TCS NQT Advanced Coding: How to Prepare for the 90-Minute Section
If you want a Prime or Digital offer from TCS, there is one section you simply cannot avoid.Advanced Coding.
It is the longest part of the TCS NQT, and for many students, the most stressful. So let's start with what TCS officially says, and then talk about how to prepare.
What TCS Officially Says
According to TCS's hiring page, the NQT is a 190-minute test in two parts. The Advanced section is 115 minutes: 25 minutes of Advanced Quantitative and Reasoning, and 90 minutes of Advanced Coding.The Advanced section is mandatory if you aspire for a Digital or Prime offer.
TCS also says that the skill you choose during registration does not change your test. Everyone takes the same standard pattern. If you are shortlisted for an interview, you are then evaluated mainly on the skill you chose.
One honest note: TCS's hiring page does not publish the number of coding problems, the allowed programming languages or a topic list. So be careful with any website that claims exact details. Always check the latest instructions from TCS iON before your test.
How I Would Prepare
This part is my advice, not an official TCS rule.First, pick one language and go deep. Don't jump between C, Java and Python. Choose the one you are most comfortable with and learn it properly: loops, arrays, strings, functions and basic data structures.
Second, practise reading input and printing output correctly. Many students solve the logic but lose marks because their program reads input in the wrong format. Practise problems where you have to read input exactly as given.
Third, think about edge cases before you submit. What if the input is zero? Negative? Empty? Very large? A solution that works only for the sample input is not a solution.
Fourth, practise against a timer. 90 minutes feels long until you are stuck on one bug. Practise full problems within a fixed time, so you learn when to debug and when to move on.
Fifth, write simple code first. A correct, simple solution is better than a clever one that fails. Improve it only if you have time left.
Don't Ignore the Other 25 Minutes
Advanced Coding gets all the attention, but the Advanced section also has 25 minutes of Advanced Quantitative and Reasoning. Keep your aptitude strong too. Our 5-step quantitative aptitude plan and accuracy tips will help.And if you want to understand what Prime, Digital and Ninja actually mean, read Prime, Digital or Ninja: What Work Will You Actually Do at TCS?
Coding is not about knowing every trick.
It is about writing code that works, under pressure.
