50/150 on The Neetcode 150: Is it Worth Your Time?
How I’m tackling the NeetCode 150 and My Thoughts so Far
To answer the question in the title, yes, it is worth your time. But if you want to hear some of my thoughts then keep reading.
Recently, I wrote an article about what the NeetCode 150 is and gave a lot of praise to it.
You can check out that article here: The NeetCode 150: An Easy Way to Ace Coding Interview Questions | by TheConnoisseur | Jul, 2023 | Medium
At the time, I had only just started the NeetCode 150, as well as writing on medium, and wrote that article as a way of sharing a great resource for coding interview preparation, as well as to give myself a deeper understanding of the platform by writing about it.
And now, I’m a third of the way through my NeetCode journey and want to share my thoughts about it.
My Thoughts on LeetCode
The NeetCode 150 is a curated list of 150 LeetCode questions, so it’ll help to give my thoughts on LeetCode first.
In short, LeetCode is great.
While I’m not familiar with other coding interview preparation platforms and can’t compare them to LeetCode, I can say that someone who has no experience practicing interview questions will find value in LeetCode.
The main issue with it for me is the lack of a study plan and quality solutions without LeetCode premium.
Solving LeetCode questions without a study plan is like reading a book with the chapters in random order. You will piece together what’s going on, but it won’t be enjoyable and will take a lot longer.
So, of course, when a friend recommended the NeetCode 150 to me as a free LeetCode study plan with quality solutions, how could I resist?
How I’m Tackling The NeetCode 150 and My Thoughts
As of writing this, I’m about a third of the way through the NeetCode 150, doing an average of one to two questions a day.
My Strategy for Tackling The Questions
I’m tackling the questions in order of difficulty, which has been working for me so far.
Though I know people who have done questions order of topic, so it’s whatever works for you.
However I highly recommend doing at least one question a day, or at least getting into a regular routine. If you don’t have a plan, you’re making it a lot harder for yourself to succeed. This doesn’t just go for NeetCode but also for life in general.
Another strategy I’m considering for the next leg of the NeetCode 150 is a high-intensity one, where you do ten questions a day and get the whole list done in two weeks. This essentially trades the quality of your solutions and relaxation for speed.
There are even more approaches you could use to tackle the NeetCode 150, but that’s a topic for another blog post.
So What Do I Really Think About The NeetCode 150?
It’s great!
It feels like free LeetCode Premium that comes with a friendly, niche community that is open to any questions you might have.
Though I’m sure LeetCode Premium comes with features you can’t get elsewhere, there are so many free alternatives out there that there’s no pressure to cough up cash.
So Would I Recommend the NeetCode 150?
Of course! Even if you don’t stick to it, give it a try.
Even if you aren’t planning on entering any coding interviews anytime soon, I would still check it out as it teaches vital problem-solving skills and data structures/algorithms that you’ll need in everyday life as a programmer.
Also, it’s actually pretty fun once you get into it :)
The Hardest Part So Far
Like most things, the hardest part is finding time for it, but sticking to a routine and only setting a certain amount of time for coding helps.
If you ask me the hardest topic though, from the easy questions, I would say dynamic programming.
Despite not completing all the medium questions yet, I have a feeling this won’t change.
Dynamic programming seems to be the one that requires the most innovative thought to solve each problem. Other problems you can solve by relying on knowledge of data structures and algorithms, though this varies for the harder problems.
We’ll see if this changes as I progress further though.
Will I Continue With The NeetCode 150?
In short, yes.
Everyone has a different idea of how much practice you need before entering a coding interview, but generally, 150 questions covering a wide range of topics and difficulties are seen as a good baseline.
Stopping at fifty wouldn’t feel right to me, and I’m hoping to hang on till the end.
That’s all from me for now!
I know this was overwhelmingly positive, but I don’t see anything the NeetCode 150 lacks in for now.
Until next time, Ciao.
Thanks for reading, and go and ace those coding interviews!
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