● Semaphore
● Critical Section Problem
Scheduling
● FCFS
● SJF
● Round Robin
● Priority Scheduling
Memory Management
● Paging
● Segmentation
● Virtual Memory
● Thrashing
Deadlocks
● Necessary Conditions
● Prevention
● Avoidance
● Detection
6. Computer Networks (CN)
Basics
● OSI Model
● TCP/IP Model
Networking Concepts
● IP Address
● Subnetting (basic)
● DNS
Protocols
● TCP vs UDP
● HTTP vs HTTPS
● FTP
● SMTP
Web Concepts
● Cookies vs Sessions
● REST APIs
● Authentication vs Authorization
● JWT (basic understanding)
TCP
● 3-Way Handshake
● 4-Way Termination
7. SQL
Must Know
● INNER JOIN
● LEFT JOIN
● RIGHT JOIN
● SELF JOIN
Aggregation
● GROUP BY
● HAVING
● Aggregate Functions
Intermediate
● Subqueries
● Correlated Queries
● CTEs
Advanced
● ROW_NUMBER()
● RANK()
● DENSE_RANK()
● Window Functions
8. Projects
Interviewers often spend significant time here.
Be prepared to explain:
Project Overview
● What problem does it solve?
● Why did you build it?
Technical Details
● Architecture
● Database Design
● APIs Used
● Authentication
Challenges
● Performance Issues
● Scaling Problems
● Bugs Faced
● Design Decisions
Improvements
● What would you change if rebuilding?
9. Java-Specific Topics
Core Java
● JVM
● JDK vs JRE
● Memory Areas
Collections Framework
● ArrayList
● LinkedList
● HashSet
● HashMap
● TreeMap
● PriorityQueue
Important Internals
● HashMap Internal Working
● equals() vs hashCode()
● Comparable vs Comparator
● String vs StringBuilder vs StringBuffer
Concurrency
● Synchronization
● Thread Lifecycle
● ConcurrentHashMap
Exception Handling
● Checked vs Unchecked Exceptions
● try-catch-finally
● throw vs throws
Garbage Collection
● Heap Memory
● GC Basics
10. (System Design)Low-Level Design
(LLD) / OOP Design
Increasingly common in fresher interviews.
Popular Design Problems
● Parking Lot
● Library Management System
● ATM System
● Elevator System
● Tic-Tac-Toe
Focus on:
● Class Design
● Relationships
● OOP Principles
11. Behavioral / HR Round
Common Questions
● Tell me about yourself
● Why this company?
● Why should we hire you?
● Strengths and Weaknesses
● Leadership Experience
● Team Conflicts
● Biggest Challenge Faced
● Career Goals
Priority Order for Product-Based
Companies
1. DSA
2. Aptitude (for OA)
3. OOP
4. DBMS + SQL
5. Operating Systems
6. Computer Networks
7. Projects
8. Java Internals & Collections
9. LLD / Basic System Design
10.HR & Behavioral
If you are strong in DSA + Aptitude + OOP + DBMS/SQL + OS + CN + one solid project,
you’ll be well prepared for most fresher SDE interviews and campus placements.