GATE CSE Syllabus with Weightage
Every subject in the official GATE CSE syllabus, ordered by how many marks it has actually carried in recent papers. Study in this order unless you have a reason not to.
Weightage is approximate, derived from the distribution of marks in recent GATE CSE papers. Official syllabus: GATE brochure.
General Aptitude
~15%Verbal aptitude: grammar, comprehension, word groups · Quantitative aptitude: ratios, percentages, powers, permutations · Analytical aptitude: logic, data interpretation · Spatial aptitude: transformations, assembling
Engineering Mathematics
~13%Discrete mathematics: propositional & first-order logic, sets, relations, functions, partial orders, lattices, monoids, groups · Graph theory: connectivity, matching, colouring · Combinatorics: counting, recurrence relations, generating functions · Linear algebra: matrices, determinants, LU decomposition, eigenvalues · Calculus: limits, continuity, differentiability, maxima-minima, integration · Probability & statistics: distributions, mean/median/mode, conditional probability, Bayes theorem
Programming & Data Structures
~13%C programming: pointers, recursion, parameter passing, scope · Arrays, stacks, queues · Linked lists · Trees, binary search trees, binary heaps · Graphs: representations
Computer Organization & Architecture
~9%Machine instructions and addressing modes · ALU, data-path and control unit · Instruction pipelining and hazards · Memory hierarchy: cache (mapping, misses), main memory, secondary storage · I/O interface: interrupt and DMA modes
Operating Systems
~9%Processes, threads, inter-process communication · Concurrency and synchronization: semaphores, monitors · Deadlock: prevention, avoidance, detection · CPU and I/O scheduling · Memory management and virtual memory: paging, page replacement · File systems
Algorithms
~8%Asymptotic worst-case time & space complexity · Searching, sorting, hashing · Design techniques: greedy, dynamic programming, divide-and-conquer · Graph traversals, minimum spanning trees, shortest paths
Theory of Computation
~8%Regular expressions and finite automata · Context-free grammars and push-down automata · Regular and context-free languages, pumping lemma · Turing machines and undecidability
Computer Networks
~8%Concept of layering: OSI and TCP/IP protocol stacks · Packet, circuit and virtual-circuit switching · Data link layer: framing, error detection, MAC, Ethernet · Routing protocols: shortest path, flooding, distance vector, link state · IPv4, CIDR notation, fragmentation, IPv4 addressing · TCP/UDP: connection management, flow and congestion control · Application protocols: DNS, SMTP, HTTP, FTP, email
Databases
~7%ER model · Relational model: relational algebra, tuple calculus, SQL · Integrity constraints, normal forms · File organization, indexing (B and B+ trees) · Transactions and concurrency control
Digital Logic
~4%Boolean algebra and minimization · Combinational and sequential circuits · Number representations: fixed and floating point
Compiler Design
~4%Lexical analysis, parsing (LL, LR) · Syntax-directed translation · Runtime environments · Intermediate code generation · Local optimisation, data flow analyses: constant propagation, liveness, common subexpression elimination