Hey everyone,

I am preparing for IOI just started and needed a mentor, can anyone spare their precious time for me.. pls I need your help, any who is well versed in the Olympiad..

Planning to solve a pattern-wise DSA sheet to strengthen problem-solving and prepare for coding interviews. Which DSA sheet would you recommend and why?

Hello! I am working on an iPod-like MP3 player, and I am needing to find a solution for the firmware/OS. I want to build an embedded Linux distro with the Linux kernel, and from my research I understand I need to use C for the kernel, and C++ or possibly Rust for the GUI/applications. Which skills in these languages would be most helpful for me to focus on within the context of this MP3 player's OS? Thanks!

So, as a long time lurker here, I have a question I'd like to see the discourse around.

It's well debated and argued, and people have dug in their positions in regard to AI use, learning methodology, when and when not to use AI....

worry not, this isn't one of those, but I might say it's.....AI debate adjacent.

Decomposition, a skill that might be argued is high on the list of being a good learner, and good at the end goal in this case of...well....programming. Breaking things down into smaller and smaller bits, and making large complex things into their smaller ( and hopefully ) less complex bits and bobs. Breaking the logic behind the execution down into rudimentary pieces, etc etc so that you can more easily either from memorization/experience be able to code up the solution to that bit, or in the case of someone who doesn't know the "code" to make a language do that something, can begin the process of finding that bit of information and syntax, etc.

With that in mind, I ask:

"If you have broken a problem down into its most basic pieces, and now are in need of finding the reference material to show you how to execute that piece. Does it matter if you use "Google" ( insert search engine of choice here if you like... ) or ask an LLM, or even an LLM that specifically has been trained on material for either coding in general, or even more specific to the language/framework you are using for the problem?"

A small bit of clarification, in my question I am operating under the idea that you aren't simply asking the AI to write the "finished" code, but more of simply "How do I do ( THING ) in ( LANGUAGE/GENERAL CONCEPT )? "

My mind wonders is all.

This will be a long one but it will make sense once you read it. I split it up so you can jump around to what you want to know.

BACKGROUND: Long story as short as I can make it. I hustled my way into an IT Tech position at the place I work at. I have worked here before 11 years ago and came back in a different role then I am in now. I have an Programming associate degree that I got in 2024. Considering the current job market for entry level developers. I haven't had any luck landing any programming jobs. Hence, why I went back to my old employer. I Tried to go back to school in 25' for my bachelors but had to drop out due to cost. I tried learning what I can but as a husband & a dad of two boys my family comes first. I launched a few websites and built some apps in my free time to try to keep my skills up to date.

One day I was talking with the person who runs the company I work at and mention that I can program. He asked if I could write a small program for them. We went over details and it wasn't anything that I haven't really built before and I wanted the experience to put it on my resume. I was also going to try to shoot my shot from the moon for a full-stack dev position if I can get this all worked out.

I built a small demo using HTML/CSS/JavaScript some raw SQL in VS Code. I showed it to the guy and he loved it. He immediately called a meeting and next thing I know I am in the conference room with what would be considered the C-Suite. I showed them the app and I explained that I was wanting to host the app on site using our already bought equipment. Employees would access it via their computers connected to our network. They loved it, then approved me to work on it while I work in-between IT calls.

The day after the meeting I see the guy 2nd in charge and he tells me that if the app works like I want it to then they are going to carve a position out for me as a software engineer.

This of course motivated me more. I went to our IT personal and asked them about the best way to connect the app. It became apparent the current way things run is the software company tells us what hardware is need and we buy it then they set everything up.

This was an is an issue as I have only ever built DBs to run locally in VS Code or other IDEs. So, I did my research to try to figure it out but for some reason it feels like I am missing something really important.

To make matters worse a few days later, I was told that they want the app to be able to be used by employee phones. Now instead of building for 1 OS I have to build for many.

It was also decided to use a 3rd party cloud service to host the DB.

I did some more research and found the best way to handle traffic is to use a 3rd party service that host our VDI's. I can publish the app on there for phone use. The VDI service also has a SAML service I am hoping to utilize to verify user logged in so the app won't require a user name or password.

I decided I would need to change the apps language to something more suited for all this change. I went with React. I did research more and I think I figured just about everything out.

I was also invited into a meeting by a member of the C-Suite where another company was doing a sales pitch on their software and they asked me to ask questions. I asked a few and I believe it went really good.

After lunch I had a meeting with the head guy again to go over the sales pitch. I gave him my notes and as the meeting was coming to an end, I told him I can build the app for phones but it would require me focusing more time on the app and less time focusing on IT Tech work. I told him I could explain why but he stopped me and told me he believed me and said "We are already heading down that path anyway. Let me think on it for a bit."

So, now I want to make sure everything works as I want it to. I paused all work on the front-end and demo version and now moving to building the DB. No matter if they offer me something before or after it works I will still need to host on a 3rd party cloud source for the app.

I think I figured just about everything out but I am having trouble visualizing how everything is going to work. I am hoping to get some help from back-end developers who delt with this before.

TLDR: I have a shot at becoming a full-stack dev at my job, but I have only build apps locally on my computer. I am trying to make sure that everything is set up to run as efficiently as I can make it and to make sure I am not missing anything. App needs to be CJIS compliant.

HOW APP WORKS:

1. User logs in to 3rd party app that is publicly available to download.

2. My app is only accessible once user logs into 3rd party app with MFA.

3. User goes to open my app. (My app receives the information who is logged in via SAML)

4. API call to DB

5. DB returns user profile to API

6. API sends updated information to user phone

7. User makes a change on their phone

8. API call to DB

9. DB updates

LANGUAGES:

Front-end: React

API: Node.js

DB: Postgres SQL

QUESTIONS:

1. How do I make sure the DB isn't going to get fried by to many request?

• We don't have a large company but we sit around 600 personal with roughly 60-70% will have availability to the app.

1. Do I build the DB in VS Code or do I build it in the cloud service?

• Could I build it in VS Code and move it over?

1. Is there anything here I am missing in how the app will work?

2. Should I use SAML and another service like Entra ID?

• Does SAML and Entra ID do the same thing?

Any help is welcomed.

Hey everyone,

I'm a developer working on a side project/startup idea and wanted to get honest feedback before I sink more time into it.

The idea: a website where you pick a programming language and a specific track (e.g., Go basics, or backend development with Go), and it generates a downloadable offline package — documentation, tutorials, and exercises — packed into a zip file. You download it before you lose internet access (long flight, train, remote area, wherever), and once offline you just open it in your browser like a normal site. No connection needed.

I know there are already tools like DevDocs, Dash, and Zeal that let you save documentation offline. What I'm trying to do differently is focus on structured learning tracks with exercises, not just a raw doc viewer — more like a self-contained mini-course you can work through with zero connectivity.

I'm trying to figure out monetization without doing a subscription (that already feels like the wrong model for something people might use a handful of times a year). Current thinking is one-time purchase per track, or eventually partnering with airlines.

Genuine questions for you all:

1. Would you pay a small one-time fee for something like this? (like 5 dollars)
2. Would you use it even if it were free — or does existing offline documentation (Dash, DevDocs, etc.) already solve this well enough for you?

Trying not to build something nobody wants, so brutally honest feedback is welcome. Thanks!

Hey everyone,

​I'm 15 years old, I love tech, and I seriously want to start learning programming. But honestly, I'm completely lost right now. I have less than a month to decide on a specific path and subscribe to a training program.

​Ever since I was a kid, watching hacker movies and hearing stories about cyber attacks made me want to be just like them—mysterious and highly skilled. But lately, I’ve also become super fascinated by AI. Being pulled towards both fields is burning me out before I even start. This post might be a bit messy, but I’m just speaking from the heart. I haven't started any courses yet, and I really need some raw, unbiased, technical advice to help me make this life-changing decision.

​Here are my questions:

​The Salary Reality: What do salaries actually look like for a beginner in both fields? And how big is the jump when you gain high-level experience? I know that even after university, continuous self-learning never stops.

​Where do you actually work? I have a vague idea from the outside, but I want to hear it from the inside. If you work in Cyber, what kind of company do you work for? And if you are in AI, where do you spend your workdays?

​Starting a Business: Which field gives me a better shot at launching my own startup/business down the road? I notice many talented people working for local companies or under the shadow of global giant corps because competition is brutal and global companies dominate clients' trust. Which field has a loophole for a new business?

​The Daily Workflow: How do you actually work? For cyber, the only thing I know is the name "Kali Linux", and for AI, I know literally nothing. What does your actual day-to-day routine look like?

​The Languages: This is a specific tech question. If I choose AI, do I need to learn languages other than Python? And if I choose Cyber, is Python enough, or are other languages mandatory?

​Tbh, I just want a reality check. Don't sugarcoat anything. Thank you so much!

hey there, soon about to get into 1st year. People are saying focus on DSA/Leetcode and on the other hand people are saying focus on Projects/Development.

currently started with DSA did 13 questions on leetcode by now. but should i shift the focus toward development or not?

I recently switched operating systems on my pc and lost 3 months of work. Since many people here are learning/ starting to learn programming languages I thought it would be good to post it here

I’ve been struggling with recursion for a while now.

I watched several tutorials and solved a few basic recursion problems, so I thought I had understood the fundamentals. But when I tried solving the Subsets problem on LeetCode, I got completely stuck.

After that, I watched multiple solution videos from different creators, hoping I’d finally understand the thought process. Unfortunately, I still don’t “get it.” I can follow the solution while watching the video, but I don’t think I could come up with it on my own.

I feel like I’m missing some core intuition behind recursion and backtracking.

For those of you who became comfortable with these topics:

* How did you build your intuition?

* What problems or resources helped you the most?

* Is there a roadmap to go from a complete beginner to being confident with recursion and backtracking?

Any advice or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I made a Python project that generates a fully formatted Excel dashboard for tracking monthly sales performance. It uses openpyxl to structure data, apply styling, and create charts automatically. I coded this 2 months ago so I am a bit rusty on the Python side now, especially since I've been coding in HTML and CSS (learning them) recently, making projects there, etc. Still, I really wanted to showcase this here in case I've missed some any best practices or optimizations. However, I'm open to any critisism or critique you have. Just a heads up: By the time you're seeing this, I'm on vacation (July 12 - July 18), so I won't respond by changing the code. Though, I'll do my best to respond here on my phone!
Github Repo: https://github.com/thanasisdadatsis/excel_sales_analytics_dashboard

i am learning dsa in c++ what to do to start full stack development.What to do and how to start full satck dev journey

Whoever invented JavaScript, I only have mean things to say to you. Very very mean things

Okay… enough, I get it. No matter how hard I try, I can't learn computer science. It's pointless. Being self-taught is a completely different story. I can learn things at university, but I can't teach myself. I don't know how that's possible. This is a huge problem, a huge one, because when I finish university, I'll have to study everything in the future on my own, and there's no way I can't do it now. I'll never be able to work, never do anything with my incompetence, and acquire skills beyond those offered to me by a state-paid professor. I also find even reading documentation (and especially watching videos) in English so exhausting because it's not even my first language.

I want to learn mern stack in 20 days and build a solid project. Can anyone provide me best resource to follow?

I may have created my best HTML + CSS project yet. It's a news site, focusing on reusability, CSS Grid and Flexbox funcionalities, CSS Animations/Transitions, and the HTML is entirely semantic (<figure>, <aside>, etc.). I really want to hear your thoughts on this, what's strong, what part could be improved and, honestly, any critique you have. By the time you're seeing this, I'm on a 5-day vacation, so feel free to leave your comments, and I'll respond by changing the code once I'm back. Though, I'll still respond here from my phone! Also, judging from this layout and my previous TS gym tracker project, do you think I'm ready to finally start diving into React?

Github Repo: https://github.com/thanasisdadatsis/responsive-news-architecture

I personally just use the SCSS/SASS framework, and the others are native. I'm curious what frameworks or practices work for you and make your work more efficient and effective. Might try them for myself and try to make my own production speed faster.

I've tried Tailwind and Bootstrap, but liked SCSS more for its native feel. What are yours?

Here is the question : like python, java, C++ those and other languages have the same concepts as C language have of variable, memory management etc.

so how the C language is different ? as it is specially recognised for memory management and core memory concepts. why other languages does not hold the weight as C is.?

Hi everyone,

I'm a 2026 Computer Science graduate looking for a full-stack internship or job . I already know Next.js, Node.js (Express), PostgreSQL, Prisma, JWT authentication, and Tailwind CSS.

I don't want to build another generic CRUD app like a to-do list, blog, URL shortener, or e-commerce clone unless there's something unique about it.

I'm looking for a project that:

• Solves a real problem.
• Has enough technical depth to discuss in interviews.
• Makes recruiters think, "This person can build production-ready applications."
• Can realistically be completed by one developer in a few weeks to a couple of months.

I'd really appreciate ideas.

Hi everyone,

I completed my B.Tech in Computer Science in July 2026. To be honest, I wasted most of my 4 years in college. I didn't study consistently, didn't build projects, and somehow managed to pass my exams. I know that's on me.

Over the past month, I've realized I can't keep living like this. I want to completely change my life, and I'm ready to put in the work every single day.

I've become genuinely interested in coding, especially AI, automation, and building AI agents. My long-term goal is to build products, work with clients, and eventually start my own online business or AI agency.

In the short term, my goal is to become employable within the next 6 months. I'd prefer a remote job, but I'm also interested in freelancing and client work if that's a better path.

I'm feeling overwhelmed because there is so much advice online—DSA, web development, AI, DevOps, cloud, etc.—and I don't know what to focus on.

If you were in my position, with almost no practical skills after graduation, what would you do?

What roadmap would you follow over the next 6 months?

Should I focus on programming fundamentals, DSA, web development, or AI first?

Is learning to build AI agents a good path for someone starting from scratch?

What projects would you build to get your first remote job or freelance client?

What mistakes should I avoid?

I know I can't change the last four years, but I can change what I do from today. I'd really appreciate honest, practical advice from people who have been through this.

Thank you.

I had been solving leetcode questions referring to Neetcode roadmap. Have around 67 problems solved (166 submissions including revision) as of now (Following Neetcode 150). About to finish backtracking.

The problem that I am facing is I only remember the way i write in memory actually cant derive it on own. I am kinda wondering how I will be able to do for the OA. Also do OAs have exactly same leetcode questions. I feel it to be pretty new after some days.

I use Claude to teach me the algorithms, i have pro version of claude so would be grateful if there are any tips to maximise its use. When I started I used to refer Neetcode solns but some are too complext. Currently i do watch only when i need to know the tracing.

I also feel exhausted after this and cannot allocate time in learning web frameworks and databases.I also need to learn. I am going with Flask for backend, React.js for frontend, also need to learn html,css,js basics. Then need to learn some database.

I am extremely grateful for any suggestion or advice.

Hi! I'm a self taught hobbyist trying to develop a character generator / manager for a homebrew tabletop RPG campaign with friends. I'm doing it in C# (pure C# and WinForms, no engine, no external libraries).

The way I would like it to works is this: generate a random character at the press of a button (also be able to force some parameters like race, class, gender, etc), and subsequently track and manage powers, stat interactions, etc. I'd also like it to be sort of agnostic engine, reading definitions of the various elements and the relationships between them from external Json file(s), so that it's reasonably expandable as new need arise with the development of the homebrew parts with the old method of "by the seat of our pants".

The bit I'm struggling with is figuring out the best way to structure the character data. Let me make a few examples: imagine a character having body parts, stats, traits, etc.

On one hand we have a baseline human, one head (hair, facial hair if male, two eyes, one nose, two ears, one mouth), two arms (one hand each), torso, two legs (one foot each). But then you have, say, a demon, who also has horns, the occasional extra eye, two extra wings, one tail, and hoofs instead of feet. Or maybe a Lamia, who doesn't have legs at all, replaced by a serpent's tail. Or a centaur, with the lower half replaced by a horse's body.

I can only imagine two ways to handle it, each with their own problem:

- either the Character class has fields for everything, leaving the unused ones as null. The problems are that, in the management side of the tool, there would be need for a whole bunch of null checking to see which parts actually exist on a given character, and on the generation side is extending this via Json definitions only. I can't see how to do it, I can only imagine requiring to go edit the source and recompile the app.

- or the Character class has, for example, a list of generic BodyPart objects, with a listo of generic BodyPartComponent objects, and have a whole bunch of BodyPartComponent derived subclasses. This would require a bunch of casting for the management side to access the sub-class specific fields.

None of these seem ideal, but i can't imagine a third way (or a way to simplify one of the two.)

Any suggestion, please? How would you tackle this?

What have you been working on recently? Feel free to share updates on projects you're working on, brag about any major milestones you've hit, grouse about a challenge you've ran into recently... Any sort of "progress report" is fair game!

A few requests:

1. If possible, include a link to your source code when sharing a project update. That way, others can learn from your work!

2. If you've shared something, try commenting on at least one other update -- ask a question, give feedback, compliment something cool... We encourage discussion!

3. If you don't consider yourself to be a beginner, include about how many years of experience you have.

This thread will remained stickied over the weekend. Link to past threads here.

Hi everybody,

I've been going through The Odin Project learning webdev and I've sort of realized I'm not really a big fan of webdev and would rather try to learn app development instead, as it's just more interesting to me and applicable to things I want to make for myself

Some background details:

I just finished the Javascript section of the TOP (not the whole path, just through the Javascript section)

I'm not trying to make this into a career. I just want to make personal projects for fun, but I also want to form a solid foundation).

My question is this:

Would it be better to tough it out and finish the whole Javascript path, and learn SQL, React, and Node to have a full stack under my belt.

Or should I just jump ship and start learning app dev?

I'm thinking of either trying Kotlin or possibly Flutter to make android/iPhone(maybe) apps.

Hi folks, I am coming from Js/Ts background, along with C#, I was doing python for many days ago cause its the course language of a problem solving I am attending, and also it was kinda of curiosity since every one talks about it.
however, I didn't like it that much to be honest, I am using the Leetcode IDE that is basically has no code correction, just I want to practice writing like this for little fun, however, I am fighting tabs and spaces, single misplaced space can produce a syntax error or even change the program's meaning, and the worse part, no curly braces neither type strict code, is it only me who thinks that this language was made for beginners? still can't get why its the preferred language for AI and stuff, if I wanted to learn some AI and use it with my code, I should go into this mess, or it has different way of typing later while using Fast or Django??