Coding
Practice
Cadence Online Assessment
Overview
Section titled “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
Section titled “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 titled “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
Section titled “Extra notes from sources”- Exact sectional timing varies by campus edition - your college placement email beats undated blogs.
Sample practice question styles
Section titled “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
Section titled “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
Section titled “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.