Cisco vs Databricks Interview Questions
Cisco lists 87 LeetCode interview questions while Databricks lists 31. They share 5 problems — 6% of Cisco's bank and 16% of Databricks's. Focus on the overlap first, then drill into 82 Cisco-only and 26 Databricks-only questions.
Overview
Preparation Strategy
Step 1 — Shared core: Solve the 5 overlapping problems first. These are the highest-yield questions for candidates interviewing at both Cisco and Databricks.
Step 2 — Company-specific depth: Add Cisco-specific problems like Longest Palindromic Substring, Predict the Winner, Lucky Numbers in a Matrix and Databricks-specific problems from the exclusive lists below.
Step 3 — Difficulty tuning: Databricks skews harder in our data. Budget extra time for Hard problems if you are targeting that company.
Difficulty Comparison
Top Shared Topics
5 Shared Questions
High-priority problems to practice for both Cisco and Databricks.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| House Robber | Medium |
| Spiral Matrix | Medium |
| Merge Intervals | Medium |
| Two Sum | Easy |
| Permutation in String | Medium |
Unique to Cisco (82)
Problems in Cisco's list that do not appear at Databricks.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Longest Palindromic Substring | Medium |
| Predict the Winner | Medium |
| Lucky Numbers in a Matrix | Easy |
| Rotate Image | Medium |
| Fizz Buzz | Easy |
| LRU Cache | Medium |
| Snakes and Ladders | Medium |
| Number of Valid Words in a Sentence | Easy |
| Maximum Difference Between Increasing Elements | Easy |
| Find Third Transaction | Medium |
| Implement Router | Medium |
| Word Search II | Hard |
Unique to Databricks (26)
Problems in Databricks's list that do not appear at Cisco.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Design Hit Counter | Medium |
| IP to CIDR | Medium |
| Design Tic-Tac-Toe | Medium |
| Find All Anagrams in a String | Medium |
| Step-By-Step Directions From a Binary Tree Node to Another | Medium |
| Time Based Key-Value Store | Medium |
| House Robber II | Medium |
| RLE Iterator | Medium |
| Longest Palindrome by Concatenating Two Letter Words | Medium |
| Closest Leaf in a Binary Tree | Medium |
| Shortest Path in a Grid with Obstacles Elimination | Hard |
| Number of Recent Calls | Easy |
Frequently Asked Questions
How many LeetCode questions do Cisco and Databricks share?
Cisco and Databricks share 5 LeetCode interview questions. 82 problems appear only in Cisco's list and 26 appear only in Databricks's list.
What topics overlap most between Cisco and Databricks?
The most common shared topics between Cisco and Databricks are Array (4 shared questions), Hash Table (2 shared questions), Dynamic Programming (1 shared questions), Matrix (1 shared questions), Simulation (1 shared questions). Mastering these areas prepares you for both companies.
Which company asks harder LeetCode questions: Cisco or Databricks?
Cisco has 24 Easy, 50 Medium, and 13 Hard questions. Databricks has 2 Easy, 22 Medium, and 7 Hard questions. Databricks has a higher proportion of Hard problems in its interview set.
How should I prepare if interviewing at both Cisco and Databricks?
Start with the 5 shared problems since they cover what both companies ask most often. Then add 20 Cisco-specific and 20 Databricks-specific questions to round out your prep.