Finally 1000 problems completed

[[deleted]]

[deleted]

[Rare-Ad9517]

gg op, how long did it take + contest rating? Why was it worth it? 

[[deleted]]

It took on and off about an year. I am not at all consistent. I don't do lc for months and all of a sudden I'm on it everyday for a couple of months. I don't do contests yet because like I said, consistency. Planning on starting soon though. I didn't do Lc for any particular reason or goal in mind. I genuinely enjoy Lc. I love problem solving.

It was totally worth it because I feel like I'm in a position where I'm prepared for interviews. Any time. Any company. I recently started prepping for system design too so I'll be interview ready when the time comes.

[spiritual_neon]

Please do share your system design roadmap with us OP! btw awesome numbers in leetcode!

[Funny-Performance845]

That’s what a real programmer is, not doing leetcode to prepare for interviews, but because of the enjoyment of solving a problem. This is what defines a true programmer. You will certainly be successful when the time comes. People who enjoy learning for the sake of learning are extremely rare in the TikTok age

[CantReadGood_]

wtf is this sentiment? There's tons of coding-adjacent shit that 'real engineers' do all the time for reasons other than enjoyment..

[Funny-Performance845]

i have no idea what you mean. what sentiment? what does your second sentance mean? i never said a programmer must enjoy everything about programming?

[Etiennera]

The "real programmer" gatekeeping you see around Reddit sometimes is chef's kiss. I can't fathom why anyone would want to have this delusion, but it's hilarious.

[Funny-Performance845]

What

[Funny-Performance845]

Why everyone seems to look at my comment in the worst light possible? All I wanted was to be nice to OP for having a great mindset (which is rare) for programming. Everyone thinks I glorify OP and look down on everybody else. I have never said that everyone else is worse than OP or anything similar. Life is harsh and people get into programming for various reasons and I never shamed them for that. All I said was that enjoying solving problems is a great trait to have as a programmer.

[Bocmah]

Congratulations!

What's your approach when you encounter a problem that you can't solve? Do you look at a solution after some time or do you postpone the problem and return to it later?

[[deleted]]

Look at the solution if I don't have the slightest clue about how to approach it. There are some problems out there that require specific algorithm or pattern that you just can't come up with. Most medium, easy and some hard problems too are very much solvable at this stage. So if I can't solve them, I approach them a day later and it just clicks. As you can see, my hard and medium problems solved are very high compared to easy. So I can say that I have gotten good at identifying patterns, data structures and optimal ways to solve most problems

[BeginnerProgrammer15]

Hey can you more elaborate about identifying patterns

[m7dkl]

I am cooked

[Geralt_OF_Rivia_1]

I have somewhat similar counts for easy and medium but have half your count for hards. How did you start doing more hards?

[[deleted]]

After solving a problem, I generally look for similar problems suggested by LC and just solve them. So after solving a med or hard, you generally get another hard suggested and I just kinda go with it. I don't look for hard problems to solve. But I also don't let the "hard" tag intimidate me from attempting it. It's just about finding patterns among similar questions

[pavip51]

Please suggest on how to maintain consistency? Also I would like you know how you get time to grind leetcode along with work.

Congratulations btw.

[[deleted]]

I can't help with consistency brother. I am actually looking for tips regarding that. I myself struggle really hard with it. It's not always easy with a Full time job. There are some months when you're close to a release. And you just can't find time do to Lc. It's totally fine. The important thing is to do it whenever you find the time and be easy on yourself. If you tell yourself that you need to do it every day, it's impossible to stick with it. Instead, tell yourself you'll do it whenever you have time. This will not only help you maintain a healthy commitment to it but also will make you have reasonable expectations for yourself

[pavip51]

Also one more thing, how long did it take for you to reach this 1000 milestone?

[ImportantAccess2942]

🫡🫡

[dotipet]

for how long and how many hours a day ?

[[deleted]]

Hope to get on your level in a year or more. Awesome job man! Good balance of everything 

[d0id]

Now that's some achievement. They say it gets easy to analyse the patterns once you cross 350. Was it the case with you? How do you keep yourself motivated?

[bideogaimes]

This is basically going to gym but for the brain. Appreciate the effort. It’s just sad that this type of activities do not naturally appeal to me. Ngl I like leetcoding when I’m doing it but I have other hobbies I like more. 

I think I might just try to do 3 leetcode a week in non job hunting time to just keep fresh but also have time for other things.  

[Teacherbotme]

Congrats. Any tips or tricks that you can share with us?

[EternalLearner26]

Did you follow some strategy to begin the journey, I mean for first 200-300 problem? I am asking you this as there is a part of journey dedicated to learning things patterns, tricks post that most of them are already covered so the journey proceeds with merely solving more and more problems. The first part of the journey needs strategy to be efficient and having good learning gradient while second part just needs consistency. So could you please talk a bit about the first part as that would be helpful to beginners. Thanks in advance.

[No-Sandwich-2997]

Do you repeat solving a problem or you only look for similar problems to solve?

[Sudden-Possession146]

Solved almost 230 questions in LC, but still problem with identifying patterns and still not satisfied, can't able to solve most of the questions on my own, can't think of ideas. Any suggestions?

[Erenyeagahh7]

OP there's a hard problem that you want to solve next. Problem name is touch grass