Anki
A spaced repetition flashcard tool, and the most effective way to stop forgetting the patterns and complexities you learned six weeks ago. Preparation spread over months fails on retention, not on comprehension.
Tool
Interview Prep
Anki
15 minutes a day
All
Free
Why a flashcard tool belongs in a coding interview list
Long preparations have a retention problem nobody plans for. You learn sliding window in week two, do not touch it again, and by week ten it is gone. Spaced repetition solves exactly this, by showing you each item just before you would have forgotten it.
What to actually put on cards
Not code. Cards that work here are the pattern and its trigger condition, complexity facts, the shape of a standard algorithm in a few lines of pseudocode, and system design definitions. Anything you should recall instantly rather than derive.
How to use it
Fifteen minutes a day, every day, and only add a card after you have understood the material. Cards created from things you have not learned yet become a chore you abandon in a fortnight.
Best for: anyone preparing over two months or more, and particularly anyone revisiting material they once knew.
Ready to start?
Opens on Anki in a new tab.
Stuck on something specific?
Writing only gets you so far. If you want an answer to your situation rather than the general case, book a session and we will work through it together. Every session is free; a few slots open each week.
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