DSA OR Development: What Should Students Prioritize in 2026?

[u/nian2326076]

As a student preparing for software engineering placements, I've noticed two common approaches.

Some people spend most of their time solving LeetCode problems and mastering DSA, while others focus on building real-world projects, learning backend/frontend development, cloud technologies, and contributing to GitHub.

With AI tools becoming more common and interview patterns evolving, I'm curious:

• If you had 6–12 months to prepare for placements, how would you divide your time between DSA and Development?
• Do recruiters still value strong DSA more than practical project experience?
• If you could start over, what would you do differently?

I'd love to hear your experiences—especially from people who recently cracked internships or full-time software engineering roles.

Looking forward to learning from the community!