How to Master Data Structures & Algorithms
A guide to master the skills and become better problem-solver
Being proficient at Data Structures and Algorithms is of utmost importance for a software developer. These are the building blocks of not only your programming but also your problem-solving skills.
For an aspiring programmer, these concepts are not so easy to learn. I myself got intimidated by DS and Algorithms when I started learning them.
But as I learned them slowly in a few months I started enjoying solving problems using these concepts.
DS and Algorithms make you a better programmer and not to say help to crack job interviews as well.
Here I present probably the best way to master these concepts:
Basic Principles of Programming
You need to start small. First, learn the basics of programming. Basics include the following:
- Variables
- Conditional statements
- Loops
- Basic functions
- Arrays
It is irrelevant for someone to directly go to the next step without knowing how to code. You don’t have to be master programming, but should be able to code in the language of your choice.
Searching and Sorting
Searching and Sorting are integral parts of programming. Many solutions need these as a part of presenting the data, for analysis, and as an intermediate step.
Understanding different kinds of searching and sorting, their use-cases, implementation, and their computation time is a must for software developers.
Data Structures
Bad programmers worry about the code. Good programmers worry about data structures and their relationships.
— Linus Torvalds
Once you are able to code small programs, it is time to get into big boys business. Idea is to learn and implement these data structures yourselves.
Again, start with simpler data structures like — Stack, Queues, and Linked Lists. You will get familiar with the concepts and the implementation.
Next move on to more complex data structures. Learn trees and graphs. In tress, start with BST (Binary Search Tree), its traversal, and then to more complex trees.
Advanced Algorithms
Working with data structures nurtures your abilities to program a few basic algorithms. Now you need to step up the game.
This involves a few topics like these:
- Hash maps
- Dynamic Programming
- Greedy algorithms
- Backtracking
- Design Patterns
Developing programs for these advanced topics boosts your knowledge and enhances your problem-solving skills.
Assessing your solution with big O notation is a great idea. It enables you to doubt the efficiency of your solution and find a better one.
Coding Challenges & Hackathons
After acquiring the above skills you need to sharpen your critical thinking skills as a software developer.
Taking Online coding challenges and hackathons regularly provides you with practice to solve complex algorithms. This will help you stand out from your competition.
Conclusion
I started programming in my second year of the graduation program. Data structure was quite tough for me to learn. I had to put in a lot of effort, but gladly I could conquer my fears in 3–4 months.
I came up with the above roadmap for aspirants to learn DS and algorithms.
