While working on my LeetCode project last year, I started a list of general practice notes. Not notes on specific problems, though those are essential, but notes on the LeetCode practice process in general. My plan for this year is to turn those into a short LeetCode practice tip each week.
Weekly LeetCode Tips
Everyone know that “solve more problems” is the way to get better at LeetCode (or any other technical subject). But one of the core ideas of this blog is not all practice is equally good. LeetCode can help promote the good kind of practice, also known as deliberate practice. It can be repeated a lot, since there are plenty of problems, and problems can be solved as many times as necessary. Feedback is continuously available, since the online judge is always ready to check your solution and community members are around to answer questions. And it’s possible to approach LeetCode as a demanding mental challenge by focusing on solving one or more problems every day, and taking part in contests.
But just solving problems every day, as encouraged by the daily coding challenge and the streak tracker, isn’t enough. Elements of practice design like which problems to practice, when to repeat a problem, how to take notes on a practice session, how to use solutions, and how long to spend on a single problem can have a big impact on results. I’ll be covering these topics and others in the coming weeks.
(Image credit: Jernej Furman)