Why use a DSA tracker?
Interview preparation without structure leads to wasted time. You solve random problems, forget patterns you practiced last week, and have no idea how much ground you have actually covered. A DSA tracker solves this by giving you a curated list organized by topic, so you can build skills systematically and see your progress at a glance.
How this tracker is organized
The 177 problems are grouped into 16 topics, ordered from foundational to advanced. Each topic builds on the patterns from earlier ones. Arrays and hashing come first because they introduce the core operations you will use everywhere. Trees and graphs come later because they require comfort with recursion and traversal patterns. Dynamic programming is near the end because it builds on every other technique.
Recommended study approach
Start with Easy problems in each topic to learn the pattern, then move to Medium problems to apply it under constraints. Hard problems are for when you want to push beyond interview level. Most interviews focus on Medium difficulty, so prioritize those if you are short on time.
For each problem: spend 20 minutes attempting it before looking at hints. If you cannot solve it after 30 minutes, study the solution, understand the pattern, and revisit it in 3-5 days. Spaced repetition is more effective than solving new problems every day.
What this covers vs other lists
This tracker is a superset of the Blind 75. It includes all 75 of those essential problems plus 100+ additional problems that cover topics and patterns the Blind 75 misses: Tries, advanced graph algorithms (Dijkstra, Union-Find), interval scheduling, and bit manipulation. If you have already completed the Blind 75, this tracker shows you exactly what is left.