Before learning discrete math, it’s useful to know how much other math you remember. Last week, I discussed how Khan Academy is uniquely useful for evaluating and improving your skills in math topics through Calculus. But eventually you might reach Mastery level in all Khan Academy math skills. Does that mean it’s time to move […]
ContinueHow Useful is Khan Academy for Learning Math?
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 […]
ContinueHow Important is Math for Competitive Programming?
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 […]
ContinueA Project for 2019
Petr 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:
ContinueCompetitive Programming Frequently Asked Questions: 2018 In Review
For 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, […]
ContinueCPFAQ: How Did X Become a Top Competitive Programmer, Part 2
I’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 […]
ContinueCPFAQ: How Do Coding Interviews Differ from Coding Contests?
I’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 […]
ContinueCPFAQ: A Topcoder Chat with Petr Mitrichev
I’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 […]
ContinueCPFAQ: How Did X Become a Top Competitive Programmer?
I’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 […]
ContinueCPFAQ: How Long Should I Work on a Programming Problem Before Looking at the Answer?
I’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 […]
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