Problem database last updated: June 20, 2025
6 problems · 3 Easy, 2 Medium, 1 Hard · Ranked #204 of 458
3 Easy
50% · avg 23%
2 Medium
33% · avg 59%
1 Hard
17% · avg 18%
Based on 6 reported problems, Cadence interviews are in line with industry averages - 17% Hard vs 18% overall.
Compared to the industry average, Cadence puts unusual emphasis on matrix (33.3% of problems, 3.8x the industry average), two-pointers (33.3% of problems, 2.5x the industry average), sorting (33.3% of problems, 2.3x the industry average). If you're short on time, these are the categories to double down on.
The most common topics are array (83.3%), sorting (33.3%), two-pointers (33.3%), matrix (33.3%). Problems below are sorted by frequency, the ones at the top are asked most often.
| Problem | Difficulty | Frequency | Topics | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Two Sum Given an array of integers nums and an integer target, return the indices of the two numbers that add up to target. | Easy | Very Likely | arrayhash-map | Solve |
Merge Intervals Given an array of intervals where intervals[i] = [starti, endi], merge all overlapping intervals, and return an array of the non-overlapping intervals that cove... | Medium | Very Likely | arraysorting | Solve |
3Sum Given an integer array nums, return all the triplets [nums[i], nums[j], nums[k]] such that i != j, i != k, and j != k, and nums[i] + nums[j] + nums[k] == 0. | Medium | Very Likely | arraytwo-pointerssorting | Solve |
Valid Palindrome A phrase is a palindrome if, after converting all uppercase letters into lowercase letters and removing all non-alphanumeric characters, it reads the same forwa... | Easy | Very Likely | two-pointersstring | Solve |
Sudoku Solver Write a program to solve a Sudoku puzzle by filling the empty cells. | Hard | Very Likely | arrayhash-tablebacktracking | Solve |
Island Perimeter You are given row x col grid representing a map where grid[i][j] = 1 represents land and grid[i][j] = 0 represents water. | Easy | Very Likely | arraydepth-first-searchbreadth-first-search | Solve |
Two Sum
SolveGiven an array of integers nums and an integer target, return the indices of the two numbers that add up to target.
Merge Intervals
SolveGiven an array of intervals where intervals[i] = [starti, endi], merge all overlapping intervals, and return an array of the non-overlapping intervals that cove...
3Sum
SolveGiven an integer array nums, return all the triplets [nums[i], nums[j], nums[k]] such that i != j, i != k, and j != k, and nums[i] + nums[j] + nums[k] == 0.
Valid Palindrome
SolveA phrase is a palindrome if, after converting all uppercase letters into lowercase letters and removing all non-alphanumeric characters, it reads the same forwa...
Sudoku Solver
SolveWrite a program to solve a Sudoku puzzle by filling the empty cells.
Island Perimeter
SolveYou are given row x col grid representing a map where grid[i][j] = 1 represents land and grid[i][j] = 0 represents water.
Frequency scores are based on crowdsourced interview reports. A higher score means the problem has been reported more often in recent Cadence interviews.
Very Likely
75-100%
Likely
50-74%
Sometimes
25-49%
Rare
0-24%
Cadence interviews focus heavily on array, sorting, two-pointers problems. If you're short on time, these are the categories to prioritize. The problems on this page are sorted by frequency, so start from the top and work your way down.
Beyond solving problems, practice explaining your approach. Cadence interviewers care about your thought process - how you break down a problem, consider edge cases, and evaluate tradeoffs between solutions. A clean O(n) solution you can explain clearly beats an O(log n) solution you can't articulate.
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Cadence has been reported to ask 6 distinct coding problems. The most common topics are array, sorting, two-pointers. 3 are Easy difficulty, 2 are Medium, and 1 are Hard. Problems are sorted by frequency - the ones at the top are asked most often.
Based on 6 reported problems, Cadence interviews are in line with industry averages - 17% Hard vs 18% overall. 33% of questions are Medium difficulty. Focus on the high-frequency Medium problems first, then work through the Hard ones.
Start with the highest-frequency problems listed on this page. Focus on the core topics: array, sorting, two-pointers. Practice solving them under time pressure and explaining your approach out loud. Mock interviews with AI can simulate the real experience.
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