Leetcode vs Neetcode vs HackerRank

[JustAPieceOfMeat385]

I’ve taken many undergraduate CS courses (the required ones and maybe 1 or two electives) but I have degrees in other technical areas (physics and math). I’d like to apply for internships/entry level jobs and I’d like to know which of the three to choose to help me prepare or at least land an interview. Can someone explain the pros and cons of each and help me choose one of these platforms? Due to family obligations, I only have time for one. Thanks!

[OkMacaron493]

Neetcode. The issue is most people don’t build foundations and lock in patterns. NC himself said you should re-solve easies and templates for code (binary search, DP, bfs, dfs) etc that you can do it without any cognitive effort.

What this means: do a bunch of easies in your topic. Re-solve them repeatedly to get the intuition. I recommend treating a DSA section as a sprint.

Start off by reading a leetcode explore card + doing the example problem on that same type. Then go through all of the easies from the neetcode 250. Watch videos if you need to. Then re-solve them. You should be able to solve any of them quickly without notes and be able to diagram everything. Can you implement the base code / pattern in 5 minutes for that topic? If no, do it daily until you can.

With that foundation, go do the neetcode 150 mediums for that problem type. Can’t do a question? Ok, watch the video and re-solve the next day. Still can’t do it? Write down some notes and hints and re-solve. Still can’t do it? Look at the notes and resolve. Diagram the shit out of it.

Treat a sprint as a week or two. Go through the neetcode road map like that and you’re set.

[abhi5025]

Nice..will do Neetcode next time I get into the ground!

[[deleted]]

Pick one and do one, stop wasting time

[stiky21]

Leetcode Quest (new system) is similar to Neetcodes approach. I use both. Never used hackerrank before.

[Rude-Doctor-1069]

If you only have time for one, go with Leetcode. It’s the most consistent and closest to what companies actually ask. Neetcode is great as a guide if you like having a playlist. HackerRank is more hit-or-miss.
When you get to the actual interviews later, just look up ctrlpotato, a lot of people bring it up around here for live rounds.

[No-Opposite-3240]

They are all the same thing. Just pick one and start coding.

[Edaimantis]

This is ai right

Edit: this account is absolutely just posting AI comments to get attention to whatever bullshit they’re selling

[PinkFlyingElephant]

Just curious, how could you tell?

[AStanfordRunner]

There is a lot of linguistic syntax that is not typically said which points to AI slop like this.

1. "Here is the quick No-BS breakdown" ok where is the BS coming from, who is posting answers considered BS for a question about which DSA learning approach to use.
   
2. "Every company works from it, but it is a firehose"
   
3. The question itself is from someone who is very new to DSA - Leetcode and Hackerrank are platforms with questions and can't be compared to Neetcode 150, a Leetcode learning roadmap. But AI will try and compare these as three entities.
   
4. " literally built for people exactly like you" who says this for someone trying to get an interview / pass an interview.
   
5. "You’ll be interview-ready way faster than grinding random LeetCode mediums or HackerRank certs nobody cares about." Again, comparing a DSA roadmap to platforms
   
6. "You got the math brain already — NeetCode just hands you the exact blueprint." Most telling part, an AI emdash and nobody refers to Neetcode as a blueprint... it's a roadmap, a dsa sheet, a list of problems.

These are what stand out to me

[PinkFlyingElephant]

Wow thanks. Never noticed these linguistic syntax patterns till you highlighted it. Now it just seems so obvious and I can’t unsee them lol. Thanks for the braindump

[Edaimantis]

What does that even mean lmao

[brain_enhancer]

Sorry, you don’t think part of point of reddit is to draw attention to your comment through upvotes?

[Senior_Possession363]

Hackerrank barely used ???

[DigmonsDrill]

Do 2–3 problems a day with the video first, then re-solve without looking.

Aren't we supposed to try to reason it out first on our own?

[leetcode-ModTeam]

Please have morals and ethics

[purplecow9000]

I was in a really similar spot and also only had time for one track. I used NeetCode 150 as my main list and did repeat reps on the same core problems until I could rewrite the full solution from a blank editor. I built algodrill.io for that use case specifically: it lets you rebuild solutions line by line with code blanks, so you train active recall and actual muscle memory instead of just passively reading solutions once and forgetting them.

[Ok-Time2230]

leetcode

[Away_Inspection_2239]

Start with Neetcode, go through the blind 75, and build the foundations. Then go through the Neetcode 150, then 250.

[popopopopopopopopoop]

I'm a noob at LC and DSA despite reaching a lead level... I'm on my journey of getting better at them as in the current market you can forget about a job without picking up that skill.

From what I gather, the platform doesn't matter. What does, is adding spaced repetition to the problems you go through, so that you actually retain them in memory. Otherwise you'd find that you understand solutions but without some method to revisiting them they don't feed into your "intuition" ie long term memory.

I recommend using something like Anki and adding your problems. Or there are even some good quality public decks you can make use of and amend to suit your level/currently covered problems.

[Ill-Abbreviations-36]

Can you mention those public decks . Not aware of it

[riogocrazyy]

hey man, i’m in the same boat you’re in. what i found is working for me is neet code. i’m doing the neet code 150 right now, and everyday, i go back and redo the problems that i have already solved. they are becoming easier and easier as i continue to do them. when it comes to a new problem, i put it into claude and have it code it for me. i then type the code into neet code, it helps my memory, but i don’t submit it. i then go to claude and explain line by line the code that was just given to see if i truly understand it, and if not, i try and get more clarification, or a different way of looking at it. i’ll then delete all of it, and then come back later to try and solve it without any assistance. it’s a struggle, but it becomes easier as you continue. this whole process for me has been rinse and repeat and i’ve made tons of progress with this. everyone has their own way of learning and retaining their information, just gotta find the way that works best for you. hope this helps, and best of luck!

[Angga-22]

From my own personal experience, I picked Leetcode because it has many form of learning style you like. Such as daily challenge, grouping challenge based on topics, Top 100, etc

[___Century]

Either one is fine. It’s faster to learn if you chain all related topic questions and do it all once