NeetCode 150 vs. LeetCode patterns: Which is effective for Uber?

An Uber system juggles countless moving parts. A rider in Manhattan changes their destination. A driver in Lagos gets stuck in traffic. Surge pricing in Tokyo adjusts to a sudden downpour. Each event seems small, but together they stress the system. Even a slight delay can ripple across millions of rides happening at once.

Preparing for these roles takes more than just grinding random problems. You don’t need to reinvent your study plan, but the number of LeetCode questions can feel overwhelming. Should you follow a curated path like NeetCode 150, or focus on LeetCode Patterns that help you generalize solutions across problems?

In this blog, I will compare NeetCode 150 and Uber’s top 150 questions against the 28 LeetCode Patterns from Grokking the Coding Interview. We’ll examine how each approach aligns with Uber’s interview expectations and outline a smart Uber-focused roadmap to structure your coding interview prep.

A sneak peek at what really works for Uber interviews#

If you’re preparing for Uber, you’ve probably already seen dozens of opinions on what works best. But how do you measure which claim carries more weight? To clarify, I use a scoring rubric introduced in the first blog, NeetCode 150 vs. LeetCode patterns, of this series. It helps measure the real impact of each approach on overall preparation. Let’s briefly revisit the 1–2–1 rubric that guides this analysis.

To adequately cover a pattern, you solve 1 easy problem (1 point), 2 medium problems (4 points each), and 1 hard problem (6 points) for a total of 15 points. With 28 patterns, the benchmark comes to 420 points.

Let’s see how NeetCode 150 and Uber top 150 stack up against this benchmark.

While the numbers give us a snapshot, they don’t tell the whole story. You might wonder which specific problems and patterns contribute to these scores and, more importantly, which Uber-focused roadmap comes out on top.

That is exactly what we’ll explore in this blog. We will go beyond the numbers to see how key patterns grow stronger, where the gaps remain, and how to structure your preparation so you can walk into an Uber coding interview fully prepared.

Quick recap: NeetCode 150, Uber top 150, and LeetCode patterns#

NeetCode 150 is one of the most popular curated lists of coding interview problems. It covers a wide range of core topics, such as arrays, strings, trees, graphs, and dynamic programming, and has become a go-to roadmap for candidates who want a structured yet manageable starting point.

Uber’s top 150 contains the problems most commonly associated with Uber’s coding interviews. It reflects the company’s emphasis on certain topics. Practicing this set gives you a closer look at the kind of problem variations Uber engineers are often tested on.

LeetCode patterns are the underlying strategies of many coding problems. Instead of focusing on specific problem statements, they group questions by recurring structures such as sliding windows, two-pointers, backtracking, or dynamic programming.

Does NeetCode 150 alone prepare you for Uber coding interviews?#

The direct answer is no. While NeetCode 150 helps you cover the fundamentals, it might not capture the variations or specificities of Uber coding interviews.

Given the company’s focus on real-time logistics, scale, and distributed systems, interviewers might pose problems with a unique variation that requires you to consider concurrency, real-world constraints, and system design. For example, a problem might not just be about sorting an array but also sorting data continuously streamed from millions of devices or optimizing a graph traversal for a massive, constantly changing road network.

The other challenge is that practicing only a fixed list of problems trains recall more than adaptability. You may grow comfortable solving familiar question types, but still stumble when faced with an unfamiliar variation, even when the underlying problem is essentially the same.

Why do LeetCode Patterns matter for Uber coding interviews?#

LeetCode patterns are crucial for Uber interviews because they train you to recognize the underlying structure of a problem rather than rely on memorized solutions. Uber’s questions often test how quickly you can identify the nature of a challenge, adapt to constraints, and apply the right strategy.

By focusing on patterns, you learn to look past surface details. Even if the interviewer introduces an unfamiliar variation, such as optimizing a path in a dynamic road network or balancing load across distributed processes, you can fall back on the same core strategies.

Patterns also help you perform under time pressure. Instead of pausing when a problem looks unfamiliar, you can quickly classify it and recall the right framework to approach it. This ability to map a new question to a known pattern often makes the difference between getting stuck and moving forward confidently.

Overview of 28 patterns for Uber coding interviews#

The full list of 28 LeetCode patterns can feel overwhelming at first. To make Uber-focused preparation easier, I’ve grouped them into four categories:

• Must-know patterns: These are the basics that appear most often and set the baseline for your Uber prep.

• High-value patterns: These appear often enough that practicing them gives you extra depth and confidence.

• Solid but situational patterns: These patterns appear less frequently, but are useful to know so you can deal with them confidently if asked.

• Finishing-line helpers: These patterns are rare in interviews, but worth covering so nothing feels completely new.

Uber interviews may emphasize some patterns more than others, but complete preparation means covering all 28. This lowers the risk of surprises.

The Uber-focused prep roadmap with 28 LeetCode patterns#

Preparing for Uber interviews is not about grinding through endless problems. A better way is to build your prep step by step, where each stage expands your coverage and prepares you for the next challenge. Here is a roadmap connecting NeetCode 150, Uber’s problem set, and the 28 coding patterns.

1. Start with the NeetCode-Uber overlap: These problems give you an immediate head start. They cover many common topics and align closely with the questions you are likely to face at Uber.

2. Add the Uber-only set: This is where you get exposure to Uber’s specific problems. They often reflect logistics, routing, and scalability challenges, which set Uber apart from many other companies.

3. Work through the rest of NeetCode 150: Completing the remaining questions ensures your preparation has breadth. This way, you are not overly focused on Uber-only problems but also ready for the fundamentals that any top tech interview expects.

4. Fill in the missing patterns: Look across all 28 patterns and ensure no gaps. Ensuring all 28 patterns are covered reduces the risk of being surprised by an unusual problem.

Use the 1–2–1 rubric throughout this roadmap to track your coverage. It helps you balance easy, medium, and hard problems and ensures your preparation is well-rounded.

The NeetCode-Uber overlap#

Beginning with the NeetCode-Uber overlap gives you the best return on effort. These problems align with Uber’s style while covering many fundamentals every candidate must know. It ensures your first hours of practice are spent on problems that matter the most.

Let’s compare NeetCode 150 and Uber top 150 side by side to see which problems overlap.

The list above shows that 68 out of 150 problems (about 45%) overlap. This is a strong start because it means nearly half of your Uber prep can be covered while investing effort in problems that also count toward MAANG prep.

Now let’s see what patterns these overlapping problems cover and how well they measure against the 1–2–1 rubric and scores. 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.

Note: I have only considered the counts that satisfy our 1–2–1 rubric for this calculation. If a pattern has more questions than the rubric requires, I count only 1 easy, 2 medium, and 1 hard problem. For example, if Dynamic Programming has 10 medium questions, I have included just 2 in this calculation.

The chart above shows that the overlapping questions from NeetCode 150 and Uber top 150 introduce 24 out of 28 patterns (about 86%). 6 patterns already reach the green, i.e., are well covered, including core ones like Two Pointers, Dynamic Programming, and Modified Binary Search. 

Several other patterns are still underrepresented, but with the 1–2–1 rubric, these gaps are easy to track and address later.

Next: Practice Uber-only problems#

Once you have built your base with the overlapping set, the next step is to focus on Uber-only problems. These questions are important because they highlight the variations specific to Uber’s coding interviews. They often reflect the company’s logistics, routing, and real-time decision-making focus.

Let’s see which patterns the Uber-only set adds to your preparation.

The list above shows that 3 new patterns come to the surface, taking the number to 27 out of 28 (about 96%). This is a big win. With this set, you cover new patterns and strengthen the ones introduced earlier.

Now, let’s see how well each pattern in the Uber-only set is covered according to the 1–2–1 rubric. The bar chart below highlights the newly covered patterns in green on the y-axis.

The chart above shows that adding Uber’s specific problems strengthens the picture further. More patterns move into the green zone (well covered), and some that were only partially covered earlier now reach complete representation. Only a handful of patterns remain below the threshold but are precisely identified so that you can target them directly.

Finish the remaining problems of NeetCode 150 #

Completing the rest of NeetCode 150 makes your preparation well-rounded. These problems introduce the last missing pieces and ensure no uncovered core area. They also help you revisit and reinforce patterns you have already seen, adding more depth and variety to your practice. By finishing the full set, you give yourself both breadth and completeness, which is key for tackling any unexpected problem in an Uber interview.

Let’s see which new patterns are unlocked by the remaining problems of NeetCode 150.

The list above shows that one new pattern emerges with the remaining NeetCode 150 problems, bringing the total to all 28 patterns to 100%. This is highly significant because it means your preparation now covers the full spectrum of patterns that can appear in an Uber interview.

Now let’s check how well the patterns in this set are covered using the 1–2–1 rubric.

The chart above shows that completing the rest of NeetCode 150 takes you to the finish line. The number of fully green patterns increases, showing both breadth and depth across difficulties. The remaining partially covered patterns can be topped up systematically by applying the 1–2–1 rubric. With this, you have full visibility into every pattern and a clear plan to strengthen weaker areas.

Is your Uber coding interview prep complete now?#

Reaching all 28 patterns is a big achievement, but does it mean your Uber prep is complete? That is the real question. Let’s see the overall picture of pattern coverage by this point.

The overall picture is very encouraging. Out of 28 patterns, 17 are fully in the green zone, i.e., well covered, including core ones like Two Pointers, Dynamic Programming, Tree Traversals, and Graphs. 

In the yellow zone, i.e., the partially covered patterns, we see 6 patterns: Heaps, Merge Intervals, Top K Elements, Hash Maps, Knowing What to Track, and Bitwise Manipulation. Each of these (except for Heaps) only needs one hard problem to move into the green zone. 

The red zone, i.e., the underrepresented patterns, includes 5 patterns: Subsets, K-way Merge, Fast and Slow Pointers, Sort and Search, and Cyclic Sort. These are underrepresented, but the good news is that the gaps are small and clearly defined. Most require only one or two targeted problems across difficulties to bring them up to full strength.

Patterns recap for the Uber interview prep#

Now that we have gone through each stage of the roadmap, let’s step back and look at the overall distribution of pattern coverage. The pie chart below clearly shows how the 28 patterns are spread across the Uber-focused prep roadmap stages.

The pie chart above shows that common patterns between NeetCode 150 and Uber top 150 contribute the most, covering almost 86% alone. This is a huge advantage because it means that by starting with the overlap, you already get exposure to nearly all the patterns you need.

Uber-only problems add about 11% more, introducing patterns that reflect the company’s unique style of interviews. The remaining NeetCode-only problems contribute just 4%, but they are still valuable because they bring in the final missing pattern and push you to 100% coverage.

This distribution is important because it shows how efficient the roadmap really is. Most of your progress comes early through the overlap, which builds a strong foundation. Uber-only and NeetCode-only questions fill in the gaps, ensuring you reach complete pattern coverage without wasted effort.

What score does this Uber-focused roadmap contribute to 420?#

The roadmap improved coverage stage by stage and drove your score toward 420. The chart below shows how much each stage contributed, where the biggest gains came from, and what remains to be completed.

The common problems between NeetCode 150 and Uber top 150 contribute the most, adding 213 points each. This is the foundation of your preparation and where the biggest gains come from.

Uber-only problems add another 78 points, which is significant because they introduce variations that reflect Uber’s unique interview style. The remaining NeetCode-only problems contribute 39 points, pushing the total to 330.

That leaves just 90 points still open. These can be achieved by targeting the underrepresented patterns we identified earlier and applying the 1–2–1 rubric. This final stretch is not about grinding hundreds of problems but strategically filling gaps to reach the ideal score of 420.

Final verdict: NeetCode 150 or LeetCode patterns? #

So, which one should you choose if you are preparing for Uber? The honest answer is that it is not about picking one over the other. NeetCode 150 gives you a structured list to practice the fundamentals, but by itself, it does not guarantee the adaptability Uber interviews demand. Uber top 150 gives you the relevance to what Uber prefers, but practicing it alone is not enough. LeetCode Patterns, on the other hand, equip you with reusable strategies that help you navigate problem variations and think beyond memorized solutions.

The strongest preparation combines the three. Use the overlap of NeetCode 150 and Uber top 150 to build your base, focus on completing the Uber-only problems, and finish the remaining NeetCode 150 set. Keep mapping your progress against the 28 patterns and track your coverage with the 1–2–1 rubric. This way, you cover breadth, depth, and adaptability simultaneously.

In the end, Uber’s interviews reward engineers who can think clearly under pressure, recognize patterns, and apply them to problems inspired by real-world systems. By structuring your prep around NeetCode 150, Uber top 150, and LeetCode Patterns, you give yourself the best chance to walk into your interview fully prepared.

Recommended resources to level up your interview prep#

While this blog offers 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: Your tailored prep companion 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 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 technically prepared, confident, and ready to perform under time constraints.