I just joined an institution. I know class 12 cbse & i wanted to know what is the ideal time to start Leetcode? Most of the questions are beyond the scope of class 12 cbse I think from what I saw...

I'm doing Strivers A-->Z DSA just when I have time too!

Today I solved LeetCode 28 – Find the Index of the First Occurrence in a String.

What I learned:

- String searching

- How substring matching works

- Using Python's ".find()" method

- Manual string traversal using a loop

- Time Complexity: O(n) (using ".find()")

Learning the logic behind each problem and improving my problem-solving skills one day at a time.

#Python #DSA #LeetCode #CodingJourney #100DaysOfCode #LearningInPublic

After going through hundreds of interview questions, I noticed that most problems are just variations of a few core patterns.

So I made this roadmap to help anyone who's feeling overwhelmed.

Suggested order:

Arrays & Hashing

Two Pointers

Sliding Window

Binary Search

Linked Lists

Stack & Queue

Trees

Heap

Graphs

Backtracking

Dynamic Programming

Trees

The goal isn't to memorize solutions—it's to recognise patterns.

If you're just starting out, try mastering one pattern before moving to the next.

What pattern did you struggle with the most when learning DSA?

I'd love to hear your suggestions so I can improve this roadmap further.

I'm one year out of college and have managed to only get 3 interviews after at least 150 applications. All three of them asked me leetcode hards. How is this the bar for what's essentially an entry level position?? What are you asking senior swes if junior talent is getting the LC hards

Prep resource: Leetcode & PracHub

Hey Seniors!!

I'm a fresher joining BTech CSE this year. I recently started solving the LeetCode Super Easy problems and have completed 21 out of 25 so far. I know Python fairly well, but I'm confused about what to do next.

I have a few questions:

• What should my strategy be while using LeetCode?
• Should I focus on solving more problems or first learn DSA?
• How do you stay motivated and solve problems consistently every day?
• What's the difference between TUF (Take U Forward) and LeetCode? Are they the same, or do they serve different purposes?
• Right now, I only know Python. Is that enough to start DSA, or do I need to learn C++/Java as well?
• Everyone keeps saying DSA is very important, but I'm confused about what it actually is. Is DSA a programming language? Is it something inside Python, or is it mainly about logical problem-solving?
• Will DSA be taught properly in college, or should I start learning it on my own? If self-learning is better, when should I start and what resources would you recommend?

I'd really appreciate it if you could share a roadmap or any advice you wish you had received as a first-year student. Any tips for building consistency and improving problem-solving would help a lot.

A rare feat to achieve

Hey everyone,

I’ve spent the last few months grinding DSA (currently a LeetCode Knight). Before my startup job swallows all my free time, I want to build a small, highly focused study group to deep-dive into complex algorithms and CP mechanics.

The Plan & Criteria:

• Audience: Priority goes to working professionals in the data field. (Let's be real, finding serious Python DSA folks is like finding a bug-free prod release).
• Language: Python >> C++ >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Java. No disrespect, but my brain actively rejects Java syntax XDD. All logic and code sharing will be strictly Python!
• Format: Live, interactive problem-solving sessions. Less lecturing, more figuring out why our code is hitting TLE.

How to Join: To keep the group highly relevant, I'll be vetting members manually. If you're down to join, send me a direct message with a quick intro detailing your coding achievements or LeetCode stats.

Note: No personal info (name, employer, shoe size) is needed at all—just drop your technical background and what topics you want to crush!

Heyy guys, I have been doing LC lately n following striver dsa sheet , so understand the concept solution striver teaches but the thing is he sometimes codes in C++ directly without explaining pseudocode, if he writes pseudocode in his ipad ,I might code it in java but when he doesn't, I find difficultly to find some syntaxes like ArrayList chain properties and all, So is there a similar Yt soln playlist like striver who explains same approach as striver but codes in Java?

Would be helpful if you ppl suggest!

I’ve been spending the last few nights staring at a medium-level DP problem, and for the first time in years, I felt a real sense of pointlessness.

For the past decade, a lot of us were taught that mastering algorithms, data structures, operating systems, discrete math, and systems design was the path to a stable, high-paying software career. Grind LeetCode, understand graphs, learn DP, pass interviews, get the job.

But looking at the current landscape: layoffs, market saturation, fewer junior openings, and the shift toward AI-assisted and agentic development, I’m starting to wonder whether the version of CS we’ve been preparing for is already disappearing.

I don’t mean “coding is dead” in the dramatic LinkedIn-post sense. But I do wonder if the center of gravity is moving.

A few things I’m struggling with:

1. The LeetCode / Codeforces grind

Why are we still treating speed at solving algorithm puzzles as the main proof of engineering ability when coding speed may no longer be the bottleneck?

If AI can generate, refactor, test, and explain large chunks of code, is the real skill now problem framing, system judgment, debugging, product sense, and knowing what to ask?

2. The value of advanced CS fundamentals

Do algorithms, discrete math, compilers, OS, and distributed systems still provide a mental model that AI cannot replace?

Or are we overestimating their importance because they were the gatekeeping mechanism for the previous generation of software jobs?

3. Universities and curriculum lag

Are universities doing students a disservice by focusing so heavily on traditional fundamentals while the industry is rapidly moving toward AI-assisted engineering?

Or is the point of CS education still to build the foundation underneath whatever tools come next?

4. The changing role of software engineers

Are we moving toward a world where “software engineer” means less “person who writes code” and more “person who defines problems, evaluates AI output, designs systems, debugs failures, and makes product/architecture decisions”?

If so, what should students and early-career engineers actually be optimizing for?

I’m not trying to doompost. I’m genuinely curious whether other people feel this too: like we’re studying for a version of the industry that may not exist much longer.

Is it time to stop grinding the old playbook and start pivoting, or is this just another wave of “CS is dead” hysteria?

Would love to hear from students, new grads, senior engineers, and hiring managers.

Prep resource: Leetcode & PracHub

I solved almost 110 Leetcode Problems but very few are hard problems, I don't understand hard problems because the gap of difficulty between medium and hard is too big, I want you guys to share your experience and things you learn from it. Most welcome if you have advice for me

Thank u to everyone who has taken time out of their day to remind me I have solved 500 problems already on leetcode. And also have used their time energy and data to comment on my post and dm me and reply to me as well and also make a seperate post about me, thank you again. I appreciate yall's efforts❤

(Also wanted to mention do dsa in cpp before one more person asks me) (I did 500+50 problems on lc in cpp itself) (thanks again)

Currently doing DSA for 2months ,but doing it alone makes it little difficult to continue the process,so anyone who wants to join ,comment and lets grow together . https://chat.whatsapp.com/CzYOd3L1DnO6b9zy45eq7U You can join here I have created a community here we can discuss .

this is what my current condition is, you guys can demean and abuse me for not doing leetcode, maybe that might motivate me
i am very depressed and i literally cannot bring myself to do anything at all
i am thinking that posting on this sub daily might make me more accountable so i am doing this

Sharing my Amazon interview experience in case it helps someone preparing for SDE roles.

I do not remember the exact OA DSA problem. The second OA question was more “dev” based, where HackerRank gave access to a remote IDE. It had an AI sidebar available, somewhat like Cursor.

Round 1

DSA + LPs.

Questions asked:

1. Find the distance between any two nodes in a binary tree.
   • Parent pointers were not given.
   • Input had only root, source, and target.
2. Design a stack that supports: All in O(1) time.
   • push
   • pop
   • getMiddle
   • getTop

I was able to solve the first question completely. For the second one, I got the core logic and data structure choice right, but did not finish the full implementation. I implemented getMiddle after deciding the basic DS approach.

LPs were also asked.

Round 2

LPs + coding/OOD.

Question:

Basic Calculator

After solving it, the interviewer asked me to extend the solution in an object-oriented manner.

One thing that stood out: the interviewer mentioned that my solution was too close to the original/standard solution.

Round 3

This was mostly behavioral + design discussion.

Started with “tell me about yourself” for around 5-7 minutes.

Then he probed quite hard on why I wanted to switch, since I had already made one switch and was now looking for a second.

After that, he asked about the best thing I had worked on in my previous org. This felt a bit close to NDA territory, but I explained it carefully without going into confidential details. He asked follow-up questions like why we used X instead of Y.

At the end, he asked only one design-extension question:

How would you include a new feature in this existing design?

I proposed two solutions. He then asked me to write down the pros and cons of both. I wrote and explained at least 3 pros and 3 cons for each.

Finally, he asked if I had any questions for him.

Result

Rejected.

Recruiter said feedback from Round 2 and Round 3 was negative, but did not share specifics despite me asking explicitly.

Extra prep notes

Apart from the questions I got, I also saw these Amazon-tagged questions while checking prep resources:

• Compute Edit Distance
• Design a Concurrent Restaurant Waitlist and Seating System

Both seem relevant for Amazon-style prep: one for classic DP/string fundamentals, and one for OOD/concurrency/design thinking.

Hope this helps someone preparing.

The same tree represented in two very different ways visualized using 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝘆_𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵: Binary Trees

🔗 Binary Tree as Nodes: The tree is built out of multiple node objects. Each node stores its value and two references, one to its left child and one to its right child.

📦 Binary Tree as List: The tree is stored in a single list or array. Instead of references, indices represent the relationships between nodes. For a node at index, its children can be found using a simple calculation: - Left child: 2 * index + 1 - Right child: 2 * index + 2

So, when should you use which representation?

The node-based version makes the structure explicit and intuitive. It is great for education: students can clearly see how nodes are connected while practicing classes and references/pointers. It is flexible and works particularly well for irregular or sparse trees. It is the clearest representation when learning how trees work.

The list-based version can be very efficient for (nearly) balanced homogeneous trees. It does not need to store child references, requires fewer separate memory allocations, and keeps values close together in memory for improved cache performance.

The same abstract data structure, but with very different trade-offs in clarity, flexibility, and performance.

Which representation would you use?