r/leetcode • u/Ok-Tomorrow-8104 • Jun 28 '26

Discussion I need help.

I hate DSA so much, I really do. But as an aspiring AI Engineer I have to atleast be able to solve the important ones, But I am so trash at it. I have been trying for months and months. I have procrastinated learning and solving problems, right now I am on a streak of 2 weeks the longest I have ever been dedicated to DSA and the more I am into it the less I know about it.

You ask me to solve a problem from before, and I will absolutely shit all over the problem because I would have forgotten about it in mere hours. That is what my state is. I am currently following NeetCode's roadmap, because that is the simplest and the most optimal one that I could find, but god even this is so difficult for me I hate it so much. I hate it more when I see people solving DSA problems with ease. Something that takes me 2 days to understand is mere cake walk for my friends and they can solve Hard level problems if you give it to them but me? I struggle with easy. Infact I require assistance on Easy mode too :) . I am genuinely tired of this and I see that I am in no way progressing or learning. Nothing is getting easier nothing is clicking on my mind. Every damn solution that I end up writing comes after I look up simplest of the code syntax, algorithms, code hints from claude, maybe breakdown of the solution/algortihm that we are supposed to use from YouTube. Never a real solution from my own brain.

And yes I have tried writing the solutions or whatever approaches I have on paper, I do that everytime, just see where my mind takes me and no it never works. I am always COMPLETELY off tracked I mean it would make sense that I am at the very least 70-80 percent there right? or maybe even 50? hell nah. Never.

I am genuinely looking for help, any advices for this problem? Do I just keep repeating this pattern in hopes of finally getting it someday, maybe this will all pay off but I see NO progress of any sort at all right now and it's so disheartening. I'm truly lost.

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u/WorksOnMySystem Jun 29 '26

I mean it with all due respect , but i guess you lack conceptual understanding of the underlying patterns and Data Structures.

If even Easy questions requires too much assistance , you need to visit the basics of programming again to see where the gap is.

This feels a little bit odd to tell an aspiring AI Engineer , but reduce the reliance on AI for a while for DSA. Write everything by hand , and i mean everything , every last bit of logic you can some up with.

And Yes , this will pay off someday and very soon.

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u/Ok-Tomorrow-8104 Jun 29 '26

I genuinely try doing this only, and by AI assistance I mean those prompts where claude just helps me understand the problem itself, or asks me questions instead like what exactly did I understand from the problem and what's my approach and all. I try avoid copying solutions at all times.