My Coding Journey
I always heard, coding is must for placement or to get a job but unfortunately, I always have a phobia of it. I never done a formal DSA coding until the placement season started in IIT. I have hardly done 200 questions on LeetCode [everyone do 500+] and very few on codeforces. In starting days, I use to solve only 2-3 easy questions on leetcode taking 4-5hours and after that never ending headache for remaining day. So why am I here?
What I want to share is my learnings and my experience. How you should approach in your initial days. I only have 4 to 5 months of coding experience so please forgive me if it is not suitable or relatable for you.
Coding is just solving DSA, CP and DP questions, RIGHT!!! But before that understand very important thing i.e. Coding develops the part of your brain which process+simplifies+understand the problem and either try to recognize the pattern (if you have solved too many questions or similar pattern question) OR develop a complete new approach (if you have developed yourself to think for multiple approaches on same problem)
There are few important things in learning.
Consistency: Yup it is important but there are too many ups and downs. Some day you feel like I will solve so many questions and other I just don’t want to do it anymore. And this is completely fine.
Resources: Very much important. Good resources suitable for you is the game changer.
Environment: Plays very important role. My friends and I use to discuss the questions. Before OA (Online Assessments) starts in IIT my friend and I use to take coding round similar to Google Coding Round on google docs for 45 minutes each.
Practice: If possible, try to write code on pen paper or atleast in google doc assuming you are in interview (I use to write on pen paper and it helped me a lot in my coding rounds as well as technical rounds to as I developed the habit to explain things by showing something on paper)
I never followed so called famous coders (I never felt to follow them as everyone is following them). My approach is like to focus on basics first. For this Aditya Verma YT is best. Then I came across the 15 patterns for leetcode but trust me you have to apply and develop different approaches on same problem. (I learn this in my first coding round of google). Then multiple sheets of coding problems.
One more important thing never ever uses AI to get initial approach on any coding question as it leads to brain rot. This happened with me in my google first coding round. I was unable to think the basic approach and only stuck on Trie approach but later at lunch while discussing the same problem, as soon as my friend said stack the entire solution got visualized in my mind.
Now let’s see Some of the Coding Resources I use to Follow:
Aditya Verma Playlist: youtube.com/@TheAdityaV…
Interviewbit: interviewbit.com/course… [You might feel difficult but this is must]
Leetcode 15 Patterns: blog.algomaster.io/p/15…
CSES: cses.fi/problemset
NeetCode: neetcode.io/practice/pr…
interviewing.io: interviewing.io [To practice interview style]
Beyond Cracking the coding interview book [Highly recommended ]
CP-Algorithms: cp-algorithms.com
AtCode DP Sheet: atcoder.jp/contests/dp/…
Read different blogs
Grid75: techinterviewhandbook.o…
USACO: usaco.guide/problems [Advance level]
Leetcode Contest
Codeforces Contest [Atleast try to understand the problem and solve few]
Company-Wise LeetCode: https://malivinayak.com/cwleetcode
At the end I just want to give you few tips, You should know the important algorithms like prefix sum, line sweep, . . . . This will help you to think faster approaches. Read blogs on leetcode, codeforces, medium about others coding thinking and their approaches. Do not jump to coding solution directly. Take your time and think on it. (In initial days you have to go for solutions as you cannot pick patterns quickly but after 2-3 months solve yourself). Pen paper practice will help you lot. Always participate in contest honestly as it develops time bound thinking and problem-solving approaches under pressure.
This is my own experience. Some points may not apply to you as it differs from person to person.
Thank You 😊