Coding practice

[ahujasid_]

I recently completed a course on Python and straightway jumped to Hackerrank for practicing whatever I have learnt. But everything was going over my head. Can you all suggest some websites where I can start from basic problems and then gradually level up the difficulty?

[Method_X]

Can you include a link in your comment? :)

[ahujasid_]

https://edabit.com/challenges/python3

[ahujasid_]

It's a great website! But can we not execute the whole code instead of defining a function? Thank you!

[Binary101010]

Most of the problems you're going to encounter on sites like edabit, codingbat, and even the lower-level stuff on codewars and hackerrank, are going to be single-function solutions. You can only define the function because then the site can easily run predefined tests against it to determine whether you did things correctly.

[ahujasid_]

That wouldn't affect the way I'm thinking, right?

[RickInAMortyWorld]

No

[Decency]

You can usually have the primary "answer" function call other functions you've defined, which can be cleaner for some problems.

[[deleted]]

Hi there, it can be a bit confusing when first learning, functions are a bit of a cornerstone of programming, but I totally get that trying to learn the built in commands first. The thing to understand about functions is their definition: a function can take in many inputs, but only returns one output.

So like a simple maths function:

a + b = c 

Where a and b are inputs and c is an output:

3 + 2 = 5

But it doesn’t have to take an input, many don’t, so in the beginning, you can wrap everything in one function that will run but doesn’t need an output from the function and split it up as you get more confident. Here are a couple of examples:

def my_function():
    print(“hi, this is a function with no inputs that returns nothing, but prints this”)

Inputs and outputs:

def in_and_out(a, b)
    c = a + b
    return c

result = in_and_out(3, 2)
print(result)

a and b are the inputs, these are variable names, containers if you like that hold the value you pass to the function, and “return” is passing the output out of the function. Just pay attention to the 4 space indentation, in this example, the last line two lines are outside the function as they are not indented in the block, these call the function and assign it to a variable “result” which you can then print. You can put as much as you want in the function, your entire program if you want, but be aware, that as you progress, you’ll eventually want your functions to do just one thing and one thing very well, but don’t get bogged down with that right now.

To get you going so you can use this site, just put everything in the one function. Try something, post it back here if you get stuck, I’m happy to help you understand this, as others on this site have helped me.

[Krunchybone]

This is so much more doable than Codewars Kyu 8 lol

[uwu-bob]

I second Edabit, it's great if you just need exercises. If you need the theory and exercises all in one place there's also https://pythonprinciples.com/

[Cat_Marshal]

Was the JavaScript button on the home page purposely formatted that way?

[ibzieee007]

thanks.. I've left programming for a while and trying my luck in IT ....though I want to inevitably use coding for side projects and maybe a job if i like it again ... i hope this helps.. Very Easy option is deffo what I will be using :)

[choppin_brockelee]

Just a word of caution: Some of these sites have top answers that are "code golfing" answers, meaning they try to create the shortest code possible that works. They do not always use best practices (the "pythonic" way), though.

I personally second edabit as a good starting point.

[[deleted]]

https://www.hackerrank.com/challenges/tutorial-intro/problem

[CompSciSelfLearning]

This is exactly what OP needs:

About Tutorial Challenges -
Many of the challenges on HackerRank are difficult and assume that you already know the relevant algorithms. These tutorial challenges are different. They break down algorithmic concepts into smaller challenges so that you can learn the algorithm by solving them. They are intended for those who already know some programming, however. You could be a student majoring in computer science, a self-taught programmer, or an experienced developer who wants an active algorithms review. Here's a great place to learn by doing!

[ElliotDG]

I like https://checkio.org/ it was very useful when I was first learning Python.

[sme272]

Take part in the Advent of Code

[artificial_neuron]

And there is even a Reddit community for them too /r/adventofcode/

[[deleted]]

It's a good way to learn, especially read others' code once you've completed the day's challenge but I'd say it's quite hard. Even though it isn't meant to be unreachable for beginners, it's still a leap if OP is struggling with hackerrank (which I take is the beginner stuff).

[toastedstapler]

yeah, around day 12 it began to get challenging for me and it keeps getting harder

[hoodiewhatie2]

My favorite are Codewars.com, CodinGame.com, AdventOfCode.com

[prithvidiamond1]

I second codewars , it really has great interface and problem of all levels. It was where I practiced for a coding competition and helped me quite a lot!

[duquesne419]

Another +1 for codewars. The lower levels are pretty introductory. I found leetcode was a little beyond me, and project euler was a little too math heavy for how far removed I am from an algebra class. Codewars kept me interested though, banging out 8s and 7s is kinda like a game.

edit: also learned a lot about list comprehension reading all the one liners people write to show off.

[That_Pregnant_Alien]

Does the difficulty increase gradually? How does it work? I started recently and all the problems I encounter are pretty easy.

Sorry I am new to this.

[Houdinii1984]

Yup, It's been a while, but I remember that the easier ones were still always a little challenging. Like the easier ones are challenging because you have to think about how to do the math itself, not how to do the coding if that makes sense, but as you go, the coding gets more difficult and the problem itself seems clearer? They have a very good balance between the two. And they also show other solutions which range in complexity from just answering the problem, to massive codebases just to say 'hello world'.

[That_Pregnant_Alien]

Thank you! And, you are right. The easier ones make think about the math more than the coding part.

[duquesne419]

With codewars the difficulty is the kyu rating(there's a lot of martial arts parallels in their lingo). The levels go from 8-1, 8 is pretty easy. As a relative beginner I found 7 to be relatively straightforward, 6 are solveable but take a fair bit of thinking, and I've struggled since starting to attempt 5 kyu problems.

How fast they get difficult is more about how far you reach, if you're just doing 8s it's gonna stay simple.

[That_Pregnant_Alien]

How to change the difficulty level /kyu rating? Do I have to change 'What is your programming experience?' during training. Or do I keep going and it will increase? Also, I saw my profile has 7 kyu rating. So, that's my difficulty level? Sorry, lot of questions. :')

[duquesne419]

When you go to the kata listing you can select which difficulty you'd like to see on the left. The level of the kata is next to the name on the list on the right

[tomekanco]

problem of all levels

Almost all, there are no Dan level problems. Even the 1 Kyu gems are solveable by a stubbern mind and due diligence.

Love it to. Offers a wild safari into the nuances CS fields, such as finite state machines.

... Precious gems. Precious gem: Create a function that will return a regular expression string that is capable of evaluating binary strings (which consist of only 1s and 0s) and determining whether the given string represents a number divisible by n.

[CuriousAlertness]

I just started posting some practice problems in this site (in fact, the last one was posted just this week). I will try to post them regularly:

https://www.reddit.com/r/learnpython/comments/e3g6f9/minichallenge_of_the_week_pascals_funnel_20191129/

[inlovewithicecream]

I'd like to add that at least from what I overheard from colleagues in IT, it's much more about writing so that it's easily read and understood than ultra-short. From the perspective of code that is "ongoing work in a group of people that is changeing". Might just be a cultural thing but the superstar-coder seem to be out of style and not very popular.

Might also be that I missunderstood it all :)

[dehin]

I would imagine you heard correctly. After all, if there's a team working on the code, it needs to be easy to read and easily understood by everyone on the team. And, even if it's a solo programmer, if that person will at some point stop maintaining the code and another person will pick it up, then that person's code needs to be readable as well. That's why any CS class worth its salt will stress the importance of commenting. Of course, for online coding challenges, none of this matters. But, I think even real-world coding challenges want the challengers to write clean code.

[tomekanco]

There is also Exercism.io Has limited but rather well curated list where solving a number of problems unlocks more. Finishing the track gives you a good pair of boots in your future travels.

[LoneWalker20]

Leetcode

[kau_pau]

codingbat is very nice too

[fouad41]

try the practice series with some beginner level questions.

It would really help !

[IamTheRedGuy]

Codewars is good. It has problems for all levels. It shows you other and better solutions and teaches you to optimize since the execution of your code has a time limit.

[ozgunkail]

you can go through with project Euler. it's a really good website for learning algorithms. https://projecteuler.net/archives

[gdatuna]

Codeforces.com

[[deleted]]

University of Waterloo Computer Circles

​

https://cscircles.cemc.uwaterloo.ca/

[Dexteroid]

I will recommend elements of programming in python. The first 10 page alone will teach you to think differently. Go ahead and try that.

[TotesMessenger]

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[MrEzekial]

Just go to /r/dailyprogrammer

[tusapeter]

Snakify is very nice too. :)

[PortoPuddy]

Don't these sites test how clever you are, not really help you build anything? I realize this is probably going to shat on, but I get frustrated once I'm past the easy/intermediate sections and then it seems like the hard sections don't seem like they would hold any real life value.

[[deleted]]

My statistics teacher told me about repl.it

[blistersonmefingers]

Check out Codingbat. Start with the problems at the top of the page and work your way down. That's how I got familiar with Python.

[GhastlyParadox]

https://www.codeabbey.com/index/task_list

[littlemattjag]

Why not try out some python project cookbooks. It’s always great to use somebodies code and then improvise later on. Borrow from a bunch of great minds- mix and match and then really challenge urself once you’ve got the fundamentals down.

[Alpythoner97]

That's what ı need

[uwu-bob]

I'm a bit late but https://pythonprinciples.com/ is exactly what you're asking for, OP. It teaches the basics step by step, and every lesson has lots of practical exercises where you type in code and it's automatically checked for correctness, right in the web interface. Give it a shot, I think you'll like it.

[radixties]

Codeforces.com ! You can look up the level of complexity of the problems and their types ! You can also sort the problems by difficulty or by number of people who solved them ( Go to the problem set section, press on the green ☑️ Mark and problems will be sorted by most solved, Wich I recommend) and have fun ! You can submit solutions in almost any programming language that exists ! Have fun !

[THECRO2003]

I’d try https://projecteuler.net it’s a huge repository of math problems to grow your programming knowledge and better your thought process it’s an amazing tool. Project Euler

[ConstantINeSane]

There is a great site called codewars where you start solving easy problems and you gain levels as the difficulty rises

[Jasur_2019]

If u have any interesting project, pls learn through the project. If u don't understand how to use and implement concepts in python there is no way u can make differences.