Infosys SP / DSE — Coding: Pattern, Syllabus & Mock Test
Infosys SP / DSE — Coding pattern: 3 questions in 180 minutes across 1 section. Sample questions, a preparation guide and a free timed mock.
- Pattern: Infosys
- Duration: 180 minutes
- Questions: 3
- Timing: Free — move between sections until the paper's clock ends
- Negative marking: None
Three hours, three problems, an easy-medium-hard ladder. Which ones you solve sets the offer.
- Pure coding
- Easy, medium, hard ladder
- Three hours
Sections
| Section | Questions | Time | Kind | Marks each |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coding | 3 | 180 min | Coding | 10 |
Infosys SP / DSE — Coding syllabus
Coding: Infosys coding questions 83 problems
Instructions
The Specialist Programmer and Power Programmer route skips the aptitude paper entirely: three coding problems in three hours, and the package depends on how far up the ladder you get.
- The ladder is deliberate. The first should take about half an hour, the second forty-five to sixty minutes, the third an hour or more.
- The reported pass thresholds rise with it: all test cases on the first, about eighty per cent on the second, about seventy-five on the third.
- Partial marking per test case, and no negative marking.
The package band, from roughly seven to twenty-one lakh, is decided by which problems you clear. Note this is a different test from the Systems Engineer aptitude paper, which is also in this catalogue.
How to prepare for this pattern
A guide to the Infosys Specialist Programmer coding pattern: three problems in three hours, set as an easy, medium and hard ladder.
What the paper looks like
One section: Coding, three problems, one easy, one medium and one hard, in 180 minutes on a shared clock. There is no multiple-choice section. You can move between the problems, but the ladder is deliberate and the instructions are to solve them in order: the first should take about half an hour, the second 45 to 60 minutes and the third an hour or more. Each problem is worth ten marks in this mock and is marked per test case, with no negative marking. The reported pass thresholds rise with the ladder: all test cases on the first, about 80 per cent on the second and about 75 per cent on the third. The paper is not adaptive. The name is a trap: "DSE" is used both for this coding track and for the aptitude-track Digital Specialist Engineer role, which sits the Systems Engineer aptitude paper instead.
How to prepare, section by section
- Coding, first problem. Treat it as a fluency check: Arrays, Strings, Math and Hash Table problems solved cleanly with every edge case handled, since the reported threshold is every test case.
- Coding, second problem. Medium problems built on standard techniques: Sorting, Two Pointers, Sliding Window, Binary Search, Greedy and Prefix Sum.
- Coding, third problem. Expect the harder techniques: Dynamic Programming, Graph search with Breadth-First Search and Depth-First Search, Backtracking, Union Find and Topological Sort.
The DSA roadmap climbs the same ladder in stages. Over three hours a firm grip on one language matters, and the Java, C++ and Python study plans each end with an interview idioms module.
On the day
Three hours is long enough that pacing is about stamina rather than speed. Solve the first problem fully and check it against edge cases before moving on, because the reported bar there is every test case. Give the second problem its hour. On the third, a partial solution that passes some test cases still scores, so if the full solution will not come, submit the best correct approach you have, such as a brute force or a solution to a restricted case, and then try to improve it. Keep the last fifteen minutes for re-running all three against extra cases of your own.
This mock is modelled on the published Specialist Programmer pattern, consistent across sources at three problems in 180 minutes with no multiple-choice section; CodeKairo is not affiliated with Infosys.
About this pattern
Well attested and consistent across sources: 3 problems, 180 minutes, HackerRank, no MCQ section. The naming is a trap, as 'DSE' is used for both this coding track and the aptitude-track Digital Specialist Engineer role.
Modelled on the published pattern; not affiliated with Infosys. Every sitting draws a fresh paper from the aptitude bank and the problem catalogue.