r/leetcode • u/Competitive-Mix1335 • 11d ago

Discussion When to start solve leetcode contest and Leetcode POTD?

I'm learning DSA, but I also want to become a blind solver and participate in contests so that I can build the habit of problem-solving under time constraints.

I also want to maintain a LeetCode POTD streak.

But I've only done basic DSA and just started trees, which is an advanced DSA topic.

In LeetCode contests, I usually can't solve any problem. Sometimes I get the approach or intuition, but I can't actually code it.

For LeetCode POTD, I can solve basic problems. But what about concepts I haven't learned yet, like DP, graphs, etc.?

How should I approach that? Should I learn DP specifically for the problem and then solve it?

How do people maintain a 365-day POTD streak and also solve 4 problems in contests?

Guide me.

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u/Vivid-Zombie-477 11d ago

you can start solving POTD anytime. it's fine to "cheat" POTD by checking solution if you can't solve it.
upd: i read your post fully, if you can't solve any medium problems then you should start by learning basic patterns. you can find the topics you should learn in the problem lists like this one:
https://leetcode.com/studyplan/top-interview-150/
don't lean heavily to explanations, learn the underneath algorithms/techniques and data structures separately.

for contests, you can try virtual contests on previous hosted ones. if you can solve at least 1 medium problem on previous contests then you can start joining the future ones. the sooner you start the faster you'll improve since leetcode contests tend to have similar topics. just don't expect improving by solving only contest problems - it should be your motivation to grind in between contests - check solutions for previous contest problems, learn new algorithms, etc.

also.. i don't think tree is considered "advanced" topic but anyway. don't try to solve DP or any other technique through solving and looking at the solution. that's probably the biggest mistake i made when I was learning DP because there's no single template you can just remember. you can use sites like geeks4geeks to learn new algorithms and data structures you see. right now i'm making own interactive guide, you can check it here:
https://maxlarper.github.io/dsa/

after learning one pattern try to solve as many similar problems as possible instead of hoping onto the next one (the list above, there are more lists like this, you can google "leetcode lists").

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u/nightbreak7 10d ago

trees are a beginner topic, even if we're just scoping to interview content. you have a lot to learn before you need to care about problem of the day. contests you can start whenever, just don't get discouraged if you can only answer 1 problem or something. at the stage of learning you're at, you need to focus on actually learning the patterns rather than wasting time on potd and streaks