Codenation Interview Experience | DS-Algo Round
Question Details
Q1: How many sets are possible from an array of size n, such that each number in the set divides the consecutive number in the set. You can use one value only once in a pa...
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Q1: How many sets are possible from an array of size n, such that each number in the set divides the consecutive number in the set. You can use one value only once in a particular set.
Approach: Sort the input array, Iterate in the input array and iterate through the divisors of A[i] and add the dp[divsors] to dp[A[i]]
Edge Case: When the array contains zero, do not iterate through zeros and answer will be 2*ans+1 Q2: Given a tree. A signal starts at the root at time t=0, at every second each node which has the signal can pass it to one of its children and the signal persists, calculate the minimum time such that all nodes in the tree will have the signal.
Approach: Can be solved with dfs+dp, if the answers to all the children of a node are sorted in descending order, the answer to the node will be maximum of (ans[child]+i+1, ans[node]), where i is the index of the child, and the answer for the leaf node will be 1 as a base case.
About This Question
This is a reported interview question from a codenation interview for a data science role reported in 2022.
It covers the following topics: Trees, Dynamic Programming, Graph, Graphs, Arrays .
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About Codenation Interview Reports
This question was reported by a candidate who interviewed at Codenation. LeakCode aggregates interview reports from 10+ sources, including 1Point3Acres, Glassdoor, LeetCode Discuss, Blind, Reddit, Indeed, and Nowcoder. Each report is translated where necessary, deduplicated against existing entries, and tagged by company, role, round type, and reporting date.
Use this question as one calibration data point, not a memorization target. Companies typically rotate their question pools every 2-4 months; the exact wording of a 2024 question may differ from what you encounter today. The underlying pattern, difficulty level, and follow-up depth at Codenation are the higher-signal extractions to take from this report.
For broader preparation context, the Codenation interview process typically includes a recruiter screen, one or two technical phone screens, and a 4-5 round on-site loop covering coding, system design (at L4+ levels), and behavioral. Reports tagged on LeakCode show the round-by-round distribution and typical difficulty calibration. To browse questions filtered by round type and seniority, use the company hub linked above.
How To Practice This Type of Question
Solve similar problems on LeetCode under timed conditions (25-35 minutes per medium difficulty). The goal is pattern recognition: recognize the underlying technique (sliding window, two-pointer, BFS, memoized recursion, etc.) within 60-90 seconds of reading. Strong candidates verbalize their hypothesis out loud before coding, then iterate based on feedback. Weak candidates dive into implementation immediately, lose time on the wrong approach, and run out of time for follow-ups.
Companies update their question pools every 2-4 months. The exact wording of any given question may have been retired by the time you interview. Focus your prep on the pattern, not the specific problem. The patterns that appear in Codenation reports consistently are the ones worth investing in; one-off niche problems are not.
During Your Codenation Round
Apply the standard interview round template: clarify requirements (2-3 minutes), state your approach out loud and confirm direction with the interviewer (3-5 minutes), code with narration (15-25 minutes), test with concrete examples including edge cases (5 minutes), discuss optimization or trade-offs if time permits (5 minutes). This template is universally accepted across FAANG and adjacent companies; deviating from it produces weaker interviewer feedback signal.
The single most predictive failure mode in Codenation reports tagged "no hire": not asking clarifying questions. Interviewers are explicitly trained to weight this. Strong candidates ask 3-5 clarifying questions even on problems that look obvious; weak candidates dive into code immediately. The clarifying-question check is often the first signal recorded in the interviewer's written notes.