Apple vs Cognizant Interview Questions
Apple lists 300 LeetCode interview questions while Cognizant lists 29. They share 20 problems — 7% of Apple's bank and 69% of Cognizant's. Focus on the overlap first, then drill into 280 Apple-only and 9 Cognizant-only questions.
Overview
Preparation Strategy
Step 1 — Shared core: Solve the 20 overlapping problems first. These are the highest-yield questions for candidates interviewing at both Apple and Cognizant.
Step 2 — Company-specific depth: Add Apple-specific problems like LRU Cache, Number of Islands, Merge Intervals and Cognizant-specific problems from the exclusive lists below.
Step 3 — Difficulty tuning: Apple skews harder in our data. Budget extra time for Hard problems if you are targeting that company.
Difficulty Comparison
Top Shared Topics
20 Shared Questions
High-priority problems to practice for both Apple and Cognizant.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Two Sum | Easy |
| Longest Common Prefix | Easy |
| Valid Parentheses | Easy |
| Longest Substring Without Repeating Characters | Medium |
| Maximum Subarray | Medium |
| Reverse Integer | Medium |
| Median of Two Sorted Arrays | Hard |
| Merge Two Sorted Lists | Easy |
| Move Zeroes | Easy |
| Merge Sorted Array | Easy |
| 3Sum | Medium |
| Remove Duplicates from Sorted Array | Easy |
| Longest Palindromic Substring | Medium |
| Fibonacci Number | Easy |
| Fizz Buzz | Easy |
| Add Two Numbers | Medium |
| Valid Anagram | Easy |
| Happy Number | Easy |
| Second Highest Salary | Medium |
| Count Primes | Medium |
Unique to Apple (280)
Problems in Apple's list that do not appear at Cognizant.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| LRU Cache | Medium |
| Number of Islands | Medium |
| Merge Intervals | Medium |
| Best Time to Buy and Sell Stock | Easy |
| Design Hit Counter | Medium |
| Rotate Array | Medium |
| Reverse Linked List | Easy |
| Valid Sudoku | Medium |
| Group Anagrams | Medium |
| Top K Frequent Elements | Medium |
| Course Schedule II | Medium |
| Course Schedule | Medium |
Unique to Cognizant (9)
Problems in Cognizant's list that do not appear at Apple.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many LeetCode questions do Apple and Cognizant share?
Apple and Cognizant share 20 LeetCode interview questions. 280 problems appear only in Apple's list and 9 appear only in Cognizant's list.
What topics overlap most between Apple and Cognizant?
The most common shared topics between Apple and Cognizant are Array (9 shared questions), String (6 shared questions), Math (6 shared questions), Two Pointers (6 shared questions), Hash Table (4 shared questions). Mastering these areas prepares you for both companies.
Which company asks harder LeetCode questions: Apple or Cognizant?
Apple has 76 Easy, 178 Medium, and 46 Hard questions. Cognizant has 18 Easy, 10 Medium, and 1 Hard questions. Apple has a higher proportion of Hard problems in its interview set.
How should I prepare if interviewing at both Apple and Cognizant?
Start with the 20 shared problems since they cover what both companies ask most often. Then add 20 Apple-specific and 9 Cognizant-specific questions to round out your prep.