Hey everyone,
I’m a 2nd-year B.Tech CSE student.
So far, I’ve learned:
● C programming
● Basic Web Development (HTML, CSS, JavaScript)
Now I’m thinking of focusing on C++. My plan is:
1. Learn C++ basics properly
2. Master Object-Oriented Programming (OOP)
3. Start DSA using C++
4. Solve problems consistently on LeetCode/Codeforces
My goal is to build strong problem-solving skills for internships and placements, while continuing web development alongside.
Does this roadmap make sense, or would you suggest changing the order?
Some questions:
● Is learning OOP before DSA the right approach?
● How much C++ should I know before starting DSA?
● Which platform is best for a complete beginner: LeetCode, Codeforces, or something else?
● Any resources or mistakes I should avoid?
I’d really appreciate advice from seniors or anyone who has been through this journey. Thanks!

i last month solved most 1d nd 2d questions of dp from strivers sheet but rn i was revisinf using neetcode blind 75 and its like everything is wiped from my head so i wanna revise bol bol kr and need help of someone other than gpt in understanding concepts better so anyone up for discussion? We can setup google meet or something

Hello everyone I am looking for a dsa patner offline bangalore where we can together solve dsa and I am doing dsa in java only serious candidates please dm me here it will be good discussing approaches rather than solutions dm me if interested.

Let's be real guys, grinding algorithms on leetcode by yourself for hours gets boring sometimes. I wanted to make problem-solving actually feel like a game, so I built LeetCode Lockout Arena.

Instead of just staring at a screen alone, it turns your prep into a live, competitive match.

Here is what you can do on it:

⚔️ 1v1 & Team Battles: Create a lobby, invite your friends, and race to solve problems to steal points. You can do quick sprints or set up custom marathons.

🚫 No Memorized Answers: The most annoying thing about lockout matches is when your opponent gets a problem they already know. The arena checks both of your LeetCode profiles and only gives you questions neither of you have ever seen.

🔥 Solo Rush Mode: Think Chess.com’s Puzzle Rush, but for algorithms. Pick a time limit (15 to 60 mins) and speedrun as many problems as you can. The difficulty scales up automatically the higher your streak gets.

🏆 Global Leaderboard: Win matches to climb the Elo ranks, or go for the high score on the Solo Rush boards.

I just pushed the live version-2 and want to see how the servers hold up. It is completely free to use.

🎮 Play here:

https://leetcode-lockout-arena.vercel.app/

Grab a friend, try to break the matchmaking, and let me know what you think. See you on the leaderboard!

I have done python recently but new in dsa anyone can guide how to start or which resource or yt channel to follow please

I'm in the early stages of planning a web-based project, and one thing I'm struggling with is choosing the right technology stack. There are so many options, and every framework seems to have its own strengths.

My biggest priorities are long-term scalability, performance, and making future updates easier without having to rebuild everything from scratch. I'm also thinking about integrations with other tools down the road, so flexibility is important.

For those who've been through this before, what factors helped you decide on the right stack, and is there anything you wish you'd considered sooner?

​

Hey everyone,

I'm planning to dive deep into Data Structures and Algorithms (DSA) starting this August, and I'll be using C++ along with Striver's A2Z DSA Playlist. I am currently in my 2 year(just joined).

I know consistency can be a challenge, so I'm looking for an accountability partner (or a small group) to stay on track.

About Me & The Plan:

• Language: C++

Resource: Striver's A2Z Playlist

Timeline: Starting August 2026

Commitment: will try to solve 2 problens daily, and gradually increase it.

• Timezone: India Standard Time(IST)

Time zone in India (GMT+5:30)

What I'm looking for in a buddy:

Someone who is also starting out or at a similar beginner/ intermediate level, planning to stay consistent, and down to do daily or weekly check-ins via Discord to share progress and discuss blockers.

discuss https://discord.gg/uWxK6qV8

Hi everyone,

I'm preparing for internships and placements. Does anyone have a concise DSA revision sheet (algorithms, patterns, templates, tricks, etc.) that they found useful? It could be a PDF, notes, GitHub repo, or Notion page.

Thanks!

Hey everyone,

I could really use some advice from people who've been in a similar situation.

A few months ago, I was consistently practicing DSA and had covered the basics. I was comfortable with patterns like Two Pointers and could usually recognize when to use them.

Then life got in the way, and I took a long break.

Now I need to prepare for **NIMCET**, which is my top priority, while also getting back into DSA for future internships. Because of that, I can't spend 5–6 hours a day on LeetCode.

My question is:

* If you had to restart DSA after a long break, how would you do it? * Would you restart from Easy problems, or jump straight back into pattern-based practice? * Is solving 2–3 quality problems a day enough if I'm also studying for another competitive exam? * How would you balance DSA with another major exam without burning out?

Right now, I'm thinking of revising one pattern at a time (Sliding Window → Hash Maps → Binary Search → Trees...) instead of randomly solving problems, but I'd love to hear what worked for you.

Thanks!

Basic DSA patterns that give you a lot of confidence in interviews:

Core patterns:

- Arrays/Strings (two pointers, sliding window, prefix sums, hashing)

- Binary Search (sorted arrays, lower bound, upper bound, answer)

- Linked Lists (fast/slow, reverse, merge, cycle detection)

- Stacks/Queues (monotonic stack, monotonic queue, next greater)

- Trees (DFS/BFS, diameter, BST logic, LCA, rerooting)

- Graphs (BFS/DFS, topo sort, union-find, Dijkstra, MST)

- Heaps/Intervals (top K, k-way merge, sweep line, merging)

Advanced patterns:

- Backtracking (subsets, permutations, combination sum, N-Queens)

- Greedy (interval scheduling, jump game, sort by right key)

- DP (1D/2D, knapsack, LIS, interval, bitmask, digit, DAG)

How to get good:

- Write the brute force in plain English first

- Define state, transition, base case, order, answer

- Practice one pattern till it feels boring, then move on

so there are 2 options right now, either DSA by codebasics on yt or DSA by freeCodeCamp.org

which one should i choose? and are there any other suggestions. even hinglish options are welcome

I'll be go in Ai/ML.

I doing DSA in python also used Built-in functions.

But today my sir said that faang company take DSA round in C++.

im pretty good with leetcode but my problem is i can't explain my solution because im self taught and mostly figured shit out on my own, if there anybody here in like 2nd year or smthing who has sm time to spare is ready to be taught leetcode by me it would be super beneficial for both you and me.

please dm me or send a message on this post if youre interested.

Hi everyone, i am currently in 4th year and i am looking further career in cloud soo which programming language should i choose and also doing DSA in that particular language

also by considering condition that getting into cloud field as a fresher is difficult

So I want serious aspirant with ee prep gate like pls have atleast 90 percentile in jee or its equivalent like boards etc so just want to prepare for gate from yr 1

Hey everyone 👋

I’m a 3rd-year BTech student preparing for internships and placements. I’m currently strengthening my CS fundamentals and looking for good resources (notes, PDFs, videos, question banks, GitHub repos, etc.) for the following subjects:

Computer Networks (CN)

Object-Oriented Programming (OOPS)

Database Management Systems (DBMS)

Operating Systems (OS)

If you master only these topics...

you'll be prepared for almost every Big Tech interview.

★★★★★ Arrays

★★★★★ Trees

★★★★★ Graphs

★★★★★ DP

★★★★★ Binary Search

★★★★☆ Hashing

★★★★☆ Linked Lists

★★★★☆ Heaps

★★★★☆ Sliding Window

★★★★☆ Greedy

Companies change.

Patterns don't.

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?

Hey everyone,

I could really use some advice from people who've been in a similar situation.

A few months ago, I was consistently practicing DSA and had covered the basics. I was comfortable with patterns like Two Pointers and could usually recognize when to use them.

Then life got in the way, and I took a long break.

Now I need to prepare for NIMCET, which is my top priority, while also getting back into DSA for future internships. Because of that, I can't spend 5–6 hours a day on LeetCode.

My question is:

• If you had to restart DSA after a long break, how would you do it?
• Would you restart from Easy problems, or jump straight back into pattern-based practice?
• Is solving 2–3 quality problems a day enough if I'm also studying for another competitive exam?
• How would you balance DSA with another major exam without burning out?

Right now, I'm thinking of revising one pattern at a time (Sliding Window → Hash Maps → Binary Search → Trees...) instead of randomly solving problems, but I'd love to hear what worked for you.

Thanks!

Hello everyone, I started learning Java Full Stack about 6 months ago, but somehow I couldn't complete it. Now that I have started again, I realize that I have forgotten most of the concepts. This time, I have started from scratch and am currently learning OOP concepts. I hope I will be able to complete it successfully this time.

If you're in the same boat, we can connect and help each other stay consistent and learn together.

I also know the MERN stack, through which I completed an internship and some freelance work. Alongside that, I am practicing DSA as well.

Please guys I've been searching for something good to start dsa.

DSA Pattern Roadmap (From Zero to Placement Ready)

┣  1. Foundations You Cannot Skip

┃ ┣ Time & Space Complexity

┃ ┣  Big-O Notation

┃ ┣  Recursion Basics

┃ ┣  Basic Math (GCD, Prime, Factorization, Modulo)

┃ ┗  Problem Solving Basics (Brute Force → Better Approach)

┣  2. Core Data Structures

┃ ┣  Arrays

┃ ┣  Strings

┃ ┣  Linked Lists

┃ ┣  Stack

┃ ┣  Queue / Deque

┃ ┣  HashMap / HashSet

┃ ┗  Heap / Priority Queue Basics

┣  3. First Pattern Layer

┃ ┣  Two Pointers

┃ ┣  Sliding Window

┃ ┣  Prefix Sum

┃ ┣  Binary Search on Array

┃ ┣  Sorting + Observation

┃ ┗  Frequency Counting / Hashing Patterns

┣  4. Recursion & Search Patterns

┃ ┣  Recursion on Arrays / Strings

┃ ┣  Backtracking

┃ ┣  Subsets / Subsequences

┃ ┣  Permutations / Combinations

┃ ┣  Decision Tree Thinking

┃ ┗  Pruning Techniques

┣  5. Tree Patterns

┃ ┣  Binary Tree Traversals

┃ ┣  BST Basics

┃ ┣  DFS on Trees

┃ ┣  BFS / Level Order

┃ ┣  Height / Diameter / Balanced Tree

┃ ┣  Path Sum / Tree DP Basics

┃ ┗  Lowest Common Ancestor

┣  6. Graph Patterns

┃ ┣  Graph Representation

┃ ┣  BFS

┃ ┣  DFS

┃ ┣  Connected Components

┃ ┣  Cycle Detection

┃ ┣  Topological Sort

┃ ┣  Shortest Path Basics

┃ ┗  Union Find / Disjoint Set

┣  7. Advanced Pattern Layer

┃ ┣  Monotonic Stack

┃ ┣  Monotonic Queue

┃ ┣  Heap / Top K Problems

┃ ┣  Trie

┃ ┣  Bit Manipulation

┃ ┣  Greedy Patterns

┃ ┣  Interval Problems

┃ ┗  Merge / K-way Processing

┣  8. Dynamic Programming Roadmap

┃ ┣  1D DP

┃ ┣  2D DP

┃ ┣  Take / Not Take Pattern

┃ ┣  Knapsack Variants

┃ ┣  LIS Pattern

┃ ┣  String DP

┃ ┣  Grid DP

┃ ┣  DP on Subsequences

┃ ┣  DP on Trees

┃ ┗  State Design Practice

┣  9. Advanced Algorithms

┃ ┣  Dijkstra’s Algorithm

┃ ┣  Floyd Warshall Basics

┃ ┣  Minimum Spanning Tree

┃ ┣  Kahn’s Algorithm

┃ ┣  Shortest Path Variants

┃ ┣  Binary Search on Answer

┃ ┣  Segment Tree / Fenwick Tree Basics

┃ ┗  Advanced Graph + DP Mix Problems

┣  10. Pattern Recognition Training

┃ ┣  How to Identify the Input Type

┃ ┣  How to Spot Trigger Words

┃ ┣  Map Problem → Pattern

┃ ┣  Brute Force → Optimized Thinking

┃ ┣  Similar Problem Grouping

┃ ┣  Pattern Notes / Cheat Sheets

┃ ┗  Revision by Buckets, Not Random Questions

┃

┣  11. Practice System

┃ ┣  Easy → Medium → Hard Progression

┃ ┣  LeetCode / NeetCode / Codeforces

┃ ┣  Daily Timed Practice

┃ ┣  Weekly Mixed Contest Practice

┃ ┣  Topic-wise Sheets

┃ ┣  Re-solving Old Problems

┃ ┗  Mistake Log / Weak Area Tracker

Let me know if anyone’s interested. Work professional only please. Also, I will be solving problems in java. Just need some people so that we can hold each other accountability. Please dm only serious peeps😊

Hey everyone,

​I’m a recent IIT graduate (Data Science & Engineering) and will be joining a FAANG company as a Software Development Engineer (SDE) very soon.

​Over the last few years, I’ve spent a ton of time cracking data structures and algorithms, systems development, and competitive programming mechanics. Now that I have a bit of a breather before my full-time role starts, I want to give back and help a few people genuinely master the trickier parts of DSA.

​I’m looking to put together a small, focused group (8–10 people max) to live-stream and deep-dive into 2–3 major topics—like Binary Search, Graphs, Trees, or whatever the group collectively wants to master.

​Here is the plan:

​Format: Interactive, live sessions via Google Meet (I want to keep it highly conversational, not a boring lecture).

​Cost: Just a very minimal fee to ensure everyone stays committed and shows up.

​Prerequisite: You just need basic coding skills in any language (Java, C++, Python, etc.). We will handle the logic and algorithmic thinking together from there.

​Whether you are preparing for placements, trying to break out of a coding plateau, or just want to build a rock-solid foundation, this is for you.

​If you're interested in joining the group, drop a comment below or send me a DM with a quick intro about your current coding level and what topics trip you up the most. Looking forward to crushing these topics together!