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105+ D. E. Shaw questions

D. E. Shaw interview questions and how to prepare

The questions candidates report from D. E. Shaw interviews, sorted by how often they come up, with difficulty and topics, plus original practice written in D. E. Shaw's interview style.

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ZorixOS tracks 105 community-reported D. E. Shaw interview questions, drawn from an open-source dataset of real interview reports and sorted by how frequently each one comes up. Every question links to its source. Alongside them are 78 original ZorixOS practice questions written in D. E. Shaw's known interview style (not claimed as asked at D. E. Shaw), so you can rehearse the real format. Practice any of them out loud in a free AI mock interview tuned to D. E. Shaw.

Updated July 2026

D. E. Shaw interview questions candidates report

Community-reported from real D. E. Shaw interviews (open-source dataset), most-asked first. Showing 60 of 105. Each links to its source.

  1. Binary Tree Cameras
    Dynamic ProgrammingTreeDepth-First SearchBinary Tree
    Hard100% asked
  2. Furthest Building You Can Reach
    ArrayGreedyHeap (Priority Queue)
    Medium100% asked
  3. Remove Duplicate Letters
    StringStackGreedyMonotonic Stack
    Medium89% asked
  4. Reorganize String
    Hash TableStringGreedySorting
    Medium89% asked
  5. Find Minimum Cost to Remove Array Elements
    ArrayDynamic Programming
    Medium87% asked
  6. Maximum Number of Subsequences After One Inserting
    StringDynamic ProgrammingGreedyPrefix Sum
    Medium83% asked
  7. Minimum Number of Taps to Open to Water a Garden
    ArrayDynamic ProgrammingGreedy
    Hard80% asked
  8. Maximum Points After Collecting Coins From All Nodes
    ArrayDynamic ProgrammingBit ManipulationTree
    Hard79% asked
  9. Maximum Subsequence Score
    ArrayGreedySortingHeap (Priority Queue)
    Medium79% asked
  10. Minimum Size Subarray in Infinite Array
    ArrayHash TableSliding WindowPrefix Sum
    Medium79% asked
  11. Maximum Points Tourist Can Earn
    ArrayDynamic ProgrammingMatrix
    Medium78% asked
  12. Find Peak Calling Hours for Each City
    Database
    Medium76% asked
  13. Minimize Connected Groups by Inserting Interval
    ArrayBinary SearchSliding WindowSorting
    Medium76% asked
  14. Minimum Runes to Add to Cast Spell
    ArrayDepth-First SearchBreadth-First SearchGraph Theory
    Hard76% asked
  15. Max Number of K-Sum Pairs
    ArrayHash TableTwo PointersSorting
    Medium75% asked
  16. Number of Subarrays With AND Value of K
    ArrayBinary SearchBit ManipulationSegment Tree
    Hard75% asked
  17. Relative Sort Array
    ArrayHash TableSortingCounting Sort
    Easy75% asked
  18. Sum Game
    MathStringGreedyGame Theory
    Medium75% asked
  19. Count the Number of Incremovable Subarrays II
    ArrayTwo PointersBinary Search
    Hard73% asked
  20. Letter Combinations of a Phone Number
    Hash TableStringBacktracking
    Medium73% asked
  21. Determine the Winner of a Bowling Game
    ArraySimulation
    Easy73% asked
  22. Equal Row and Column Pairs
    ArrayHash TableMatrixSimulation
    Medium73% asked
  23. Find the Maximum Divisibility Score
    Array
    Easy73% asked
  24. Find the Sum of the Power of All Subsequences
    ArrayDynamic Programming
    Hard73% asked
  25. Greatest Sum Divisible by Three
    ArrayDynamic ProgrammingGreedySorting
    Medium73% asked
  26. Maximum Deletions on a String
    StringDynamic ProgrammingRolling HashString Matching
    Hard73% asked
  27. Maximum Strength of K Disjoint Subarrays
    ArrayDynamic ProgrammingPrefix Sum
    Hard73% asked
  28. Median of a Row Wise Sorted Matrix
    ArrayBinary SearchMatrix
    Medium73% asked
  29. Minimum Cost Walk in Weighted Graph
    ArrayBit ManipulationUnion-FindGraph Theory
    Hard73% asked
  30. Minimum Deletions to Make String K-Special
    Hash TableStringGreedySorting
    Medium73% asked
  31. Number of Substrings Containing All Three Characters
    Hash TableStringSliding Window
    Medium73% asked
  32. Query Kth Smallest Trimmed Number
    ArrayStringDivide and ConquerSorting
    Medium73% asked
  33. Removing Minimum Number of Magic Beans
    ArrayGreedySortingEnumeration
    Medium73% asked
  34. Shortest String That Contains Three Strings
    StringGreedyEnumeration
    Medium73% asked
  35. Take Gifts From the Richest Pile
    ArrayHeap (Priority Queue)Simulation
    Easy73% asked
  36. Trapping Rain Water
    ArrayTwo PointersDynamic ProgrammingStack
    Hard64% asked
  37. House Robber
    ArrayDynamic Programming
    Medium60% asked
  38. K-th Smallest in Lexicographical Order
    Trie
    Hard60% asked
  39. Majority Element
    ArrayHash TableDivide and ConquerSorting
    Easy60% asked
  40. Minimum Number of Refueling Stops
    ArrayDynamic ProgrammingGreedyHeap (Priority Queue)
    Hard60% asked
  41. Using a Robot to Print the Lexicographically Smallest String
    Hash TableStringStackGreedy
    Medium60% asked
  42. Valid Parentheses
    StringStack
    Easy60% asked
  43. Insert Delete GetRandom O(1)
    ArrayHash TableMathDesign
    Medium58% asked
  44. Koko Eating Bananas
    ArrayBinary Search
    Medium56% asked
  45. Kth Smallest Number in Multiplication Table
    MathBinary Search
    Hard56% asked
  46. Longest String Chain
    ArrayHash TableTwo PointersString
    Medium56% asked
  47. Rotting Oranges
    ArrayBreadth-First SearchMatrix
    Medium56% asked
  48. Sliding Window Maximum
    ArrayQueueSliding WindowHeap (Priority Queue)
    Hard56% asked
  49. Maximum Product Subarray
    ArrayDynamic Programming
    Medium53% asked
  50. Asteroid Collision
    ArrayStackSimulation
    Medium49% asked
  51. Average Waiting Time
    ArraySimulation
    Medium49% asked
  52. Coin Change II
    ArrayDynamic Programming
    Medium49% asked
  53. Consecutive Numbers Sum
    MathEnumeration
    Hard49% asked
  54. Excel Sheet Column Title
    MathString
    Easy49% asked
  55. Find the Smallest Divisor Given a Threshold
    ArrayBinary Search
    Medium49% asked
  56. Find Triangular Sum of an Array
    ArrayMathSimulationCombinatorics
    Medium49% asked
  57. Heaters
    ArrayTwo PointersBinary SearchSorting
    Medium49% asked
  58. Implement Rand10() Using Rand7()
    MathRejection SamplingRandomizedProbability and Statistics
    Medium49% asked
  59. Longest Consecutive Sequence
    ArrayHash TableUnion-Find
    Medium49% asked
  60. LRU Cache
    Hash TableLinked ListDesignDoubly-Linked List
    Medium49% asked

These are the 60 most-reported of 105 tracked D. E. Shaw questions. Create a free account to drill the full set with solutions and an AI interviewer.

Practice questions in D. E. Shaw's style

Original ZorixOS questions written the way D. E. Shaw interviews, so you rehearse the real format. Not claimed as asked at D. E. Shaw.

  1. Imagine D. E. Shaw's high-frequency trading (HFT) platform is experiencing intermittent latency spikes affecting trade execution times. Describe your systematic approach to diagnosing the root cause, considering potential bottlenecks in network, hardware, or software components.

    Software EngineerDebugging & PerformanceTests: Evaluates candidate's systematic debugging methodology for complex, real-time systems and their understanding of HFT infrastructure challenges.

  2. Design a distributed caching system for D. E. Shaw's order management system (OMS). The system must handle millions of concurrent requests, ensure low latency, and maintain data consistency across replicas. Discuss trade-offs between different caching strategies (e.g., write-through, write-back).

    Software EngineerSystem DesignTests: Assesses the candidate's ability to design scalable, fault-tolerant distributed systems with a focus on low-latency requirements relevant to trading.

  3. Given D. E. Shaw's proprietary trading strategies, how would you design a system to detect and mitigate 'rogue trading' activities (e.g., accidental fat-finger trades, unauthorized trading) in real-time before they cause significant financial loss? Consider the data sources and algorithms you might employ.

    Software EngineerSystem Design & SecurityTests: Tests understanding of building robust systems for financial risk management and real-time anomaly detection in a high-stakes environment.

  4. You are tasked with building a new microservice for D. E. Shaw's research division that processes and analyzes vast datasets of market data. Outline the key architectural considerations, including data ingestion, processing, storage, and API design, ensuring scalability and fault tolerance.

    Software EngineerSystem DesignTests: Measures the candidate's ability to design modular, scalable, and resilient microservices for data-intensive applications.

  5. Consider D. E. Shaw's quantitative research platform. How would you implement a system for version control and parallel execution of research models, ensuring reproducibility and efficient resource utilization across a large team of researchers?

    Software EngineerSoftware Architecture & ToolingTests: Probes the candidate's knowledge of software development best practices and tooling for collaborative scientific computing environments.

  6. Write a SQL query to find the top 5 most profitable trading strategies for D. E. Shaw in the last quarter, considering trades executed on equities and futures, and accounting for commission costs. Assume tables `trades` (trade_id, symbol, type, quantity, price, timestamp, strategy_id) and `strategies` (strategy_id, name, commission_rate).

    Data ScientistSQL & Trading AnalyticsTests: Evaluates SQL proficiency and ability to perform financial data analysis, calculating profitability.

72+ more D. E. Shaw-style questions are in the free library, each practiceable live with adaptive follow-ups and an honest scorecard. Start free.

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D. E. Shaw Interview Questions (2026) | ZorixOS