A Short Guide to GATE

Question

[Index]

1. Resources: I used for GATE
2. Study tips
3. Test Series
4. Recommended preparation blogs/ videos
5. FAQs

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1. Resources

Digital Logic

Book: Digital Design by Morris Mano [5th ed] Chapter 1 to 6 along with some questions from exercises

PAL and PLA : Neso Academy

Floating point representation: Article by Steve Hollasch

 

Computer Organization and Architecture

Book 1: Computer Organization and Embedded Systems by Carl Hamacher [6th ed] Chapter 1 to 3, 5, 6

Input Output: IIT Madras lectures by Prof S. Raman

Cache Miss: Article by Arjun sir

Cache Miss Questions: Gateoverflow classroom assignment 1

More on Cache: CSE378 by Prof Larry Snyder

Data Dependencies in Pipelining: Lecture by Arjun sir

Book #2: Check the “Computer Architecture Formulas” on 2nd page of Computer Architecture: A quantitative approach by David Patterson [6th ed]

Check examples and formulas used for Memory Hierarchy and Pipelining: Appendix B and C from Computer Architecture: A quantitative approach by David Patterson [6th ed]

Relocatable Code and Program Independent Code

 

Programming

Book: The C Programming Language [2nd edition:ANSI C] Chapter 1-6 

Important Questions about C Language: C Programming FAQs by Steve Summit

Must read articles on C programming by Arjun Sir:     1) C Program- A system view

                                                                                    2) Data Types and Operators in C

                                                                                    3) Pointers

Articles and MCQs by GeeksforGeeks (very few questions and articles may contain errors)

Sequence Points: Article by GeeksforGeeks

 

Data Structures

Book: Data Structures and Algorithms Made Easy: Data Structures and Algorithmic Puzzles by Narsimha Karumanchi [5th ed] Chapter 3 to 7

Programming Assignments: Gateoverflow classroom

 

Algorithms

Book #1: Introduction to Algorithms 3rd Edition by C.L.R.S. [3rd ed] Chapter 1 to 4, 6 to 9, 10 to 12, 15 to 17, 21 to 23

Book #2: Data Structures and Algorithms Made Easy: Data Structures and Algorithmic Puzzles by Narsimha Karumanchi [5th ed] Relevant Chapters are 8 to 12, 14, 17 to 19 (Studied very selectively)

Video Lectures #1: MIT 6.006 Fall 2011 by Prof. Srini Devadas and Prof Eric Demaine (TA: Victor Costan)

Video Lecture #2: Lecture on Median by Prof. Shai Simonson

Akra Bazzi method for calculating Asymptotic Analysis: Wikipedia Article

 

Theory of Computation

Book #1: An Introduction to Formal Languages and Automata by Peter Linz [6th ed] Chapter 1 to 12 (Also do the exercises)

Video Lecture: Theory of Computation by Prof. Shai Simonson

Book #2: Introduction to the Theory of Computation by Michael Sipser [3rd ed] Topic 5.3 Mapping Reducibility (Also checkout the exercises from other chapters)

Article on RICE Theorem by Arjun Sir

 

Compiler Design

Video Lectures #1: Compilers by Prof. Alex Aiken (Lecture list relevant to GATE + Week 8 and Week 9 until lecture 16-04)

Articles by Arjun Sir:    1) Viable Prefixes and Handle in LR Parsing

            2) Language of LL and LR grammars

            3) LR(0) items and LR(0) parsing

            4) SLR, CLR, LALR and Summary

Video Lectures #2: Lectures by Uncode Lecture 1 to 19

Book: Compilers: Principles, Techniques and Tools by Ullman [2nd ed] Chapter 1 to 9

Lex specification and Yacc grammar of ANSI C

 

Operating System

Book #1: Operating System Concepts by Galvin [10th ed] Chapter 1 to 15

Book #2: Operating Systems: Three Easy Pieces by Remzi and Andrea (Most of your queries will be solved after reading the book)

Multi Level Paging: Lecture by Arjun Sir

HPCA lectures by Georgia Tech:     1) Virtual Memory + Paging + VIPT Cache + DRAM

2) RAID

 

Databases

Video Lectures #1: Lectures by Kiran Sir Lecture 1 to 26, 29

Video Lectures #2: DBMS by IITKGP Lectures 6 to 9 for relational algebra and relational calculus

Book #1: Database System Concepts by Korth [8th ed] Chapter 1 to 4, 6 to 8, 10, 11, 14 15

Book #2: Fundamentals of Database Systems by Navathe[7th ed] Chapter 17

Normalization article by Arjun sir

 

Computer Networks

Book #1: Data Communication and Networking by Forouzan [5th ed] Chapter 4, 7, 10 to 13, 19.1 ,20, 21, 23

Book #2 : Computer Networks by Tanenbaum [4th ed] Chapter 4 to 6

IITB Notes

Some Articles from GeeksforGeeks

Book #3: Internet Core Protocols by Erik Hall (Read Selectively)

Uncode Lectures 1 to 20 and Problem Solving 1 to 76

Hamming Code with additional Parity

 

Linear Algebra

Video Lectures: Linear Algebra by Prof. Gilbert Strang  Unit I and Unit II along with recitation and practice problems

 

Calculus

Video Lectures: Single Variable Calculus by Prof. David Jerison 

Practice Problems from Cole's World of Mathematics

 

Probability

Video Lectures: Probabilistic Systems Analysis and Applied Probability by Prof. John Tsitsiklis

Book: A first Course in Probability by Sheldon Ross [9th ed]  Solved exercises of Chapter 1,2

More distributions and statistics from Made Easy Engineering Maths book

 

Discrete Mathematics

Video Lectures #1: Lectures by Kiran sir

Video Lectures #2: Discrete Mathematics IIT Ropar (Did not watch these lectures,found these after GATE)

Book #1: Discrete Mathematics and its applications by Kenneth Rosen Chapter 1,2, 6 to 9

Book #2: Graph Theory with Applications to Engineering and Computer Science by Narsingh Deo Chapter 1 to 5, 8

Combinatorics and groups: Slide 1 and 2 from Gateoverflow classroom 

Abstract Algebra: Discrete Mathematical Structures by Prof Kamala Krithivasan Lecture 35,36,37

 

General Aptitude

Verbal, Quantitative and Logical Aptitude: Solved PYQs , Notes, Number Theory, Modular Arithmetic

Spacial Aptitude: Spacial Aptitude by NLN Sharma Sir

 

Notes

1) GATE Notes from Standard Notes by Manu Thakur sir

2) GATE Notes by Ankur Gupta sir

Discussion on GATECSE website under every subject is helpful

Book to Improve preparation : A Mind for Numbers by Barbara Oakley

 

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2. Study Tips

Revision : Using Spaced Repetition

Anki: Create Q&A format Anki flashcards for topics difficult to remember or topics rarely asked in GATE

Test Series Timetable: Used retrospective timetable using Google Sheets

Here’s a sample: Color indicates how I felt about my performance and date indicates when I attempted them. Using both these metrics I chose which tests to prioritize during the last 2 months.

 

Solving questions: I divided my notebook into 3 equal parts so that I get used to taking less and narrow space. During your initial period before you start test series you can use cstimer to put yourself under timer pressure and improve your speed(but not at the cost of accuracy). I also used the same pen throughout GATE preparation(Technotip).

Summarized study tips by Barbara Oakley

3. Test Series

Ankita Jain AIR 1 GATE CSE 2016 in her wordpress blog recommends using more than one test series.

I enrolled for Ace, Made Easy and GO test series.

Topic Wise: Ace, Made Easy and GO

Subject Wise: Made Easy and GO

Full Length: Made Easy(Basic Tests only) and GO

My review of these test series:

• Ace: Easy questions, focus on concepts
• Made Easy: Moderate questions, focus on numericals
• GO: Moderate questions, focus on subject coverage and a balance of concepts and numericals

 

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4. Recommended preparation blogs/videos

1. AIR 1 GATE CSE 2015
2. AIR 1 GATE CSE 2016
3. AIR 67 GATE CSE 2018
4. AIR 8 GATE CSE 2021 

 

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5. FAQs

1. Which PYQ book should I go with? GO Book
2. How many times should I solve PYQs? Maybe twice, once from GO book and second time through the exams section of gateoverflow.
3. How to deal with MSQs? Focus on building concepts
4. How many hours should I study? Study whenever you can, keep a balance between study, rest and exercise
5. How much should I sleep? Get a good sleep, varies from person to person
6. I can’t study for longer hours, what should I do? Check out “Study with me” live streams, join the ones that have timers(pomodoro timers)
7. We all have some days when we feel down or demotivated, what did you do during those times? I solved tests, for some reason it brought me back into study mindset. Since I revised everyday using Anki I could attempt perviously studied topic/subject tests any time.
8. I can’t afford coaching and I don’t have enough time for standard books, what should I do? Check out Parnika Tutorials, Gatebook, Neso Academy (please validate whatever you learn)
9. Were you studying in your last year? No, I started preparing for GATE after I graduated and took several attempts
10. What were the mistakes you made in your previous attempts that I should avoid? Delaying revision and not enrolling for test series
11. How should you stay calm during the day of your exam? Some blogs said its best to meditate after sitting at allotted place, I tried it out and it worked
12. What is your rank? AIR 29

 

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Thanks to authors of the books, professors who have contributed to open learning, Arjun sir, Bikram sir, Shaik Masthan sir, Srestha mam, Sounjaya mam and everyone who has directly or indirectly helped me reach my goal.

Comments

Congratulations on achieving great success 👍

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🎊 Congrats buddy

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Thank you so much Arjun sir for always showing the right path

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Thank you so much Gyanu for always being on the leaderboard of test series, it motivated me to study harder

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Congrats 🎉🎉

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Congratulations bro 🎉

and what a great guide you compiled 👏

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Congrats, I've read your post and I truly agree with all the points you've made. Especially the part about test series which I didn't follow in my preparation. I made a lot of mistakes some of which resulted from geniune misinterpretations of the questions, writing half-baked answer in numericals and botched understanding of concepts in a few(which I hate to admit). In short, I can attest the reprecussions of not using any test series in prep.

I did try to incorporate Anki in my Gate preparation but, it's too much of a hassle for newbie and I had to abandon the idea. Instead I used Notion for all things including taking notes, creating questionnaire etc. It certainly did workout in the end, although I did a major blunder with respect to validating my speed, getting accustomed to the environment, having a good plan while solving and most of all, making friends with anxiety(everyone has it, you just have to acknowledge it and let it go).

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Thank you soo much Srestha mam. The discussions over questions really helped me.

Thank you Nikhil bro, your blog is amazing and whenever anyone asks me for resources I direct them to your post. Also your comment on a post before GATE that its good not to focus on marks of tests helped me be calmer during the last few days.

Kanwae Thank You so much. Yes I also learnt the lesson about attempting test series the hard way. I think it reduced the no of mistakes, helped me with time management and I was so used to the interface. I started appearing for test series for this attempt from the first week itself. Also I used google sheets to write dates of tests for every subject and color code that cell. During the last 2 months it helped to know(on the basis of date and color) which tests I should prioritize.(Attached a sample in the post)

Yes creating Anki cards is time consuming. It turned out to be a remedy of my delaying revision problem. Also there are some cool addons like Pokemanki, heatmap, some addons for code formatting as per programming language. I learnt about notion way later, also I couldn't get used to notion's interface, so I didn't focus on it much. I was really happy the questions were random so I didn't have to build a complex strategy. It was just solving papers in two sweeps, first sweep focus on questions that I can solve for sure and second sweep focus to solve remaining questions. I feel during the test series, I was able to suppress that urge of solving the difficult ones in first sweep. I also got last 30-35 minutes in my hand at the end to verify my answers.

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Congrats and thanks for the comprehensive guide!
Could you also share your anki deck?

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heartiest congratulations 👏🤝

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Congrats and thanks for detailed guide.

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Congratulations !!👍

Were u preparing full time for Gate?

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@hitchh1ker Thank You :) I will share TOC and Digital Logic(temporary link) for now. Some content will be partial(its probably a hint for me) in the TOC deck since I never planned to share it. Some cards in Digital Logic may not make sense for the same reason that I made it understandable to me. My other decks especially Discrete and database has errors. Heres a better deck for OS(Remove unnecessary and trivial cards). My programming deck was majorly based on ques and concepts from GFG. I didn't make cards for CN, Compilers, Algo, Probability,....

 

Thank you sooo much Shaik Masthan sir :))))

Thank You Shiva, hope it helpts you

Thank You Ketan, Yes Full Time

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A Wonderful journey and a Great compilation of the same. Congratulations brother & thanks 🙂

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Thank You so much Tirth, I hope it was helpful to you. Good Luck :))

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Congrats bhaiya for great success you deserve this  .. proud of you 😎

your valuable points will be mine guide for next year gate

All the best

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sakharam Congratulations Brother !!!

you're referring standard books pdf or hardcopy? bcoz i didn't find OS Galvin 10th edition hardcopy.

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@Abhishek+Tank

Soft copy but you can use older versions as well.

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Congrats man and thank you for this post. 🙏

You mentioned using Anki. So, did you prepare notes as well or did all of your revision involved using Anki only?

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sakharam Did you used soft copy of textbooks for all subjects??

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@Prashant08

I used Anki for things that I will see rarely in test series(usually the concepts rarely or not asked yet in GATE) and the concepts which needed more iterations of revision. I also made notes but mainly revised from Anki.

@Abhishek Tank

I also have hard copies of most of the books and I switched between them. But the hard copy of the books I have is older edition.

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@sakharam if you don't mind me asking which attempt of yours was this as even I have attempted it but I have failed this time after good preparation. And did you took any coaching in your earlier attempts or did you only relied on textbooks in all of your attempts

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 sakharam for practice questions what should I follow? Exercise problem of books or any university assignments like MIT, Stanford , NPTEL?

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Bikram Ballav,

@sakharam

 

Congratulations 👍 👍 👍 !!!

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Bikram Ballav,

@Abhishek Tank

Exercise problem of books or any university assignments like MIT, Stanford , NPTEL?

 

1. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Byt7-j-JD0d0bmxlRkZGcjN2cjA/view

 

2. https://sites.google.com/view/nptelcse/courses

 

3. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/12M6oU_ynhSrRxfjfLGTp3WWHr9JHiIpS

 

4. https://sites.google.com/view/nptelcse/useful-weblinks

 

6. https://classroom.gateoverflow.in/

 

7. https://www.mediafire.com/folder/gp6z7khjzyl8d/gate_materials?fbclid=IwAR0ezzTYvJdobF2hXtr3xVNZpZOFtw96yHAywR2_j9BOKGe1mBNSgVUcsvw#gp6z7khjzyl8d

 

8. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1AXjpvYnZomcFcki9Vb8r5RKrJPVKbNjR?fbclid=IwAR0HDzPYrLb9wdkBWSSPpX_BHoOcbVUc2TxjEwKxLHZ_kcw4ec5vCs9_u7g

 

9. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1pZheUyebxs25F_xhZ0pIlEx_fogE-Hc_?fbclid=IwAR0HDzPYrLb9wdkBWSSPpX_BHoOcbVUc2TxjEwKxLHZ_kcw4ec5vCs9_u7g

 

10. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1OXc1-utb8GoWr1LL9jCU1eI_oJR0mG0e?fbclid=IwAR2b6g0W-IvVjJCkTPwzImIxdLYceWL_O09GjzXL-8rrL0AB5RVZ-eCWu_8

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Bikram Ballav,

@Abhishek Tank

@Kanwae Kan

@Aditya kanwar

 

1. https://gateoverflow.in/previous-years

 

2. https://gateoverflow.in/blog/360/preparing-to-be-in-iisc-top-iits

3. https://gateoverflow.in/blog/375/preparing-to-be-in-iisc-top-iits-2nd-blog

4. https://gateoverflow.in/blog/379/preparing-to-be-in-iisc-top-iits-3rd-blog

 

5. https://www.facebook.com/groups/gatecsetoppers

 

6. https://www.facebook.com/groups/gatecse.in

 

GATE is not a difficult exam to get to top 100.

So, let me tell somethings I have seen over last 2 years. Most people with good/correct concepts get to Top 100 ...

Some good people do miss out on Top 100 - 1-2 people even drop to 1000 rank. Some people even without proper concepts get to Top 100 - its just a matter of 2-3 questions that can take you to Top 100 from 1000.....

But after this self improvement and revision must always be done individually....

 

I was never a preacher and yet this is my third blog. I just wanted to say these for a long time.

Hope I have said everything now. All the best for GATE 2022 :)

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I admire you for the effort you've put in compiling these resources. Thanks a lot !