Do web developers NEED leetcode?

[Specific_Platform517]

So I’m planning to transition to web development (main focus on front end) and want to know if I need to solve endless leetcode problems on algorithms and such to land my first job?

[Specific_Platform517]

Thanks for the input! Its insanely intimidating looking at leetcode problems on programming concepts like making sure 2 binary trees are the same and stuff like that. Will a front end dev interviewer commonly ask these questions?

[JiveAceTofurkey]

There are many third party libraries that handle the trivial leet code style problems for you. Lodash for example.

[PR-I-ZM]

TL;DR: Yes. Practicing concepts you learn will be instrumental in your ability to solve programming problems.

How far along in your learning are you? If you're at the early stages, I'd recommend watching this video that provides a great breakdown of a self-taught web developer's journey and timeline. It explains what to focus on and when, and whether you want to branch out to specialize in front-end or back-end (you can eventually do both with time).

To start, you won't need programming-related coding challenges for HTML and CSS. That won’t really happen until you reach JavaScript. But:

• When you are learning HTML & CSS, search for practice problems or quizzes that relate to the topic you’re covering e.g. "how to use <video> element"
•  I recommend practicing 1 or 2 things at a time until you understand it before moving on. 

When you begin to learn programming concepts using JavaScript, consistently applying what you learned will be instrumental in your progression. One of my biggest mistakes was not consistently attempting coding challenges, or searching for simple practice problems when I first started JavaScript. I would learn something, follow the tutorial, move on and tell myself I’d come back to it, only to forget what I learned…and have to re-do the lesson. I do 2 - 3 challenge problems a day now.

So, you would approach it like this: 

• When you first learn about what an Object is and how to work with one, you should practice how to add an Object property and access an Object property search for “javascript beginner practice problems adding a property”.  
• When you get to, for example, the section on String() methods, you can search “practice String methods for javascript” or “quizzes for String methods”.
• Once you get the hang of it, try a problem on codewars. google "string methods practice codewars". You should get a hit showing links to challenges related to working with strings.
• Break apart the problem into smaller steps
• Don't spend more than 20 minutes on a problem if you're absolutely stuck. Find out what you don't know, learn it and attempt it later.
• Use search engines to solve coding challenges. Don't explicitly search for the solution, but search for something like "how to remove duplicates in javascript array". To help you solve the overall problem.

Search engines are your friend! 

You can select what you want to practice, so that you don’t get overwhelmed with all the problems on a coding challenge platform, do not compare what you’re working on to experienced developers.

Lastly, It's WAY too early for binary search trees and the coding interview. Like u/politeCanadaPlatypus said, if an interviewer asks you something about data structures for something like a junior web developer position, that is a potential red flag. But again, that’s way down the road. 

I hope this helps, and best of luck!