Leetcode 🔥 is one of the best platforms out there to practice interview questions.
I have solved around 550+ problems on LeetCode[Profile] for a year now. So I think I am eligible enough to guide you.
And NO, you don't need to solve 500+ questions to crack FAANG or MAANG 😮💨.
Like you guys I too was stuck and was overwhelmed with the number of questions and question difficulty on Leetcode.
So what did I do to improve my coding skills gradually? 🤔
Where and How to Start?
I would suggest you to first learn the basic syntaxes of whichever programming language you are comfortable with. Coders on platforms like LeetCode, CodeChef, CodeForces etc. use C++ and Java mostly.
Learning Java gives you an extra advantage as most of the Low-Level Design resources out there are in Java. So basically you are preparing for your System Design Interviews from the starting itself.
Learn about Time and Space Complexity📍
After learning about Time and Space Complexity, learn about
What are Data Structures?
Why do we need Data Structures?
Types of Data Structures?
Real World Applications of Data Structures?
Once you are theoretically strong, try to implement the following Data Structures from scratch. This way you have an in-depth understanding of every data structure.
Beginner
Arrays
Stacks
Queues
Linked List (Single, Doubly, Circular)
Intermediate
Binary Tree
Binary Search Tree
Hashing
Heap
Advanced
Graphs
Trie
Expert
Segment Trees
Disjoint Union
As a beginner try to focus on Beginner and Intermediate section. Most of the questions revolve around these concepts. Once you are comfortable with these concepts move on to the remaining sections only after practicing enough questions on basic data structures.
What After Implementing Data Structures from Scratch?
Once you have a good understanding of these data structures, don't start with LeetCode.
Head to Hacker Rank and start solving easy questions. Try to do this as soon as you have a better understanding of any data structure you just practiced.
After solving questions in the range of 10-15 move to LeetCode and now start solving easy questions here. And gradually move on to the medium ones and then the Hard ones.
Try to do this for every Data Structure you learn. Easy questions on HackerRank are like Super Easy Questions compared to LeetCode standards.
Remember, it takes time to solve questions on LeetCode. With consistency, you will eventually arrive at a stage where you can see how much you have improved as a programmer.
Also, try to attend LeetCode contests and don't worry about your ranking.
What after LeetCode? 🧐
Attend the Weekly and Bi-Weekly Contests.
Solving questions on LeetCode makes you a better programmer, but as a Software Developer, your main focus must be on building applications and learning new technologies.
Try to experiment with all Domains and pick that interests you the most. Some examples are Web Development, Android Development, and Machine Learning.
LeetCoding helps you think logically, write better code and reduce the time complexities of certain code segments reducing overall app, website or any systems response time, which indirectly helps organizations save tons of money💸.
That is the reason people who can solve LeetCode questions are paid crazy.
Hope you liked this Blog & Happy LeetCoding 🙌🏼.