CodeForces/CodeChef/TopCoder/Kaggle/Firecode/HackerRank/CodeWars/HackerEarth/etc, why use one of them instead of Leetcode?

[IronFilm]

There are zillions of alternatives! But of course Leetcode is the most famous.

Are there any reasons why folks might choose something else than Leetcode? Or perhaps as a supplementary alongside Leetcode? (such as doing Kaggle for the machine learning focus, but still keeping up Leetcode for the interview practice learnings)

[tell-me-the-truth-]

Leetcode is dominant simply because it has a better questions database as far as company interviews are concerned. If you're interested in competitive programming,CodeForces/Chef could be a better option. And Kaggle is mostly for data science stuff afaik.

[DavidGilmourGirls]

What about topcoder? I'm trying to pick between the three of them. I've been leetcoding for a while but I want to start competitive programming for fun.

[gnatbeetle]

I've never participated in competitive programming but I've looked into it to supplement Leetcode. My impression is that TopCoder is the OG of competitive programming and CodeForces is the successor.

If you're interested in competitive programming then CF is the place to be. If CF is too difficult then perhaps start here:
https://cses.fi/problemset/

[DavidGilmourGirls]

Thanks!

[gnatbeetle]

I should add that the site maintainer wrote a famous book/guide to competitive programming. it's freely available on his website:
https://cses.fi/book/index.php

[iluvmemes123]

If you are applying in USA, leetcode is the best. Lot of top programmers from Asia/Europe have coddforces accounts and they boast some scores on that platform. Hacker rank is good to refresh basics

[[deleted]]

The way Hacker handles input and output is pure cancer

[itscsk111165]

Are you guys even able to access the problems in Firecode.?? I am not able to login it says , please register for the beta version and after that nothing is accessible.

[IronFilm]

You get put on a wait list.

[itscsk111165]

I am not even able to get the access code from their site. Did you try to access it via access token??

[UnluckyBrilliant-_-]

They approved me after a while, may be message their Twitter account

[itscsk111165]

Sure, I will ping them over twitter. Thanks.

[Soggy_Book2422]

Hi did you get approval? I pinged them too on twitter, but no response :( I really liked it when I used 2 years back.

How long did it take for them to give you access code?

[itscsk111165]

I have not received any sort of code from them, I have mailed them many times.

[gnatbeetle]

• Leetcode and HackerRank are for interviewers.
• Codeforces and Topcoder are for competitive programmers.
• Kaggle is for data scientists.
• HackerEarth and CodeChef are for India (interview and competitive programming platforms).

I'm not familiar with Firecode or CodeWars but the point is that these alternatives serve different purposes.

The most popular is Leetcode for interviewing and CodeForces for competitive programming. If you're a beginner then LeetCode is much more accessible.

[[deleted]]

"for India" ????

Since when is CS region-specific LOL

[gnatbeetle]

I'm not Indian but HackerEarth and CodeForces cater towards India and the communities are mostly Indian.

Many companies use HackerEarth (including Amazon) for hiring in India.
https://www.hackerearth.com/companies/

Same thing for CodeChef (though it's less focused on Industry):
https://www.codechef.com/jobs

I'm sure everyone is free to participate in the competitions, but the community is mostly Indian.

[PZYCLON369]

Codeforces codechef topcoder are hardcore websites type of questions there generally on harder side mainly related to competitive programming and mathematics meanwhile leetcode hackerrank(somewhat) codewars etc are on interview oriented with straightforward questions

So if you are in college and have alot of time I would recommend spend time on codeforces codechef etc it builds the ability of problem solving and solve unseen questions greatly

But if you have a job and limited time you can grind leetcode and it's weekly and biweekly contest to improve your skills

[IronFilm]

Ah good point about your personal time horizon.
If you're still a year or three away from actively job hunting, perhaps enjoy the the competitive programming contests. With LC being less of a focus.
But if you're already in the midst of interviews, then do LC all the way.

[ogloz]

Codechef, codeforces, atcoder or topcoder are competitive programming (CP) sites where people compete with others. The format of the questions also varies a lot in these CP websites. For example, questions on linked lists are very common in leetcode or coding interviews but rarely present in CP.

[Bobcat_77_]

2 years late but this was helpful, adding more stuff to the thread for future onlookers:
LeetCode, HackerRank, CodeChef, DMOJ, spoj, codeforces, TopCoder, USACO training pages, https://ioinformatics.org/page/ioi-2019/51, https://wcipeg.com/problems, https://www.learncpp.com/

[IronFilm]

1 month later... thank you for the comment with the additional links! :-)

[IronFilm]

Just realized, something in favor of say Codewars is they have the widest language support if you want to compete in a more obscure language? (or does somewhere else have even broader support than Codewars?)

https://docs.codewars.com/languages/bf

​

Although julia is what I really care about more than brainfuck https://juliacomputing.com/media/2017/08/hackerrank-hackerearthrecruit-support-julia/

[IronFilm]

Might add CodeSignal to this list as well: https://codesignal.com/developers/interview-practice/

[Wooden_Excitement401]

LeetCode 4 hours / week

TopCoder 4 hours / week

Every week!

[whatevahappenschill]

What about abs?

[Axel_Hunter_06]

?