A Comprehensive Guide to Enhancing Your Coding Skills with LeetCode
Introduction:
Want to improve your coding skills and get ready for coding interviews? The Leetcode platform is a great place to practice and develop your problem-solving skills. The essential stages to getting started with Leetcode and maximizing your learning experience are covered in this guide. Let’s start now!
Select a Programming Language:
You must be proficient in an object-oriented programming language in order to start using Leetcode. Keep using the language you already know, such as Java, JavaScript, Python, or C++. However, Python is advised if you are new to programming, as it is simpler to learn and enables you to concentrate more on the logical parts of problem-solving.
Learn about Data Structures and algorithms:
Leetcode and most of the other coding platforms are built on data structures and algorithms. It is essential to have a firm grasp of DSA concepts and how they are implemented in the programming language of your choice. You can optimize your code and gain essential skills for working as a software engineer by becoming an expert in DSA. Spend time learning and using DSA concepts in your coding.
Start with the Top 100 Most Liked Questions:
Leetcode has a vast collection of coding questions, but not all of them are made equal. Start with the top 100 most liked questions to make your learning process more productive. The community has voted these questions up because they are thought to be clear, beneficial, and practical. You can learn the principles and develop confidence in your skills for problem-solving by concentrating on these questions. At first, try to answer about 50 easy- to medium-level questions. Save the difficult ones for when you have a firm understanding of the DSA concepts.
Topic-Based Learning:
Learning through a topic-based approach is preferable to randomly tackling tasks on Leetcode in order to make the most progress. Select a certain subject, then drill deeper into related questions. You’ll start to see patterns as you work through questions related to the same subject. This method greatly improves your efficiency by enabling you to use newly learned strategies on questions that are similar. Prior to moving on to the next topic, try to answer at least 20 questions from each topic until you have grasped the concepts. It is recommended to study the following topics in the following order:
- String
- Two Pointers
- Sliding Window
- Binary Search
- Recursion
- Binary Tree
- Backtracking
- DFS (Depth First Search)
- BFS (Breadth First Search)
- Graph
- Linked List
- Sort
- Trie
- Stack/Queue
- Priority Queue
- Dynamic Programming
Order Questions by Acceptance Rate:
Don’t simply select questions within a topic based on the platform’s assigned difficulty level. Instead, arrange the questions in descending order of acceptability. Benefit from the community-driven statistics that Leetcode offers. Compared to some medium questions, some easy questions may have lower acceptance rates. You can ensure a more comfortable learning curve by making decisions that have higher acceptance rates.
Learn from Solutions:
It’s okay to ask for help if you’ve been working on a problem for more than 30 minutes. Look up the answer, and comprehend the logic behind it. Understanding the solutions can help you comprehend the patterns and techniques employed by experienced programmers. Instead of learning the code by heart, it is advised that you implement the solution on your own once you have grasped the concept. Long-term, this practice will strengthen your comprehension and problem-solving abilities.
Revise and reinforce:
Make sure to come back to it later if you have to look up a solution to a specific issue. Solving difficulties repeatedly strengthens your knowledge and skills over time. Give yourself time to improve and hone your problem-solving techniques by frequently going back to previously solved questions.
Conclusion:
Leetcode is a wonderful tool for developing your coding abilities and getting ready for coding interviews. You can develop an organized approach to problem-solving and make use of the immense information that the coding community shares by following the instructions provided in this guide. The keys to success on Leetcode are constant practice, topic-based learning, and learning from solutions. Accept the challenges, keep going when things get tough, and enjoy the process of improving as a programmer.
Additional Point:
There is a well-known list of 75 questions called “Blind 75 Must Do Leetcode” that was put together by a Facebook tech lead a few years ago and is widely used in the software engineering community. Due to the fact that it includes a wide range of patterns and concepts required for coding interviews, this list has become very popular. It is frequently brought up when people ask for recommendations on which problems to study on websites like Reddit and Blind. You can get a complete list of questions to help you improve your problem-solving skills by looking through this list.
At the heart of this blog is a collaboration with ChatGPT, an AI language model developed by OpenAI. While ChatGPT assisted in generating and refining the content, the ideas and findings presented herein are a result of my own research and analysis.
