Final revision plan for Python interviews
45 min · Advanced
Need help? Ask a tutor on WhatsApp (opens in a new tab)The three mocks gave you scores. This lesson turns them into a seven-day plan, a checklist and a habit of logging each interview, so your preparation always aims at your weakest topics.
Turn mock scores into a plan
A revision plan is a day-by-day list of topics to practise, ordered by your weakest scores first, with a fixed time and a way to check each one.
After the three mocks you have scores. Do not reread everything. Sort topics by score, spend most time on the lowest ones, and test yourself aloud. Example 1 turns scores into an order with a few lines of Python.
Example 1 · Sort topics by weakest score
scores = { "mutability": 4, "sliding window": 2, "inheritance": 3, "joins and HAVING": 2, "transactions": 1, "properties": 4,}
order = sorted(scores, key=scores.get)for topic in order[:4]: print(topic, scores[topic])transactions 1 sliding window 2 joins and HAVING 2 inheritance 3
What this code does
sorted(scores, key=scores.get)orders topic names by their score, lowest first.- Ties keep their original order, so the result is the same every time.
- Four weakest topics get most of the week.
A plan you can follow beats a perfect plan you drop on day two. Two hours a day for seven days is enough.
The last seven days
Each day has one block of theory, one of coding and one spoken mock answer. Example 2 builds the seven-day table from the weak topics. Keep day 7 light: rest and a quick read of your notes.
Example 2 · Build the seven-day table
weak = ["transactions", "sliding window", "joins and HAVING", "inheritance"]fixed = ["full mock 1", "full mock 2"]
days = {}for number in range(1, 5): days[number] = weak[number - 1]days[5] = fixed[0]days[6] = fixed[1]days[7] = "rest and notes"
for number, task in days.items(): print(f"Day {number}: {task}")Day 1: transactions Day 2: sliding window Day 3: joins and HAVING Day 4: inheritance Day 5: full mock 1 Day 6: full mock 2 Day 7: rest and notes
What this code does
- Days 1 to 4 take one weak topic each. Days 5 and 6 repeat a full timed mock. Day 7 is rest.
- The same dictionary can be saved to a file and ticked off daily.
Always finish a day by saying the three answers you got wrong, aloud, in the model shape: definition, example, trap.
What to revise in each area
Basics: mutability, is and ==, default arguments, truthiness. Problems: set, dictionary, window, sorting and heap patterns. OOP: super, properties, class data, composition. SQL and projects: joins, HAVING, transactions, your own bugs. Example 3 is a checklist you can tick.
Example 3 · A checklist to tick
BASICS [ ] mutable vs immutable [ ] is vs == [ ] default argument trapPROBLEMS [ ] set / dict lookup [ ] sliding window [ ] sort + heapOOP [ ] super and override [ ] property [ ] compositionSQL [ ] join and LEFT JOIN [ ] GROUP BY HAVING [ ] transactionPROJECTS [ ] 60-second tour x2 [ ] one bug story [ ] one test list15 items. Unticked items go to the front of tomorrow.
What this code does
- Tick an item only after you explain it aloud in 30 seconds without notes.
- Fifteen items in seven days is about two per day.
Tick an item only when you can explain it without notes in 30 seconds.
Interview day and the first week after
Sleep, a working microphone or a printed copy of your resume, one project tour ready and two questions for the interviewer. Examples 4 and 5 give the day list and a short log for what each interview taught you.
Example 4 · Interview-day list
NIGHT BEFORE Read the checklist once. Sleep. No new topics.MORNING Charge laptop, test microphone, open an editor.FIRST 5 MIN Greet, 60-second intro, one project ready.DURING Clarify. Say the idea. Code. Test. Ask for the next step.END Ask two questions about the team. Thank the interviewer.Calm start, clear speaking, tested code, polite end.
What this code does
- New topics the night before cause panic; read only what you know.
- The same shape works for online and in-person rounds.
Example 5 · An interview log
from collections import Counter
log = [ ["mutable default", "window", "HAVING"], ["window", "transactions"], ["mutable default", "window"],]
counts = Counter(topic for round_topics in log for topic in round_topics)print(counts.most_common(2))[('window', 3), ('mutable default', 2)]What this code does
- The log lists topics that were asked or missed in each interview.
Counter.most_commonshows the repeated ones. These go first in the next plan.
After every interview, write down the questions you could not answer. They become the first items of your next plan.
What's next
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