Role-ordered prep · free
DSA prep for a backend role
DSA Tracker's backend roadmap is a free, role-ordered study plan for backend coding interviews: the same curated problem set, with the 9 topics this role tests most (167 problems) first.
Backend rounds keep coming back to the same few problems: an LRU cache, a rate limiter, meeting rooms with a heap, top-K and job queues. Hash maps with linked lists, heaps, sliding windows and intervals carry most of the loop. Hard dynamic programming and backtracking are the exception, not the rule.
Updated 2026-10-21Learn these first
Core topics for a backend loop. Everything else waits until these hold.
- 1ArraysWalk through it →
- 2StringsWalk through it →
- 3Linked ListWalk through it →
- 4HeapWalk through it →
- 5Sliding WindowWalk through it →
- 6IntervalsWalk through it →
- 7GraphWalk through it →
- 8StackWalk through it →
- 9QueueWalk through it →
Then these
Problems to start with
Named problems from this role's core topics, easiest first. Each page shows which roles treat it as core, which sheets carry it, and the companies that have asked it.
What this ordering pushes down
Dynamic programming, backtracking, BST, matrix, math and bit manipulation sit below the core tier for backend loops. Not because they never appear, but because the recurring backend problems rarely need them. Treat the lower tier as what to reach last, not what to skip.
Why an order beats a list
Every popular sheet hands all 370 problems to everyone in the same fixed sequence. A backend interview does not weight them the same way a backend interview does, so a fixed list spends your first weeks on topics your loop barely tests. Pick this role in the app and the same problems re-sequence: core topics first, the rest after.
Questions
How much DSA does a backend interview need?
The backend core is 9 topics covering 167 of our 370 problems. Expect LRU-cache, rate-limiter and heap-style questions to come up often. If you only have weeks, cover every core topic shallowly before going deep on any one.
Which backend topic should I start with?
Linked lists and hash maps: the LRU cache is built from both, and it is the question candidates report most often. Then heaps and intervals for scheduling problems.
Preparing for a different role?
23 more roles are available inside the app; pick yours on the Problems page.