Roadmap for 5th Semester B.E.

Students – Problem Solving Preparation for Interviews

Coding Platforms: LeetCode, GFG, Codeforces, InterviewBit, Hachkerank, Hackerearth,Codechef

Week Focus Area Topics Practice Plan Goal by Week End

1 Basics Brush-up Arrays, Strings 10–15 easy problems Quick recall of syntax,
array/string
manipulation

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2 Stack & Queue Stack using arrays/LL, Min 20 problems on Clear on stack/queue
Queue, Deque each applications

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3 Linked List Single, Double, Circular Min 20 problems Comfort with pointers &
LL (reverse, detect loop, LL ops
merge, etc.)

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4 Recursion & Recursion basics, Min 15 recursion Write recursion without

Backtracking (Intro) subset sum, problems confusion
permutations

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5 Trees (Part 1) Binary Tree basics, Min 20 problems Implement & debug tree
traversal (DFS, BFS), traversals
height, diameter

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Week Focus Area Topics Practice Plan Goal by Week End

6 Trees (Part 2 ) Binary Search Tree, Min 20 problems Strong with BST
AVL basics (search, LCA, kth properties
smallest)

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7 Heaps & Hashing Min/Max Heap, Priority 8–10 problems (top-k Comfortable with
Queue, HashMap freq, heap sort) heap-based interview
problems

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8 Graphs (Part 1) Representation, BFS, Min 20 problems Apply BFS/DFS for

DFS traversal & connectivity

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9 Graphs (Part 2) Shortest Path (Dijkstra, Min 20 problems Implement graph

Bellman-Ford), MST algorithms under time
(Prim/Kruskal)

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10 Dynamic Programming Fibonacci, Knapsack, Min 15 problems DP table creation

(Intro) Coin Change confidence

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11 Dynamic Programming LIS, Matrix DP, Subset Min 15 medium - Hard Solve 2D DP problems
(Advanced) DP problems

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 Week Focus Area Topics Practice Plan Goal by Week End

12 Greedy + Searching Greedy algorithms, Min 15 problems Recognize greedy

Binary Search on patterns & binary
Answer search

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13 Problem Solving Sliding Window, Two Min 15 problems Spot patterns in

Patterns Pointers (subarray sum, longest interview questions
substring)

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14 Mixed Problem Solving Random problems from 15–20 problems Strong grip across
Arrays, Strings, Graphs, topics
DP

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15 Mock Interviews Timed problem solving Min 2 - 4 contests Test speed + accuracy
(20 - 30 - 45 – 60 mins) (Codeforces/LeetCode
weekly other coding
platforms )

16 Revision + Final Sprint Revise weak areas + Mock interviews + peer Interview ready
common 100 interview review
Qs

Solve the Problem in the hierarchy: Easy -> Medium -> Hard

CORE SUBJECT IMPORTANT TOPICS FOR TECHNICAL ROUND INTERVIEW

Core Subject Topics to Concentrate

Data Structures & Arrays: 1D & 2D, dynamic arrays, problems

Algorithms

Strings: manipulation, pattern matching,

substrings

Linked Lists: singly, doubly, circular, operations, reverse, detect cycle

Stack: operations, balanced parentheses, expression

evaluation

Queue: simple, circular, priority queue,

deque

Trees: binary tree, BST, AVL, traversals

Graphs: representation, BFS, DFS, shortest path (Dijkstra, Bellman-Ford), MST (Prim,
Kruskal)

Hashing: hash tables, collision handling,

applications

Sorting & Searching: Bubble, Insertion, Selection, Merge, Quick, Heap, Binary search &
variants
 Recursion & Backtracking: N-Queens, Sudoku, subset
sum

NOTE : PRACTICE PROBLEMS AS MENTIONED IN THE ROAD MAP ABOVE

Database Management
Systems (DBMS) DBMS vs RDBMS, advantages

Keys: primary, foreign, candidate, composite

ER Modeling: ER diagrams, relational schema

Normalization: 1NF, 2NF, 3NF,

BCNF,4NF, 5NF ( VERY IMPORTANT
)

SQL Queries: SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, Joins, Subqueries, Aggregate

functions, Views, Procedures, triggers

Transactions: ACID properties, concurrency control

Deadlocks, locks, isolation levels

Indexing: B-Tree, Hashing, optimization basics

 NoSQL
Basics:

- Types: Key-Value, Document, Column,

Graph databases

- MongoDB / Cassendra basics:

CRUD, collections, documents

- Data modeling in NoSQL

- Differences between SQL & NoSQL

- Use cases: big data, real-time

applications

CONCENTRATE MORE ON QUERIES

CONCENTRATE MORE ON THE BELOW TOPICS FOR CORE COMPANIES

Operating Systems Processes & threads, PCB,

(OS) states

Scheduling algorithms: FCFS, SJF, Round Robin, Priority, Multilevel Queue

Concurrency: critical section problem, mutex, semaphores,

 monitors

Deadlocks: detection, prevention, avoidance, Banker's

algorithm

Memory Management: paging, segmentation, virtual memory, page replacement (FIFO,

LRU, Optimal)

File Systems: types, directory structure, allocation

methods

I/O Management: buffering, caching, device drivers

Computer Networks (CN) OSI & TCP/IP models, layers, protocols

( Depends on the Job
Role )
IP Addressing: IPv4, IPv6, subnetting, CIDR

Routing algorithms: distance vector, link state

TCP vs UDP, HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, SMTP, DNS

Switching: circuit vs packet switching

 Network security basics: firewall, VPN, SSL/TLS, encryption

Microprocessors /
Embedded Systems​ Microprocessor architecture: 8085/8086 or ARM, registers
​
( Depends on the Job Role )
Instruction Set: data transfer, arithmetic, logical, addressing
modes

Interfacing & applications: I/O ports, timers, ADC/DAC

Assembly programming
basics

Software Engineering (SE)

( Depends on the Job Role ) SDLC models: Waterfall, Agile, Scrum

Requirement analysis: functional & non-functional requirements

UML Diagrams: Use-case, Class,

Sequence

Testing: Unit, Integration, System, Acceptance

Maintenance & version control basics

DOMAIN SPECIFIC KNOWLEDGE

Possibility of Questions
Core Concepts
DOMAIN

1.​ Conceptual / Theory:​

Machine
Learning
●​ Supervised Learning: Linear Regression, ○​ “What is the difference between supervised and
(ML)
Logistic Regression, Decision Trees, unsupervised learning?”​
( Depends on the Random Forest​
Job Role ) ○​ “Explain overfitting and how to prevent it.”​
●​ Unsupervised Learning: K-Means
Clustering, Hierarchical Clustering, PCA​ ○​ “What is the bias-variance tradeoff?”​

●​ Evaluation Metrics: Accuracy, Precision, 2.​ Algorithm-Specific:​

Recall, F1-Score, ROC Curve​
○​ “Explain how the Decision Tree works.”​
●​ Overfitting/Underfitting, Cross-validation​
○​ “How does k-NN classify a new data point?”​
●​ Feature Engineering & Scaling​
3.​ Practical / Coding:​

Algorithms ○​ “Write a Python function to implement Linear

Regression from scratch.”​
●​ Regression (Linear, Polynomial)​
○​ “Given a dataset, how would you handle missing
●​ Classification: k-NN, SVM, Naive Bayes​ values?”​

●​ Ensemble Methods: Bagging, Boosting 4.​ Project-Based:​

(Random Forest, XGBoost)​
 Tools & Libraries ○​ “Explain your Titanic dataset project: what
features did you use?”​
●​ Python: NumPy, Pandas, Matplotlib,
Seaborn, scikit-learn​ ○​ “How did you evaluate the model accuracy?”​

●​ Jupyter Notebook for experiments​

Mini-Projects for Interviews

●​ Predict housing prices (regression)​

●​ Titanic survival prediction (classification)​

●​ Customer segmentation (clustering)​

Interview Focus

●​ Be able to explain algorithm working +

math intuition​

●​ Code small ML models from scratch

Core Concepts 1.​ Conceptual / Theory:​

Artificial
Intelligence
●​ Intelligent agents: Simple, Goal-based, ○​ “What is an intelligent agent?”​
(AI)
Utility-based​
( Depends on the ○​ “Difference between goal-based and
Job Role ) ●​ Problem-solving: State space utility-based agents.”​
representation, Search strategies​
○​ “Explain heuristic search.”​

2.​ Algorithm-Specific / Problem Solving:​

 ●​ Heuristic Search: A*, Greedy best-first
search​ ○​ “Implement BFS/DFS for a maze-solving
agent.”​
●​ Game Theory: Minimax algorithm,
Alpha-Beta pruning ○​ “How does the Minimax algorithm work in
●​ Neural Networks Tic-Tac-Toe?”​

Knowledge Representation 3.​ Project-Based:​

●​ Facts, Rules, Logic ○​ “Explain your AI agent project.”​

(Propositional/Predicate Logic)​
○​ “How did your AI decide the next move in
●​ Knowledge-based systems​ your game project?”​

Tools & Frameworks Interview Focus:

●​ Python for implementing agents and

●​ Knowledge of search algorithms, agent design, and
problem-solving logic.
search algorithms​

●​ AI libraries: OpenAI Gym (for

reinforcement projects)​

Mini-Projects

●​ Tic-Tac-Toe AI agent​

●​ Maze solving using BFS/DFS or A*​

●​ Simple chatbot using rule-based AI​

Interview Focus
 ●​ Explain search algorithms, agent
design, heuristics​

●​ Be ready to write small AI code snippets

Core Concepts 3.​ Conceptual / Theory:​

Cyber Security
( Depends on the ●​ Basics: Confidentiality, Integrity, ○​ “What is the difference between symmetric
Job Role ) Availability (CIA Triad)​ and asymmetric encryption?”​

●​ Encryption: Symmetric (AES), Asymmetric ○​ “Explain HTTPS and how SSL works.”​
(RSA), Hashing (SHA-256)​
○​ “What are SQL Injection and XSS?”​
●​ Authentication & Authorization: OAuth,
JWT tokens​ 4.​ Scenario-Based / Practical:​

●​ Web Security: SQL Injection, XSS, CSRF, ○​ “How would you secure a login page?”​
Clickjacking​
○​ “What steps would you take if a system is
under attack?”​
●​ Network Security: Firewalls, VPN,
SSL/TLS, Ports & Protocols​
5.​ Tool-Based:​

○​ “Explain how to use Wireshark to capture

Tools
packets.”​
●​ Wireshark (packet capture & analysis)​
○​ “How would you scan a network using
Nmap?”​
●​ Nmap (network scanning)​
 ●​ Kali Linux basics (penetration testing)​ Interview Focus:

●​ Ability to identify vulnerabilities and propose

Mini-Projects solutions.​

●​ Secure login system with JWT​

●​ Implement basic encryption/decryption in

Python​

●​ Simulate SQL injection prevention​

Interview Focus

1.​ Scenario-based: “How will you secure a

login page?”​

2.​ Explain encryption algorithms, hash

functions, and web vulnerabilities

Core Concepts 3.​ Conceptual / Theory:​

Cloud
Computing
●​ Cloud models: SaaS, PaaS, IaaS​ ○​ “Explain the difference between IaaS, PaaS,
( Depends on the and SaaS.”​
Job Role ) ●​ Virtualization, Containers (Docker)​
○​ “What is the difference between public,
●​ Cloud architecture & services​ private, and hybrid cloud?”​

4.​ Practical / Scenario-Based:​

Cloud Platforms ○​ “How would you deploy a web app on
AWS?”​
●​ AWS: EC2 (Compute), S3 (Storage),
RDS/DynamoDB (Database), Lambda​ ○​ “Explain how S3 storage works and how to
secure files.”​
●​ GCP / Azure basics (optional)​
5.​ DevOps Basics:​

DevOps Basics ○​ “Explain Docker and its use in deployment.”​

●​ CI/CD: GitHub Actions, Jenkins basics​ ○​ “What is a CI/CD pipeline and why is it
important?”​
●​ Docker containers & image deployment​
6.​ Project-Based:​

Mini-Projects ○​ “Walk me through your cloud deployment

project.”​
●​ Deploy a Flask/[Link] app on AWS EC2​
○​ “Which cloud services did you use for your
●​ Store uploaded files in S3 & retrieve via project and why?”​
app​

Interview Focus:
●​ CI/CD pipeline for automatic deployment​
●​ Ability to deploy, explain, and secure cloud-based
applications.
Interview Focus

1.​ Be able to deploy a simple web app​

2.​ Understand cloud services for compute,

storage, and database​
 Frontend Types of Questions:
Web Development
( Depends on the ●​ HTML, CSS, JavaScript basics​ 1.​ Frontend:​
Job Role )
●​ Responsive Design (Media Queries, ○​ “Difference between var, let, and const in
Bootstrap, Tailwind CSS)​ JavaScript?”​

●​ DOM manipulation, Event handling, AJAX​ ○​ “How to make a website responsive?”​

○​ “Explain event bubbling and capturing.”​

Backend
2.​ Backend:​
●​ [Link], [Link] / Python Flask /
Django​ ○​ “Explain REST API and CRUD operations.”​

●​ REST API development, CRUD operations​ ○​ “How does authentication with JWT work?”​

3.​ Project-Based:​
●​ JWT / Session-based authentication​
○​ “Explain how data flows from frontend to
database in your project.”​
Database
○​ “How did you implement login functionality?”​
●​ SQL: MySQL, PostgreSQL basics​

●​ NoSQL: MongoDB CRUD, collections, Interview Focus:

documents​
●​ Concept clarity + practical project explanation +
small coding tasks.
Mini-Projects

●​ To-do app with frontend + backend +

database​
 ●​ Blog website with login, posts, comments​

●​ Portfolio website with contact form​

Interview Focus

●​ Be ready to explain frontend-backend

interaction​

●​ Implement REST API endpoints on the

spot​

Frontend Advanced Types of Questions:

Full Stack
development
●​ [Link]: Components, State, Props, 1.​ Frontend + Backend Integration:​
( Depends on the Hooks​
Job Role ) ○​ “How do you connect React frontend with
●​ Angular/Vue basics (optional)​ [Link] backend?”​

○​ “Explain state management in your frontend

Backend Advanced framework.”​

●​ [Link] + [Link]​ 2.​ Database Questions:​

●​ Authentication & Authorization (JWT, ○​ “How would you design the database
OAuth)​ schema for an e-commerce site?”​

○​ “Explain relationships between tables and

why you normalized them.”​
 ●​ REST APIs and API testing (Postman)​
3.​ Project-Based:​

Database ○​ “Walk me through your full-stack project

architecture.”​
●​ SQL & NoSQL integration​
○​ “How did you handle authentication and
●​ Data modeling for apps (one-to-many, authorization?”​
many-to-many relationships)​

Interview Focus:
Tools
●​ Understanding of full-stack workflow, database,
●​ Git & GitHub version control​ backend APIs, frontend rendering, and deployment.​

●​ Deployment tools: Heroku / Netlify​

Mini-Projects

●​ E-commerce website (products, cart,

payment integration)​

●​ Social media clone (user signup, posts,

comments, likes)​

●​ Task manager app with backend and

frontend​

Interview Focus

●​ Discuss projects end-to-end: frontend,

backend, database​
 ●​ Be ready for bug-fixing or adding small
features

●​ Core Concepts – DevOps lifecycle, CI/CD,

Devops​
IaC, Agile vs DevOps.
(Depends on the
●​ Linux & Scripting – Commands, bash,
Job Role) Python for automation
●​ Git & Version Control – Branching, merge
vs rebase, conflicts.
●​ CI/CD Tools – Jenkins, GitHub Actions,
pipelines.
●​ Containers & Orchestration – Docker,
Kubernetes (pods, services, deployments,
Helm).
●​ Infrastructure as Code – Terraform,
Ansible, CloudFormation.
●​ Cloud Platforms – AWS/Azure/GCP
basics, deployment strategies.
●​ Networking & Security – DNS,
HTTP/HTTPS, SSL, K8s networking,
secrets.
●​ Monitoring & Logging – Prometheus,
Grafana, ELK/EFK, observability.
●​ DevOps Culture – GitOps, SRE, shift-left
testing, incident management.
OBJECT ORIENTED PROGRAMMING

Classes & Objects

Topics to focus: Type of questions:

●​ Definition of class and object​ ●​ Define a class for a real-world

object (e.g., BankAccount,
●​ Access specifiers: public, private, protected​ Student) with member variables
and functions.​
●​ Member functions & data members​
●​ Explain what happens when you
●​ this pointer create an object in memory.​

●​ Difference between object and

class.

Constructors &
Destructors Topics: Type of questions:

●​ Default, parameterized, copy constructors​ ●​ Write a class with parameterized

and default constructors.​
●​ Destructor purpose & when it’s called​
●​ Explain the output of a program
●​ Constructor overloading​ using multiple constructors.​

●​ Difference between constructor

and destructor.​

●​ Explain order of
constructor/destructor calls in
inheritance.
Inheritance
Topics: Type of questions:

●​ Single, multiple, multilevel, hierarchical, hybrid ●​ Implement a class hierarchy (e.g.,

inheritance​ Vehicle → Car → ElectricCar)​

●​ public, protected, private inheritance​ ●​ Predict output of a program using

inherited methods​
●​ super/base class access​
●​ Explain how access specifiers
●​ Virtual base classes (basic understanding) affect inherited members​

●​ Diamond problem explanation

(conceptual)​

Polymorphism
Topics: Type of questions:

●​ Compile-time (function overloading, operator ●​ Write a function overloaded

overloading)​ example (sum of int, float)​

●​ Run-time (function overriding using virtual ●​ Predict output when virtual

functions)​ functions are used​

●​ Early binding vs late binding ●​ Difference between overloading

and overriding​

●​ Explain why virtual destructor is

needed
 Type of questions:
Abstraction
●​ Implement a pure virtual class and
Topics: derive child classes​

●​ Abstract classes and pure virtual functions​ ●​ Explain why abstraction is used in
OOP​
●​ Interface concept​
●​ Example: Shape class with area()
●​ Separation of interface and implementation as pure virtual function

Friend Functions
Topics: Type of questions:

●​ Friend function and friend class​ ●​ Write a program using a friend

function to access private data​
●​ When to use friend functions
●​ Explain difference between friend
function and member function

Topics: Type of questions:

Operator Overloading
●​ Overload arithmetic operators (+, -, *, /)​ ●​ Overload + for a class
representing complex numbers​
●​ Unary vs binary operators​
●​ Explain why operator overloading
●​ Restrictions (cannot create new operators, is used
 cannot change precedence)

Topics: Type of questions:

Static Members
●​ Static data members and functions​ ●​ Implement a class with a static
member to count number of
●​ Shared across objects​ objects​

●​ Lifetime of static members ●​ Explain difference between normal

and static member functions

Topics: Type of questions:

OOP Design /
Real-world Questions ●​ Modeling real-life systems using OOP​ ●​ Design a library management
system using OOP concepts​
●​ Relationships: HAS-A (composition), IS-A
(inheritance) ●​ Identify classes, objects, and
relationships​

●​ Explain what would be

private/public/protected
 Please Note:

1.​ Focus on programs, demonstrating each concept.​

2.​ Be ready to predict outputs of code snippets.​

3.​ Practice real-world scenarios to explain concepts clearly.​

4.​ Focus on optimizing code for time and space complexity.

“Preparation is the key to confidence. Confidence is the key for cracking interviews.”​

“Your skills are your weapon.”

ALL THE BEST !!!