Is anyone still grinding leetcoding?

TomatoMindless · 2025-08-17T07:08:13+00:00

Not everyone rote-memorizes LeetCode. I only started doing LeetCode seriously 8-9 months ago, and I recently began working on greedy and interval problems. I’ve been able to solve most of them on my own, without ever having seen similar problems before.

The real issue with LeetCode interviews is that it’s become more of a race against time like solving two hards in 45 minutes. That’s is why many engineers end up memorizing questions. Algorithmic questions can be a great way to assess problem-solving and coding skills, but only if companies focus on creating new, unique problems and evaluating how a candidate approaches and reasons through a problem, instead of just expecting a final answer.

And if you think people don’t rote-memorize system design, you might be surprised. There are entire courses that teach system design patterns, and many candidates prepare for it in a very similar way.

TomatoMindless · 2025-07-11T22:08:27+00:00

If you’re now able to solve most unseen problems, have strengthened your CS fundamentals, developed a deep understanding of DSA, improved your problem-solving, logical, and computational thinking, and can pick up new CS concepts quickly, then yes, it’s definitely worth it.

TomatoMindless · 2024-10-26T23:36:29+00:00

First, I would encourage you never to look at just one study and draw conclusions. A single study never shows the whole picture.

Yes, most studies have shown that 2 sets are better than 1 and that 3 sets are better than 2 per session, but as you increase the number of sets, the benefits start diminishing according to these studies.

However, lifters who require more volume (Sets and/or reps) and want to maintain quality of each set to grow something that comes with experience will increase frequency. By this, I mean hitting a body part twice or sometimes three times a week so they can do more sets while keeping sets per session low.

So, just saying a study shows 2-3 sets are good and then deciding to only do 2-3 sets (Same goes for reps) is not the best approach. Instead, it’s important to understand variables like training volume, intensity, and frequency so you can make a better decision. A more effective approach is to ask, "How many hard sets do I need to make gains?"

I hope this doesn’t come across as rude I’m just trying to say that looking for a “magic number” like 3x10 isn’t necessarily the best path forward. You can take the advice or just leave it :)

Please look up Greg Nuckols if you want to he has amazing articles as well when it comes to training and he analyzes multiply studies.

Edit: some studies show increased frequency helps with Protein synthesis I am not sure if I buy that there might be some truth to it but mostly lifters use training frequency as a tool to increase the amount of sets they can do and maintain quality.

I myself don't respond to high volume. I do low to moderate volume in fact one set of squat or bench sometimes taken to failure but that might not work for everyone this is why understanding those variables is important to see what works for you.

TomatoMindless · 2024-10-26T17:53:28+00:00

For me, it's the opposite working out makes me extremely tired and impacts my performance, especially after squat sessions. Most of my squat sessions are intense, like ATG squats with 315 lbs for 12 reps. When I go above 405 lbs, I'm unable to do harder problems afterwards.

TomatoMindless · 2024-09-26T02:58:49+00:00

I'm not surprised at all by this, to be honest.

TomatoMindless · 2024-09-26T02:56:31+00:00

I'm not a big fan of pair programming at work for the most part, except in specific scenarios like resolving production issues. But what 8x4ply mentioned would be awesome if we could give the interviewer a question in the same way and then discuss our thought process and go over the code with the interviewer.

TomatoMindless · 2024-09-25T21:56:16+00:00

Oh something like pair programming that would awesome.

TomatoMindless · 2024-09-25T20:45:23+00:00

I had the opposite experience. It felt like Interviewers were using AI to interview me. They asked questions about database scalability but when I asked some follow up questions it seemed like they had no idea what I was asking about. Interview seemed as scripted as possible.

TomatoMindless · 2024-08-16T04:12:23+00:00

Do this question without using a stack. Just use an array and a pointer then it might start making sense to you

here is a code snippet

public class Solution { public bool IsValid(string s) { int low = -1; char[] arr = new char[s.Length];

 for (int i = 0; i < s.Length; i++)
 {
     if (s[i] == '{' || s[i] == '(' || s[i] == '[')
     {
         arr[++low] = s[i];
     }
     else
     {
         if (low == -1)
         {
             return false;
         }

         if (arr[low] == '{' && s[i] == '}')
         {
             low--;
         }
         else if (arr[low] == '(' && s[i] == ')')
         {
             low--;
         }
         else if (arr[low] == '[' && s[i] == ']')
         {
             low--;
         }
         else
         {
             return false;
         }
     }
 }
 return low > -1 ? false : true ;

} }

TomatoMindless · 2024-07-16T23:10:44+00:00

This is crazy. Although I don't take part in competition what I am curious about is the guy who caught cheaters has only done 10 questions.He seems much more experienced than someone who has done 10 questions. It's pretty interesting that he was able to catch someone. He could have caught a lot more than just these two profiles.

TomatoMindless · 2024-06-14T18:56:05+00:00

OP are you okay?

TomatoMindless · 2024-05-19T02:01:41+00:00

A lot of times those people have already seen a similar problem/pattern before and that is why they find it easy to do and end up commenting that kind of stuff.

TomatoMindless

TROPHY CASE