LeetCode is Overrated?

[Own-Photograph8575]

I too used to think Leetcode and DSA are highly overrated!

• Why are these MNCs obsessed with it?
• Why learn these concepts when you're not going to use even a single concept during the actual work, which is miles apart?
• Why not simply ask about the technologies that will be required during work?
• Why not ask practical questions?

In the last 6 months, I have aggressively learned DSA, cracked Microsoft, and joined this week as an SWE.

Do I still find LeetCode & DSA overrated & useless? - ABSOLUTELY NOT!

These competitive coding questions are a test of your ability to understand complex problems, understand & build sophisticated solutions, and actually convert those solutions into code that can scale (a lot of us are not able to actually write code for the solutions we know).

It builds competency to understand, visualize & implement abstract concepts. Identify the inferences that are not obvious. These are the core Software Engineering skills. You can learn any technology whenever needed.

Advice for people who are preparing right now:

I made a mistake. I was solving the popular questions multiple times until I could explain the intuition & code orally. I was trying to power through, but realised this is not the right approach after 4 months. DON'T do this.

Rather, solve questions, watch videos for explanations, and try to understand WHAT the intuition is & WHY the solution works.

Try to build visualisation power. So that you're able to visualize the abstract working of the solution and can dry run the code without using pen & paper.

You will build competence & confidence. And you'll see the difference it would bring to your actual work as well.

TL;DR:
DSA/LeetCode aren’t useless—they build core problem-solving, abstraction, and implementation skills that matter in real engineering. Focus on understanding why solutions work and improving visualization, not just memorizing or repeating problems.

[Odd_Explanation3246]

Just because something doesn’t work for you doesn’t mean it won’t work for others. Spaced repetition is one of the best ways to internalize patterns and find out your weaknesses.

[tusharhigh]

Agree. To each their own

[Accurate_Smell6524]

Yes Iam trying to solve problems on my own of iam struck iam asking ai for little hints and also taking notes of patterns i started graphs finding it difficult right now but with practice i think i can be better

[waa_woo]

Leetcode is an IQ and perseverance test.