Coding questions
Cadence Online Assessment
Overview
Here is how public prep guides and student write-ups describe the Cadence online assessment. This is not an official company brochure.
EDA/semiconductor employer: software and VLSI design tracks share OA shell but diverge in technical content.
Usual selection rounds
Rounds students usually mention: Online test (aptitude + technical MCQs + coding) → Technical interview (1-2) → HR
| Item | From student reports |
|---|---|
| Platform | Campus OA (platform varies) |
| Online test summary | FACE Prep 2026: MCQs (aptitude + technical) + 1-2 coding problems, often ~60-90 minutes. PrepInsta older SDE pattern: 20 aptitude / 20 min, 10 CS MCQs / 10 min, 3-4 coding / 60 min. |
| Eligibility notes | FACE Prep: 7.0 CGPA, no active backlogs across 10th/12th/grad; PrepInsta older guide cites 65% throughout - check your college placement email |
| Branches (reported) | ECE, EEE, CSE, IT |
Online test sections
| Section | Questions | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aptitude | logical/numerical/verbal MCQs | - | - |
| Technical MCQs | DSA / digital / OS depending on role | - | - |
| Coding | 1-2 (FACE) or 3-4 (older PrepInsta SDE table) | - | Arrays, strings, recursion common |
Extra notes from sources
- Exact sectional timing varies by campus edition - your college placement email beats undated blogs.
Sample practice question styles
These are practice questions for speed - not claimed to be from a real Cadence live paper.
Coding Q1: Move zeros
Problem: Move all zeros in an array to the end while keeping the relative order of non-zero elements.
Approach: Two pointers: write non-zeros toward the front, then fill the remainder with zeros. Or swap zeros as you scan.
Complexity: O(n) time, O(1) space
Cadence tip: Restate the problem, sketch a brute-force idea, then tighten it. Call out edge cases (empty input, single element, overflow) before you write code.
Coding Q2: Rotate array
Problem: Rotate an array to the right by k steps. Example: [1,2,3,4,5,6,7], k = 3 → [5,6,7,1,2,3,4].
Approach: Normalize k %= n. Reverse the whole array, reverse the first k elements, then reverse the rest. That yields the rotation in place.
Complexity: O(n) time, O(1) space
Cadence tip: Restate the problem, sketch a brute-force idea, then tighten it. Call out edge cases (empty input, single element, overflow) before you write code.
Coding Q3: First unique character
Problem: Find the first non-repeating character in a string and return its index, or -1 if none exists.
Approach: Count frequencies in one pass (hash map or array of 26 for lowercase). Second pass returns the first index with count 1.
Complexity: O(n) time
Cadence tip: Restate the problem, sketch a brute-force idea, then tighten it. Call out edge cases (empty input, single element, overflow) before you write code.
Coding Q4: Stack with min
Problem: Design a stack that supports push, pop, top, and getMin in average O(1) time.
Approach: Keep a parallel min-stack (or store pairs). When pushing, also push the new minimum. When popping, pop both stacks.
Complexity: O(1) per operation amortized
Cadence tip: Restate the problem, sketch a brute-force idea, then tighten it. Call out edge cases (empty input, single element, overflow) before you write code.
Prep tips from those student reports
- Role-match technical MCQs (digital vs CS)
- Be ready to re-explain OA coding solutions in interview
- Defend projects clearly
Sources
- Cadence Recruitment Process 2026 - FACE Prep (faceprep)
- Cadence Coding Questions - PrepInsta (prepinsta)
These notes come from public reports and can differ by campus, year, and role. If your college placement email or the official careers/notification PDF says something different, follow that.