Tiers
Core

Recurring Friday skill that directly supports the current phase

⏱ 45–90 min
Implement, test, explain complexity and trade-offs
Supporting

Guided lab or one representative problem

⏱ 45–120 min
Attempt when relevant; record the result and what remains unclear
Archive

Reference material for future use or unusual interview prompts

⏱ 0 min scheduled
No weekly obligation; promote it only when a project needs it
Boss fight

A selected advanced problem integrated with a gate or capstone

⏱ 2–3 hr
Complete the artifact, write the reasoning, and include a retrospective
The 108-week lane map
WeeksThemeTierArtifact
1–6 Complexity, arrays, prefix sums, two pointers, binary search, bitmasks Core Timed implementation drill with complexity note
7–14 Matrix multiplication, Gaussian elimination, matrix exponentiation, recurrences Core From-scratch matrix or recurrence solver
15–22 Numerical methods, binary search on answer, ternary search, Newton iteration Supporting Root-finding or optimization comparison
23–30 Probability simulation, expectation DP, combinatorics, inclusion-exclusion, number theory basics Core Expectation/counting lab; Week 30 mini-contest
31–37 Heaps, hashing, tries, linked structures, intervals, basic pattern matching Core Retrieval/cache primitive plus timed data-structure drill
38–45 Fenwick, segment trees, range queries, sketches, DSU, randomized hashing Core Range-query or routing primitive; Week 45 mini-contest
46–52 Graph representation, BFS/DFS, SCC, topological sort, shortest paths Core Dependency graph or routing implementation
53–57 MST, Euler paths, max flow, min-cost flow, matching Core / Supporting Resource-allocation design; Week 57 graph boss fight
58–69 DP, greedy, bitmask DP, probability DP, experiment assignment Core Evaluation or assignment tool with algorithmic analysis
70–81 KMP, Aho–Corasick, trie retrieval, sequence DP, suffix-array survey Core / Supporting Pattern detector or retrieval index; Week 81 string boss
82–93 Priority scheduling, interval allocation, capacity search, randomized load balancing Core / Supporting Scheduler benchmark; Week 93 inference boss
94–102 Euler indexing, subtree aggregation, DSU on Tree, HLD survey Supporting / Boss Tenant-tree query lab; Week 102 platform boss
103–108 Mo’s algorithm, capstone integration, tree forensics Boss fights Capstone 1 required; Capstone 2 optional at Week 108
Boss fights
Week 18 - Numerical matrix boss

Gaussian elimination, matrix exponentiation, or randomized SVD with numerical-stability notes.

Week 30 - Foundations mini-contest

Expectation DP, combinatorics, modular arithmetic, and one optimization search problem.

Week 45 - Data-structure mini-contest

Fenwick/segment tree, DSU, hashing, and a range-query workload.

Week 57 - Graph/flow boss

Euler indexing plus a flow or matching formulation for scheduling/resource allocation.

Week 69 - MLOps algorithm boss

Experiment assignment, greedy rollout, or bandit allocation with a correctness and trade-off report.

Week 81 - String/agent boss

Aho–Corasick tool/prompt detector or sequence-DP planner.

Week 93 - Inference boss

Priority scheduling, interval allocation, and binary search on capacity backed by a benchmark.

Week 102 - Platform tree boss

Euler Tour plus DSU-on-Tree subtree analytics, used as preparation for Capstone 2.

Weeks 103–108 - Capstone 1

Mo’s algorithm over immutable LLM traces - the required algorithmic capstone.

Week 108 optional - Capstone 2

Euler Tour + DSU on Tree over agent execution trees. Extra depth credit, not required for the LLM Platform badge.

Coverage map
Algorithmic areaTreatmentLands in
Complexity, arrays, prefix sums, binary search, greedy Core Weeks 1–6 and recurring
Matrix operations, Gaussian elimination, exponentiation, recurrences Core Weeks 7–18
Probability, expectation DP, combinatorics, modular arithmetic, gcd/sieve Core Weeks 23–30 and Weeks 58–69
Heaps, hashing, tries, Fenwick trees, segment trees, DSU Core Weeks 31–45
BFS/DFS, SCCs, topological sort, shortest paths Core Weeks 46–52
MST, Euler paths, flows, matching Core concepts; selected Boss fights Weeks 53–57
Dynamic programming and state-space reduction Core Weeks 58–69
KMP, Aho–Corasick, retrieval-oriented string matching Core Weeks 70–81
Suffix arrays, suffix trees, suffix automata Supporting / Archive Weeks 70–81; project-driven promotion
Scheduling, interval structures, randomized algorithms, capacity search Core / Supporting Weeks 82–102
Euler Tour, DSU on Tree, Mo’s algorithm Boss fights Weeks 103–108
Computational geometry Supporting basics; Archive advanced Weeks 1–30 and project-driven
HLD, dynamic trees, Link-Cut Trees, exotic contest structures Archive / Boss fight Capstone extensions only
Depth raises the ceiling; it does not set the floor

Core drills are required and phase-aligned. Supporting labs are guided depth. Archive topics are reference-only. Boss fights are selected gate or capstone extensions. A learner is never blocked from the next phase by optional depth work.