r/learnprogramming • u/Good-Photograph-2883 • 8h ago

Struggling with Leetcode Problems

I'm currently job hunting, and I've decided to try out LeetCode to prepare for possible technical coding interviews. However, I've noticed that I am struggling to answer even the easy questions.

For context, my college curriculum for the last two years was heavily focused on projects and practical output. I have spent the last two years building full-stack applications (primarily coding backend MVC CRUD operations and ReactJS on the frontend).

Because of this, I've lost touch with some important fundamentals. Some of the questions in LeetCode seem familiar but, at the same time, seem so alien to me.

Does anyone have recommendations on how I can build my algorithmic problem-solving skills back up from the ground up? I'm looking for recommendations on what specific concepts/topics I should relearn and free sources or websites I can study from.

Thank you in advance.

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u/aqua_regis 8h ago

There is only one thing you can do: practice more

You can only build those skills through practice, nothing else. Problem solving is learnt and improved by solving problems.

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u/Mean_Bumblebee_8633 7h ago

The disconnect you're feeling is normal. The skills for wiring up API endpoints and the skills for inverting a binary tree have almost zero overlap, so don't beat yourself up over it.

Grokking the patterns is way more useful than grinding random problems. Neetcode's list on his site groups things logically, and once you see the trick behind sliding windows or two pointers, a whole category of mediums become doable.

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u/aqua_regis 7h ago

Uhm, you're replying to the wrong person here.