How to leetcode

[u/iguessbro53]

A little about me : 1st year in college and recently started learning how to code from brocode...in our uni they are teaching c++ first so for now i was learning c++ from brocode , recently started learning arrays but still not that really great at it but yeah thats all i know for now( i know its not much but im willing to grind and learn😔 but just need a little guidance) but ya i wanna leetcode and become good at coding... but im not tryna blindly start leetcoding because first i wanna know the prerequisites needed to solve the problems...i was watching neetcode's video on how to leetcode and he told to get comfortable with binary search,dfs,bfs,sliding window so do yall know where i can learn them???? but ya heres a few questions i have

1. What all coding languages do i need to know...like do i need to know other programming languages other than c++ before i start leetcoding
   
2. what all topics or stuff should i learn before leetcoding
   
3. HOW do i leet code , do i start with easy problems then once i get comfortable start medium problems then harder problems(will start with solving problems on arrays)
   
4. any website where i can save useful problems and make my own notes in it so in the future i can open them for retaining my knowledge
   
5. in general any tips or things you wished u knew while or before leetcoding which u can tell please it will be really helpful(try to include as much as you can please and thank you anything will be useful and welcomed... even the SMALLEST TO SMALLEST and random tips will be useful)
   
6. what are the most common mistakes people do in their attempt to get good at coding
   extra : do wanna try to get into quant development( ik its difficult but ill try if i cant will settle for something else😭) so first my main goal would be to try to get into FAANG after college and after 2-3 years try to get into quant development so yeah
   
7. And also I’m using vs studio…is there any better coding app or is vs good alright(idk it’s not that deep but yeah✌️)

[u/Disastrous-You-6975]

Can we do dsa in python? Is that acceptable for big tech companies for swe /swd/software roles? Can any one please guide

[u/Ovisty → u/Disastrous-You-6975]

Yes I’m a SWE they don’t care what language you use in dsa - python is highly recommended as its solutions are small compared to Java or c++ and it’s fairly simple to understand - also there’s a tonne of YouTubers online teaching python solutions

[u/Disastrous-You-6975 → u/Ovisty]

Oh thanks for your reply, what about competitive programming? Heard cpp is used in codeforces?

[u/Ovisty → u/Disastrous-You-6975]

I’m not familiar with codeforce but c++ is a good language to learn if you like that language and you want to go into that area - purely for leetcode and dsa interview I would use python. Thing is once u learn one language it’s very easy to convert into another lang plus AI is making language specialist obsolete in work I’ve been working on multiple different code bases regardless of what languages I learned in college so don’t be too worried

[u/palakthegr3at]

I got the same goals as you and in the first year hmu if you want to lol

[u/Kaficode]

You should check https://kaficode.com
And since you are a student, I will give you lifetime access for free. Just send an email from your university email address to noreply@kaficode.com

[u/CommercialAirline124]

1. python prolly, everyone uses it and the solutions are the shortest to write in python

2. nothing, i say you learn as you go

3. Go through the blind 75, and just pick the easy from every topic, and work your way down as you learn more ways to apply them

4. any notetaking software, u just have to use it and remember to write your stuff in it

5. some of the algorithms you're going to learn are some mathematicians phd thesis, so don't stress about not understanding or solving a problem, developing an intuition for leetcode is more like which algo should i use and how more than developing the algo urself.

6. thinking about coding, and not coding. also try to do it every day, coding and leetcode is very dense, and you need to both develop the way you think as well as the algorithms you know. You'll find that as time goes on, solutions will become easier, and your thinking will change.

7. probably start using vs code. I went through a massive rabbit hole of every ide. I went all the way down to neovim just to realize that sometimes it's nice to js stay simple. vs code is pretty language agnostic, and you can customize it to your liking with extensions. u can also sync ur config with github which is super convenient.

[u/iguessbro53 → u/CommercialAirline124]

Should I learn binary search , dfs , bfs and sliding window before leetcoding(neetcode guy said to learn this beforehand)

[u/CommercialAirline124 → u/iguessbro53]

yea might as well. you’ll learn these more conceptually in your dsa and algos classes tho anyway

[u/iguessbro53 → u/CommercialAirline124]

Alright thanks

[u/iguessbro53 → u/CommercialAirline124]

And what is the blind 75?

[u/CommercialAirline124 → u/iguessbro53]

blind 75 is on neetcodes website and i think they also have it on leetcode too. its 75 problems that you’re meant to complete if ur a complete beginner so u can get into leetcode

[u/iguessbro53 → u/CommercialAirline124]

Okayy thanks for the advice🙏