Grokking Graph Algorithms for Coding Interviews
Unlock the secrets of graph algorithms and ace your coding interviews with confidence!
Course Overview
This course is designed for software engineers, and anyone preparing for technical interviews at top-tier companies like FAANG. Whether you are a beginner or looking to deepen your understanding of graph algorithms, this course is for you. We start with the basics of graphs, including BFS and DFS traversal, matrix representations, and graph theory fundamentals. From there, we explore advanced topics such as Union-Find, topological sorting, shortest path algorithms (Dijkstra's, Bellman-Ford, Floyd-Warshall), and minimum spanning tree algorithms (Kruskal's, Prim's, Boruvka's). Each section includes detailed explanations and practical problems to enhance your learning experience. Our goal is to ensure you feel confident and well-prepared for your graph-related interview questions. The course content is tailored to reflect the types of questions you might encounter in real-world technical interviews, providing a solid foundation in graph data structures and algorithms. Join us to master graph theory and excel in your next coding interview!
What you'll learn in Grokking Graph Algorithms for Coding Interviews
- Graphs as their own subject rather than as one chapter of a general course, which is what the topic needs if it is the one costing you offers.
- Matrix problems treated as graph problems, which is the single realisation that turns islands, flood fill, and grid shortest paths from tricks into one technique.
- Alternate approaches where they exist, so you can see the same problem solved with depth first and breadth first search and understand what each choice costs.
- Topological sort across a 15-lesson chapter, covering both the ordering itself and the dependency problems that reduce to it.
- Minimum spanning trees, the part of graph theory candidates most often skip and most regret skipping.
- The two traversals in real depth, with a 17-lesson chapter on breadth first search and a 15-lesson chapter on depth first search.
- 50 problems with full solutions, each with a step by step algorithm and a walkthrough rather than a finished block of code.
- Union find and disjoint set union, including the optimisations, for connectivity and cycle problems where traversal is the wrong tool.
- Shortest path algorithms, and how to pick between them once edge weights and negative edges enter the picture.
- Solutions in Python, Java, C++, JavaScript, Go, and C#.
Course Content
Graph Basics
Graph BFS Traversal
Graph DFS Traversal
Graph Traversal - Depth First Search(DFS)
Keys and Rooms (medium)
Time Needed to Inform All Employees (medium)
All Paths From Source to Target (medium)
Find Eventual Safe States (medium)
Reorder Routes to Make All Paths Lead to the City Zero (medium)
Coloring A Border (medium)
Critical Connections in a Network (hard)
Minimum Spanning Tree
What people say about our courses
About the Author
Arslan Ahmad
Industry Expertise & Leadership
Arslan Ahmad is the lead author of Grokking Graph Algorithms for Coding Interviews. As the founder of Design Gurus and a former FAANG hiring manager, he has worked at industry giants like Facebook (now Meta) and Microsoft.
He has conducted hundreds of system design interviews, giving him unique insight into what top tech companies look for in candidates.
The course also incorporates expertise from senior engineers at Google, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, and Uber, ensuring you learn system design best practices from professionals who have built and scaled real-world systems.
500+
Interviews Conducted
10k+
Students Taught
Related Courses
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FAQs
What is Grokking Graph Algorithms for Coding Interviews?
It is a course dedicated entirely to graphs: the traversals, the theory, and the algorithms built on top, with 50 problems worked in full across 117 lessons. It goes considerably deeper than the graph chapter of a general interview course, because graphs are usually the topic that decides the hard question.
Who is this course for?
Engineers who are solid on arrays, strings, and trees and then stall the moment a question turns into a graph. That is an extremely common shape of weakness, partly because graphs get one chapter in most courses and a disproportionate share of the difficult interview questions.
Which topics does it cover?
Graph basics and representations, breadth first traversal, depth first traversal, matrix graphs, general graph theory, union find and disjoint set union, topological sort, shortest path algorithms, and minimum spanning trees. Each is a full chapter with its own problem set rather than a passing mention.
Why is there a whole chapter on matrix problems?
Because a grid is a graph, and seeing that is the difference between solving islands, flood fill, rotting oranges, and shortest path in a binary matrix with one technique or treating each as a separate puzzle. Interviewers ask matrix questions constantly and many candidates never make the connection.
How many practice problems are there?
50, each with its own solution lesson containing the approach, a step by step algorithm, a walkthrough, and code. Several give a second approach as well, so you can compare a depth first solution against a breadth first one on the same problem.
Which programming languages are supported?
Python, Java, C++, JavaScript, Go, and C#. Every solution is given in all six.
Do I need to take Grokking the Coding Interview first?
Not necessarily, but you should be comfortable with recursion, queues, and hash maps before starting, since every graph algorithm here is built from them. If graphs are your one weak topic, this course on its own is the efficient fix. If several topics are shaky, a general patterns course is the better first purchase.
Does it cover shortest path and minimum spanning trees?
Yes, both as full chapters. They are the two areas most likely to be skipped in general preparation and most likely to appear in a hard question, particularly at companies that lean toward algorithmic depth.
Is the course text-based or video-based?
Text-based, with diagrams on the solutions and runnable code. Graph work is heavily visual, and being able to sit with a traversal diagram beside its implementation is what makes the pattern stick.
Do I get a certificate of completion?
Yes. Design Gurus issues a certificate once you have completed the course, and you can share the link directly or add it to your LinkedIn profile.
