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Blind 75 vs LeetCode patterns: Effective for DoorDash interviews

15 min read

Aug 27, 2025

content

Quick recap: Blind 75, DoorDash Top 75, and LeetCode patterns

Is Blind 75 enough to prepare for DoorDash interviews?

How LeetCode patterns give you an edge at DoorDash interviews

An overview of patterns for DoorDash interviews

The DoorDash prep roadmap with all patterns

Start with overlapping patterns

What makes DoorDash-only questions worth practicing?

Do the remaining Blind 75 questions still add value?

Is your DoorDash prep done?

Patterns recap

What’s left to meet the 420-point mark?

Summing it up

Recommended resources to level up your interview prep

Whether it’s a late-night snack, a family dinner, or a last-minute grocery run, DoorDash powers everyday decisions for millions. Behind every tap of “Place Order” lies a complex engineering challenge: which driver gets which delivery, how routes are optimized, and how the system balances speed, fairness, and cost at scale in real time.

The same complexity also shows up in DoorDash’s coding interviews. The problems test more than your ability to write correct code. They push you to optimize, reason about trade-offs, and adapt when a straightforward solution isn’t enough. A solution that works for five deliveries should also work for five million.

So, how should you prepare for such a complex interview? Many candidates turn to Blind 75, a structured list of essential problems, while others focus on mastering LeetCode’s 28 coding patterns, which build adaptability. But which approach better equips you for optimization-heavy, real-world problems like those DoorDash engineers solve daily?

Grokking the Coding Interview Patterns

Grokking the Coding Interview Patterns

With thousands of potential questions to account for, preparing for the coding interview can feel like an impossible challenge. Yet with a strategic approach, coding interview prep doesn’t have to take more than a few weeks. Stop drilling endless sets of practice problems, and prepare more efficiently by learning coding interview patterns. This course teaches you the underlying patterns behind common coding interview questions. By learning these essential patterns, you will be able to unpack and answer any problem the right way — just by assessing the problem statement. This approach was created by FAANG hiring managers to help you prepare for the typical rounds of interviews at major tech companies like Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon. Before long, you will have the skills you need to unlock even the most challenging questions, grok the coding interview, and level up your career with confidence. This course is also available in JavaScript, Python, Go, and C++ — with more coming soon!

85hrs

Intermediate

414 Challenges

415 Quizzes

In this blog, I’ll compare Blind 75 and DoorDash Top 75 against the 28 LeetCode patterns from the Grokking the Coding Interview Patterns course. More importantly, I’ll show you how to go beyond checklists and build a prep strategy that trains you to think like a DoorDash engineer, balancing efficiency, scalability, and adaptability.

Blind 75 is one of the most well-known interview prep lists. It covers 75 carefully chosen LeetCode problems across core topics like arrays, strings, linked lists, binary trees, graphs, and dynamic programming. Its popularity comes from being concise and focused, giving candidates a clear starting point for building strong fundamentals.

DoorDash Top 75 is more tailored. It highlights the problems that have been most frequently reported in recent DoorDash interviews. This list is especially useful because it reflects current trends and challenges that DoorDash engineers will likely face in real interviews, from algorithmic design to optimization under constraints.

LeetCode patterns are built around 28 recurring techniques that cut across almost every type of coding problem. Mastering these patterns, like sliding window, heaps, or backtracking, trains you to recognize the structure of a problem and apply the right technique even when the question looks new.

Blind 75 was originally created as a compact prep resource aimed at top tech companies like Meta, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google. It focuses on the types of problems those companies have historically asked in the past. So, the question is whether it prepares you for a newer player like DoorDash, which operates in a different space.

DoorDash interviews lean more toward medium and hard coding problems, reflecting the complex real-world challenges of its platform. These problems might not line up neatly with the structure of Blind 75. Additionally, new companies like DoorDash are quick to introduce fresh variations of problems, making it harder to rely on a fixed set. With AI and awareness of prep trends, generating new twists is easier than ever.

This means that practicing Blind 75 alone can give you a solid foundation, but it won’t necessarily prepare you for the unpredictability and complexity of DoorDash interviews.

How LeetCode patterns give you an edge at DoorDash interviews#

To be fully ready for DoorDash interviews, you’ll need to go beyond the static list and strengthen your ability to identify and apply problem-solving patterns across new and evolving scenarios.

By practicing the 28 core coding patterns, you learn to break down problems, explain your reasoning, and adjust when the interviewer adds a new constraint. Whether it’s a graph problem disguised as a delivery network or a heap problem framed as scheduling drivers, recognizing the underlying pattern lets you stay in control.

In short, a pattern-first mindset prepares you to solve the question and show the analytical and scalable thinking that DoorDash values.

An overview of patterns for DoorDash interviews#

As there are 28 coding patterns in total, looking at all of them at once can feel overwhelming. To make things clearer, I’ve organized them into four categories based on how often and strongly they appear in DoorDash interviews.

Must-know patterns: These are the foundations you’ll see again and again in DoorDash questions. Getting comfortable here means you can spend less energy on basics and more on thinking about efficiency, scaling, and edge cases.
Very common patterns: They’re not guaranteed in every round, but frequent enough that you’ll want to be fluent in them. Strong prep here helps you stay confident across different loops.
Situational patterns: These appear in specific contexts, or tricky follow-ups. Even light practice with them helps you handle curveballs without losing momentum.
Finishing-line helpers: These are less frequent, but valuable for advanced rounds or optimization-heavy questions. Knowing these gives you that final polish and helps you stand out when the problems go deeper.

Even though some patterns appear more often in DoorDash interviews, stopping there leaves gaps. Covering all 28 gives you confidence that no matter how the question is framed, you’ll have the right tools ready.

The DoorDash prep roadmap with all patterns#

Preparing for DoorDash interviews is about efficiency and focus. With so many possible questions, the smartest way forward is to ensure you get the widest pattern coverage without wasting time. Here’s a step-by-step strategy I recommend:

1. Start with the overlap: Begin with the problems and patterns that appear in both Blind 75 and DoorDash Top 75. This gives you a foundation in topics DoorDash values, while also strengthening the core CS basics you’re likely to face anywhere.

2. Add DoorDash-exclusive problems: Next, work through the DoorDash-only questions. These are the problems that make DoorDash’s interview loop distinct. Tackling them ensures you’re ready for the specific twists and challenges DoorDash engineers like to test, especially in logistics-focused scenarios.

3. Complete the remaining Blind 75: Then, return to the Blind 75 questions that weren’t part of the overlap. This rounds out your prep and helps you solidify general fundamentals. While not DoorDash-specific, they ensure you don’t leave gaps in the basics that still show up in interviews.

4. Fill the pattern gaps: Finally, check which of the 28 patterns you still haven’t covered. This step makes sure you’re not blindsided by an unusual question and can adapt no matter how it’s framed.

To make your DoorDash prep even more structured and measurable, set a clear goal for every pattern. The idea isn’t just to check off problems but to go deep: solve at least one easy, two medium, and one hard. That way, you build comfort across all difficulty levels. Remember the scoring method I introduced earlier in the series: 1 point for the easy problem, 4 points each for the medium problems, and 6 points for the hard problem, giving you 15 points per pattern. If you extend this to all 28 patterns, your target score becomes 420. Hitting that number means you’ve covered the full range of problem types and can walk into your DoorDash interview with real confidence.

This layered approach keeps your prep structured, practical, and complete. By the time you’re done, you’ll have both depth and breadth: depth in the patterns DoorDash emphasizes, and breadth across all 28 patterns so you’re ready for surprises.

Blind 75 (Problem Name)	DoorDash 75 (Problem Name)
Two Sum	Two Sum
Number of Islands	Number of Islands
Group Anagrams	Group Anagrams
Top K Frequent Elements	Top K Frequent Elements
Jump Game	Jump Game
Binary Tree Maximum Path Sum	Binary Tree Maximum Path Sum
Serialize and Deserialize Binary Tree	Serialize and Deserialize Binary Tree
Word Search II	Word Search II
Implement Trie (Prefix Tree)	Implement Trie (Prefix Tree)
Longest Common Subsequence	Longest Common Subsequence
Design Add and Search Words Data Structure	Design Add and Search Words Data Structure
Best Time to Buy and Sell Stock	Walls and Gates
Merge Intervals	Longest Increasing Path in a Matrix
Valid Parentheses	Maximum Profit in Job Scheduling
Longest Substring Without Repeating Characters	Koko Eating Bananas
Longest Palindromic Substring	Most Profit Assigning Work
Meeting Rooms II	Check if One String Swap Can Make Strings Equal
3Sum	Search Suggestions System
Merge k Sorted Lists	Minimum Number of Steps to Make Two Strings Anagram
Container With Most Water	Find K Closest Elements
Spiral Matrix	Design File System
Maximum Subarray	Buddy Strings
Climbing Stairs	Single-Threaded CPU
Rotate Image	Next Greater Element III
Longest Consecutive Sequence	Find Nearest Point That Has the Same X or Y Coordinate
Alien Dictionary	Count Sub Islands
Merge Two Sorted Lists	Asteroid Collision
Valid Palindrome	Making A Large Island
Course Schedule	Shortest Distance from All Buildings
Minimum Window Substring	Best Meeting Point
Find Median from Data Stream	Vertical Order Traversal of a Binary Tree
Word Search	Count Nodes With the Highest Score
Search in Rotated Sorted Array	Course Schedule II
Coin Change	Basic Calculator III
Valid Anagram	Basic Calculator II
Product of Array Except Self	Task Scheduler
Palindromic Substrings	Basic Calculator
House Robber	Next Permutation
Set Matrix Zeroes	Number of Visible People in a Queue
Word Break	Jump Game II
Contains Duplicate	Largest Rectangle in Histogram
Reverse Linked List	01 Matrix
Longest Repeating Character Replacement	Design In-Memory File System
Longest Increasing Subsequence	Max Area of Island
Combination Sum	Swim in Rising Water
Clone Graph	Count All Valid Pickup and Delivery Options
Remove Nth Node From End of List	Sudoku Solver
Reorder List	Maximum Gap
Unique Paths	Minimize Malware Spread
Maximum Product Subarray	Shortest Path to Get Food
Missing Number	Sliding Window Maximum
Sum of Two Integers	Capacity To Ship Packages Within D Days
Decode Ways	Ways to Make a Fair Array
Linked List Cycle	Valid Sudoku
Lowest Common Ancestor of a Binary Search Tree	Path Sum II
Number of Connected Components in an Undirected Graph	LRU Cache
House Robber II	Minimum Size Subarray Sum
Binary Tree Level Order Traversal	Find the Celebrity
Non-overlapping Intervals	Binary Tree Vertical Order Traversal
Meeting Rooms	LFU Cache
Pacific Atlantic Water Flow	Number of Provinces
Maximum Depth of Binary Tree	Employee Free Time
Encode and Decode Strings	Interval List Intersections
Find Minimum in Rotated Sorted Array	Brace Expansion
Kth Smallest Element in a BST	Analyze User Website Visit Pattern
Validate Binary Search Tree	Number of Closed Islands
Insert Interval	Maximum Performance of a Team
Same Tree	Design Browser History
Construct Binary Tree from Preorder and Inorder Traversal	Diameter of N-Ary Tree
Invert Binary Tree	Maximum Path Quality of a Graph
Reverse Bits	Task Scheduler II
Graph Valid Tree	Subsequence With the Minimum Score
Counting Bits	Mice and Cheese
Number of 1 Bits	Sliding Window Median
Subtree of Another Tree	4Sum

Out of the 75 problems in the DoorDash Top 75, only 11 overlap with Blind 75. That’s about 15%, which suggests that Blind 75 doesn’t map directly to DoorDash’s current priorities. But that’s not necessarily a drawback. In fact, it shows that your next focus should be on the DoorDash Top 75.

Now that we know how much overlap exists, let’s look at what this overlap actually gives us. By checking the 11 shared problems against our 1-2-1 rubric and scoring method, we can see which patterns are introduced and how well they’re covered. This way, you’re not just aware of the common ground between Blind 75 and DoorDash Top 75 but also know exactly how much progress it makes toward full pattern readiness.

In the bar chart below, each bar represents a pattern. The length of the bar shows what percent of the full 15 points you’ve earned for that pattern, while the label highlights how many easy, medium, and hard problems went into that score.

The bar chart above shows that you’ve already unlocked 7 out of the 28 total coding patterns, which is about 25% of the full set. That’s a solid start because each new pattern you get exposed to is a building block for handling the wide variety of questions DoorDash interviewers may throw at you. You get to cover an important pattern, Trie, in meaningful depth. At the same time, a few other patterns are still at an early stage, often represented by just a single problem. By adding more questions using the 1-2-1 rubric, you can strengthen your coverage and build confidence across these patterns as well.

What makes DoorDash-only questions worth practicing?#

DoorDash-exclusive problems expose you to questions and patterns that are unique to the company. These reflect the kinds of challenges you’re most likely to face in the interview room. Before moving on to any other patterns, it’s best to prioritize these first. Doing so ensures coverage of DoorDash’s core focus areas and builds the confidence that you can handle the company’s unique twist on classic coding questions.

Let’s find out what new patterns get added when you work through the DoorDash set.

The list above shows that you get introduced to 15 new patterns. It’s a huge step forward. This brings your total coverage to 22 out of 28 patterns so far (about 79%). Reaching this milestone means you’ve already built familiarity with most of the core problem-solving strategies that can come up in a DoorDash interview, which is a strong position to be in before the final stretch.

Now, let’s see how well these DoorDash-specific patterns meet the coverage criteria set by my rubric. The bar chart below highlights the newly covered patterns in green on the y-axis.

The chart above shows strong progress. Several patterns, such as Dynamic Programming, Graphs, Stacks, Two Pointers, and Union Find, are nearly rubric-complete, with more than 90% coverage. This means you already have a strong grip on many of the core techniques that appear frequently in DoorDash interviews.

Other patterns fall into the 60–89% range, which is a healthy middle ground. These categories usually just need one or two additional problems to bring them up to the full rubric target. Even the underrepresented patterns still contribute value since being introduced to them ensures you won’t be caught off guard if they show up.

In terms of problem count, a large portion of the medium and hard problems have been touched, which aligns well with the style of DoorDash interviews. What remains now is to supplement lightly across a few gaps and raise the coverage in patterns where you already have a start. This is encouraging progress, as every new pattern you’ve practiced adds another layer of adaptability to your prep.

Do the remaining Blind 75 questions still add value?#

These questions help you round out your coverage by introducing patterns that may not have shown up in the overlap or DoorDash-exclusive sets. Every new pattern you unlock reduces the chance of being caught off guard in the interview. This set also strengthens your core Computer Science fundamentals.

Let’s see what patterns we cover by practicing the Blind 75 only questions:

The chart above shows a strong boost in pattern coverage. Several key patterns, including Two Pointers, Merge Intervals, Dynamic Programming, Stacks, DFS, and BFS, now reach 100% coverage under the rubric.

Other important patterns, such as Sliding Window, Backtracking, Topological Sort, Matrices, Graphs, and Union Find, are very close behind. They are sitting at 93% completion, just a single problem away from being fully rounded.

Meanwhile, patterns such as Heaps, Greedy Techniques, and Knowing What to Track fall into the 60–67% range, giving you good exposure, but still leaving room to top them off. A few patterns, including Modified Binary Search, K-way Merge, In-place Linked List Manipulation, Fast and Slow Pointers, and Cyclic Sort, remain below 60% and need your attention.

Even so, the fact that you’ve touched all of these means you’re now familiar with 27 out of 28 patterns, which is an excellent milestone in your DoorDash prep.

Is your DoorDash prep done?#

After practicing all the previous sets of questions, it’s crucial to pause and check if you’ve truly covered all the patterns or if there’s anything still missing. DoorDash interviews are known for weaving in a variety of problem types, so even leaving out one or two patterns can create gaps in your prep.

Now, let’s take a look at the bar chart below. It gives you a clear snapshot of how well you have covered the 28 patterns in your DoorDash prep so far and highlights the ones that still need more attention.

Overall, you’ve built a wide and deep problem-solving base. With just this remaining pattern, you can push your preparation to true 100% coverage and be ready for whatever twist comes your way in DoorDash interviews.

Patterns recap#

By practicing the overlap of Blind 75 and DoorDash 75, you covered about 25% of the patterns. Adding the DoorDash-only problems made the biggest jump, introducing over half of the total patterns (53.6%), which reflects the company’s unique problem style. The Blind-only problems contributed another 17.9%, filling in several more key techniques. Finally, just a small fraction, 3.6% of patterns, remain uncovered, showing how close you are to complete coverage. By practicing problems for the uncovered pattern, Subsets, you can easily reach 100% of your DoorDash prep.

The graph above shows that you are just 130 points away from the ideal target. To close this gap, focus on:

Patterns that are partially covered and can be deepened with a mix of easy, medium, and hard problems according to the rubric.
Practice for the uncovered patterns, as these can add unique value and ensure you are fully prepared.

By steadily filling in these areas, you will not only close the point gap but also achieve well-rounded preparation across all 28 patterns.

Summing it up#

Preparing for DoorDash interviews is not just about solving problems. It is about proving that you can think critically, adapt under pressure, and balance trade-offs the way real DoorDash engineers do every day. By starting with overlapping problems, mastering DoorDash-specific questions, and then rounding out your prep with the remaining Blind 75, you make sure no important pattern is left behind.

The key takeaway is that patterns, not just problem lists, that prepare you for surprises in the interview room. By hitting the 1-2-1 rubric across all 28 patterns, you position yourself to face any variation or follow-up with confidence. This structured approach turns your prep from a checklist into a strategy that mirrors how DoorDash solves real-world engineering challenges.

When you walk into your interview, you’ll not just have solved problems. You will have built a problem-solving toolkit that shows you can scale, optimize, and adapt. And that is exactly what will set you apart at DoorDash. Good luck!

Recommended resources to level up your interview prep#

While this blog gives you a data-driven way to measure and close your prep gaps, the right learning tools can further accelerate your progress. Here are two highly effective resources to complement your study plan:

Educative’s personalized interview prep: It’s your tailored prep companion that adapts to your skill level, and focuses on the 28 essential LeetCode patterns we’ve been discussing. You can work on the patterns that need the most attention, track progress with clear metrics, and know exactly what to tackle next. Whether it’s adding an easy problem to build confidence or a hard one to push for mastery, you’ll always be working on the right problems at the right time.
Educative’s mock interviews: Practicing is not just about solving problems. It is also about handling real interview pressure. Educative’s AI mock interviews let you simulate actual interview conditions, get actionable feedback, and improve in areas like problem-solving speed. This way, you are not only technically prepared but also confident and ready to perform under time constraints.

Written By:

Fahim ul Haq