W01–W04 Archive — Mar 18–Apr 12, 2026
W01–W04 Archive (Mar 18 – Apr 12, 2026)
Condensed record of Weeks 01–04. Individual week files deleted. New plan starts W05 = Apr 27.
Plan Pivot — Apr 17, 2026
Old multi-track approach (AWS cert + Go + LangChain + Blog + DSA + SD) abandoned.
Dropped permanently:
- AWS MLA-C01 cert → do after job switch, no company tests certs in interview
- Go mastery track → existing Ch1–11 notes are enough as a talking point
- LangChain deep dive → AskTGE experience is sufficient
- Blog / vectorbuilds.dev → after offer in hand
New focus: 7 interview topics only DSA → System Design → SQL → API Design → FastAPI → LLD → Python internals
Apply date moved up: Jun 1 (was Jul 18). Don't wait for perfect prep.
DSA Completed W01–W04
| Pattern | Problems | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Arrays & Hashing | LC 121 + warm-ups | ✅ W01 |
| Sliding Window | LC 3, 424, 567, 76 | ✅ W01 |
| Two Pointers | LC 125, 167, 15, 11, 42, 904, 1004 (7 problems) | ✅ W02 |
| Binary Search | LC 704, 74, 153, 33, 875, 981 (6 problems — LC 4 skipped) | ✅ W04 |
Total: 4/12 patterns. ~18 problems done.
System Design Completed W01–W04
| Problem | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| URL Shortener | ✅ Notes exist | W02 — full design, Mermaid + Excalidraw, tradeoffs |
| All others | ❌ | Not started |
URL Shortener notes exist but NOT at interview-ready level yet. W05 task: whiteboard cold.
Other Tracks W01–W04
| Track | Status |
|---|---|
| AWS IAM | ✅ W01 |
| AWS S3 | ✅ W02 |
| AWS EC2 | ⚠️ Surface notes only — not reviewed in depth |
| Go Boot.dev | ✅ Ch1–11 done (W02 sprint — ahead of plan) |
| LangChain L1 | ✅ W01 |
| Layrs.me M1 | ✅ W01 |
| Blog | ❌ Never started — dropped from plan |
Week Summaries
W01 (Mar 18–22)
Theme: Sliding Window + IAM + Plan launch Study hours: ~10 (vs 28.5 target). Comic Con Sat killed deep work day. Win: Momentum started. All 4 SW problems done. IAM + Go Ch1 + LangChain L1 + Layrs M1 done.
W02 (Mar 23–29)
Theme: Two Pointers + S3 + URL Shortener Study hours: ~10 (Mon–Fri = 0, Sat–Sun only). Win: All 7 Two Pointers done. URL Shortener full design complete. Go Ch1–11 sprint. Miss: LangChain, Gaurav Sen, EC2 depth.
W03 (Mar 30–Apr 5)
Theme: Stack (planned) — disrupted Metrics never filled. Carries from W02 compounded. No verifiable output.
W04 (Apr 6–12)
Theme: Binary Search DSA: 6/7 done (LC 4 Median Two Arrays skipped — hard). Everything else (AWS, SD, Go, LangChain, Frontend, Blog): ❌ not done. Apr 17: Plan pivot triggered after realizing multi-track approach was unsustainable.
Break: Apr 13–26
Two weeks off. W05 restarts Apr 27.