GATE CS Preparation

GATE CS Preparation

In this post I will discuss some ideas related to GATE preparation. These may or may not work for everyone but this is how I went about preparing for GATE myself.

When to Start

As of writing this post, its September. Ideally you should have started the preparation by now. If you haven't, its still not very late. Assuming that you have a fair understanding of Computer Science concepts, even starting now, you could manage to finish the syllabus and test preparations on time. I myself started it from end of Sept. Do keep in mind that GATE has a fairly huge syllabus, so its going to be a big task to finish all that.

Where to study from

This is perhaps the most frequently asked question related to GATE. Where to study from, that is what to refer and what not to refer. In my experience, the best resource to study for GATE is your own textbooks that you used during your engineering. But no subject will have a single book that is sufficient for that subject. That is why I would suggest that you refer atleast two books for every subject. I know this is a going to take more time, but it helps. I had a primary book for every subject, but I referred other books for some specific topics that I didn't find properly covered in the primary book. So for example my primary book for OS was Galvin. But I didn't understand synchronization that well from this book. So I referred internet or other sources for this topic. The bottom line is: Do not depend on just one source, study from as many sources as possible. This is a list of some of the books I referred:

Book	Subject	Remarks
Ellis, Horowitz, Sahani	Data Structures	Excellent book for DS
Cormen, Rivest	Algorithms	Need to study first few chapters only .
Horowitz, Sahani	Algorithms
Aho and Ullman	Compilers	De-facto books for Compilers
John Martin	TOC
Hopcroft & Ullmana	TOC
Morris Mano & Kime	Digital Logic	Excellent book for Digital Logic
Galvin	OS	Standard book for OS
Tanenbaum	OS
Elmasri & Navathe	DBMS	Covers normalization very well
Ramakrishna Gherke	DBMS	Good for SQL, relational algebra
Tanenbaum	Computer Architecture
Hamacher, Zaky	Computer Architecture
Tanenbaum	Networks
Peterson, Davie	Networks
Doughas Comer	Networks	Good for TCP/IP and internet
Trembly & Manohar	Discrete Mathematics	A little heavy but good
C. L. Liu	Discrete Mathematics
Narsingh Deo	Graph Theory	A complete reference for Graph theory
Kernigham & Ritchie	C	Excellent book for C. (Preferred over Let us C)

Note: The list is not exhaustive. If there are other books that you have found useful, you can suggest them in the comments.
 
Online Resources

Link	Subject	Remarks
Kentucky Notes	TOC	Excellent resource for TOC. Covers Automata, Computability, Languages, Unsolvability. Must read.
Kentucky Notes on Algorithms	Algorithms
Crack the Interview	Data Structures, Algorithms, DBMS	An extensive resource. It is a compilation of campus interview questions. Go through it if you have time.

Previous Year GATE Papers

This is probably the most important thing that helped me get a decent score in GATE. Once you are done with a complete study of the GATE syllabus, you should solve at least one previous year GATE paper completely. By solving I don't mean solving it like an exam, but solving each and every question open book without any time limit. You can refer any book, internet, ask your friends or do whatever you can. Just solve each and every question in that particular question paper. It can take weeks for you to find out all the answers. Remember just knowing the answer to every question is not sufficient, you should also know how the answer was derived. This process will clear your concepts like anything.You will feel the difference in your confidence and your preparedness for GATE after finishing this exercise.

Coaching

Since personally I never joined any coaching for GATE, I cannot suggest anything in this regard. But even if you do not plan to join a GATE coaching institute full time, at least try joining a test series on GATE. A lot of coaching institutes have only test series packages. These test series give you good practice of GATE exam. I joined one such test series towards the end of the year. Apart from this, I have not taken any other coaching.

Conclusion

Studying for GATE is not like studying for CAT. GATE is not about practice but about knowledge. Studying for GATE is almost like doing a research project. You have to refer as many books as possible and study as much as you can. Remember if you think that there is too much to study in GATE, just wait till you get admission into an IIT. Compared to the workload in IITs, GATE will look like piece of cake to you. PS: If you know of a good book or resource for GATE, please share via comments. Thanks.