Deliberate practice techniques for software developers
Math builds on itself, so trying to learn a math topic without first mastering its prerequisites is just asking for trouble. A good place to learn prerequisites is Khan Academy. Although it’s missing many advanced math topics, it covers the basics well. And the way it organizes practice problems ensures that you regularly get tested on the concepts you need the most practice with.
Competitive programming practice sites often organize problems by topic area. For example, uHunt has categories for graphs, string processing, dynamic programming, and many others. uHunt Chapter 5 covers topics in mathematics. Since math is a separate field from computer science and algorithms (though it’s closely related), I’m considering this week how it relates to competitive […]
ContinuePetr Mitrichev, legendary competitive programmer and current Google employee, didn’t major in computer science. He got a degree from Moscow State University in mathematics. In a Topcoder Spotlight Session in 2008, he answered a few questions about how math relates to competitive programming practice:
ContinueFor each of the past two years, I’ve been working on year-long projects and writing about them here. In 2017, the topic was designing and coding a time-tracking app. This year, my project was a competitive programming FAQ. Like most FAQs, it’s a work in progress, but it now contains a set of popular questions, […]
ContinueI’m working on a project this year to build a competitive programming FAQ. This is one in a series of articles describing the research, writing, and tool creation process. To read the whole series, see my CPFAQ category page. Last month, I described how several successful competitive programmers approached their training. These stories are not […]
ContinueI’m working on a project this year to build a competitive programming FAQ. This is one in a series of articles describing the research, writing, and tool creation process. To read the whole series, see my CPFAQ category page. It’s no secret that the popularity of competitive programming depends partly on the popularity of the […]
ContinueI’m working on a project this year to build a competitive programming FAQ. This is one in a series of articles describing the research, writing, and tool creation process. To read the whole series, see my CPFAQ category page. On September 20, 2008, Petr Mitrichev took part in a Topcoder Spotlight Session where he answered […]
ContinueI’m working on a project this year to build a competitive programming FAQ. This is one in a series of articles describing the research, writing, and tool creation process. To read the whole series, see my CPFAQ category page. Questions that are too specific to one person’s situation don’t work well on Quora. They tend […]
ContinueI’m working on a project this year to build a competitive programming FAQ. This is one in a series of articles describing the research, writing, and tool creation process. To read the whole series, see my CPFAQ category page. Anyone who has practiced solving competitive programming or coding interview problems, has confronted a choice: when […]
ContinueI’m working on a project this year to build a competitive programming FAQ. This is one in a series of articles describing the research, writing, and tool creation process. To read the whole series, see my CPFAQ category page. It’s fun to debate the nature vs. nurture / intelligence vs. effort question. Years ago, I […]
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