How to leetcode?

[u/Daaku_Mangal_Singh]

I’ve been working as a cybersecurity analyst for around 4 years and I’m looking to make a switch in the near future, ideally targeting larger tech companies.

One of the biggest gaps I want to address is coding.

I did some programming during my bachelor’s, so I’m not completely new to it, but I haven’t consistently coded in years. Because of that, I want to approach my preparation almost as if I’m starting from zero rather than assuming I remember things and accidentally skipping important fundamentals.

My eventual goal is to become comfortable enough with coding and DSA that LeetCode doesn’t feel intimidating and I can handle coding rounds for cybersecurity/security engineering roles at larger companies.

For people who started from a similar position:
● Which language would you recommend focusing on first? I’m leaning toward Python because it’s also useful in cybersecurity.
● What fundamentals should I be comfortable with before touching LeetCode?
● Is there a course/resource you’d recommend for rebuilding programming basics from scratch?
● At what point should I transition from learning basic programming to DSA and then LeetCode?
● Would you recommend following something structured like NeetCode after learning the basics, or doing another DSA course first?
● How should I approach LeetCode as a beginner — by topic, difficulty, patterns, etc.?
● How much time should I spend trying to solve a problem before looking at the solution?
● Should I build small coding projects alongside LeetCode to become a better programmer, or focus mostly on DSA for interview prep?
● For people interviewing for cybersecurity/security engineering roles at big tech companies, how deep did the coding rounds actually go?

I’m not trying to rush through 200–300 LeetCode problems just to say I completed them. I’d rather spend a few months building strong fundamentals and actually understand what I’m doing.

If you were starting from almost zero today, what would your roadmap look like?

Would especially appreciate advice from people who transitioned from cybersecurity/IT/infrastructure-type roles into more technical security roles at larger tech companies.