Solving My Google Phone Interview Question

Keep On Coding
26 Nov 201912:42

Summary

TLDRIn this video, the creator walks through the Google phone interview process, specifically focusing on a coding problem involving trees and depth-first search. The video explains how candidates are required to write code in a Google Doc without IDE support, encouraging proficiency in the coding language. The example problem involves printing a tree structure from a list of parent-child relationships. The solution utilizes a HashMap for depth-first traversal and discusses the time and space complexity of the approach. The video also provides tips for tackling coding interviews, and encourages viewers to practice in similar environments.

Takeaways

  • đŸ“± The video discusses the Google phone interview process and coding challenges.
  • 🔗 A link to the full Google interview experience and Amazon phone interview is provided in the description.
  • 📝 During the Google phone interview, candidates code in a Google Doc without code completion or syntax error checking.
  • 💡 It is recommended to practice writing code in Google Docs before the interview to get familiar with coding without an IDE.
  • 🌳 The coding prompt provided involves writing a Java function to print a tree based on a list of parent-child relationships.
  • 🔍 The solution involves using a depth-first search (DFS) approach to navigate the tree structure.
  • 📄 An adjacency list (represented using a HashMap) is used to store the tree relationships, where each parent points to its children.
  • 🧠 To find the root of the tree, the candidate can create a set of all children and loop through the keys to identify the root node.
  • 🧼 The time complexity of the solution is O(n), where n is the number of nodes in the tree, and the space complexity is also O(n).
  • ✅ The provided solution passed the interview, allowing the candidate to advance to the on-site interview round.

Q & A

  • What is the primary topic discussed in the video?

    -The primary topic discussed is the Google phone interview, including how to prepare for it and solve a specific coding problem given during the interview.

  • What is the first tip provided for preparing for the Google phone interview?

    -The first tip is to practice writing code in a Google Doc without code completion or syntax error checking, as the interview environment does not provide these features.

  • What is the coding problem presented in the Google interview example?

    -The coding problem involves writing a Java function called `printTree` that prints a given tree to standard output based on a list of parent-child relationships.

  • What data structure is recommended for solving the problem in the video?

    -The video suggests using an adjacency list, which is represented by a HashMap, where each parent node is a key and the corresponding value is a list of its children.

  • What approach is used to traverse the tree in the given solution?

    -The video uses a Depth-First Search (DFS) approach to traverse the tree, printing each node along the path and keeping track of the level to format the output correctly.

  • How is the root of the tree determined in the solution?

    -The root of the tree is determined by looping through all the parent nodes and checking which one is not a child in the relations. This node is the root since it has no parent.

  • What challenge did the presenter face when implementing the solution?

    -The presenter mentions that the biggest challenge was determining the root of the tree, as an extra set was required to store all the child nodes.

  • What is the time complexity of the solution provided?

    -The time complexity is O(n), where n is the number of nodes in the tree. The algorithm loops through the nodes multiple times, but constants are dropped in Big-O notation.

  • What is the space complexity of the solution provided?

    -The space complexity is also O(n) since the algorithm uses extra space for the adjacency list and the set of child nodes, which both can store up to n elements.

  • What advice is given for candidates who don’t understand the problem during the interview?

    -The video advises candidates to ask questions during the interview to ensure they fully understand the problem before trying to solve it.

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Google interviewphone interviewcoding tipstree traversaldepth-first searchJava functionalgorithm practicecoding prepprogramming interviewtech interviews
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