00Overview 01Python semantics 02Python runtime 03NumPy 04pandas 05Operating systems 06Networking 07Resume project 0812-interview plan
DRW + Jump · Read / mock, alternating

Twelve interviews,
one reading list.

This isn't a curriculum you finish before you start mocking. It's cut into twelve slices, one per mock interview, front-loaded so the early rounds carry more new material and the later ones are close to a real cold screen. Read a slice, close the laptop, run a mock (DRW or Jump, alternating), then come back for the next slice. The order mixes topics deliberately and has nothing to do with the problem bank, so finishing a slice won't tell you which problem shape is coming next.

How this is built

Why the order is what it is

Forty-seven sections across the six fundamentals pages, split into twelve blocks that shrink as you go: 6 sections in interview 1, down to 3 by interview 9 and after. Early on you won't have covered half of what a mock throws at you, and that's fine. Lean on the coding problem and let the fundamentals questions be where you visibly reason toward an answer instead of stating one from memory. By the last few interviews the reading is light because you've already seen almost everything once, so those rounds should feel close to the real thing.

Each block interleaves Python semantics, runtime, NumPy, pandas, OS, and networking rather than clearing one topic before starting the next. That's closer to how a real interviewer jumps around, and it means no block maps onto a single problem shape from the mock bank, so reading ahead won't make the next mock predictable.

Badge What it means here
Mechanism Worth rebuilding from a lower-level fact, not just recognising
Predict Worth being able to state the output before running it
Fluent Worth writing from memory at normal speed
Name only One sentence is enough, don't overinvest
01Interview 1 · heaviest block
Ground floor: hashing, threading, array shape, indexing, processes, transports
Mock interview 1. You won't know most of what's coming, and that's expected. Let the coding problem carry the round.
02Interview 2
Dict internals, the lock's reason, views vs copies, chained assignment, deadlock
Mock interview 2. Alternate firm from round 1.
03Interview 3
Receive window, generators, escape hatches, broadcasting, groupby split
MechThe receive window06 · Net
MechGenerators and lazy evaluation01 · Semantics
PredictBroadcasting03 · NumPy
Mock interview 3.
04Interview 4
Blocking I/O, head-of-line blocking, deep copy, reference counting
Mock interview 4.
05Interview 5
Axis semantics, duplicate-key merges, context switches, retransmission
Mock interview 5. The fundamentals gaps should be shrinking by now; watch pace, not just correctness.
06Interview 6
Mutable defaults, the runtime awareness sweep, NaN, the pandas performance ladder
Mock interview 6.
07Interview 7
Virtual memory, the handshake, closures, why vectorised wins
Mock interview 7.
08Interview 8 · lightening from here
Resampling and OHLC, mutex/semaphore/condvar, networking name-only sweep
Mock interview 8. This should start feeling close to a cold screen.
09Interview 9
The stdlib toolkit, NumPy fluency functions, rolling windows
Mock interview 9.
10Interview 10
Cache locality, complexity as a reflex, shift/diff lookahead
Mock interview 10.
11Interview 11
Final name-only sweeps, merge_asof
Mock interview 11. This one should run cold; almost everything has already been seen once.
12Interview 12 · lightest block
Timezones, the pandas essentials from memory, memory-lever awareness
Mock interview 12. Cold screen, both firms interchangeably.
Using it well

A few things to keep in mind

  • Alternate DRW and Jump every session. The underlying skill is the same; the format difference is what needs the reps.
  • Read the block, then close the tab before the mock. The point is retrieval under pressure, not open-book recognition.
  • Don't reread earlier blocks out of order to get ahead on a topic. The interleaving is deliberate, and going linear undoes the front-loading.
  • If a mock exposes a gap outside the current block, that's fine. It'll be covered a couple of interviews later; note it and move on instead of derailing the reading plan.
  • The résumé strand and the coding problem itself are left out of this plan on purpose. They're practiced live in the mock, not pre-read.