Ask HN: Resources for LeetCode Grinding?
Looking to spend 6 months or so, with focus on prep for interviews.
4 comments
I never know if people are new to the topics or if they know the basics and want something else?
Anyway, the conventional resources were basically lists of top questions by various youtubers, they would say something like “do these 75 questions and you will be ready for most things that can come up in an interview”
Nowadays leetcode has learned about this pattern and has a study plan feature including some of those original lists: https://leetcode.com/studyplan/
Now that LLM’s can act as a tutor for these problems, I would say a study plan directly on the platform and a decent “tutor” prompt in your llm of chice will get you really far.
Anyway, the conventional resources were basically lists of top questions by various youtubers, they would say something like “do these 75 questions and you will be ready for most things that can come up in an interview”
Nowadays leetcode has learned about this pattern and has a study plan feature including some of those original lists: https://leetcode.com/studyplan/
Now that LLM’s can act as a tutor for these problems, I would say a study plan directly on the platform and a decent “tutor” prompt in your llm of chice will get you really far.
If you are looking for a job, looking for a job is the simplest thing that might work.
It also involves the most work and involves the most risk of rejection…things we are often wired to avoid.
You have to get way down the road before failing a Leet Code problem is even possible. And six months of grinding on professional networking are much more likely to bear fruit. Both in the short term and in the long term because Leet Code is neither work experience, nor knowing someone.
In addition, there is a tendency to approach Leet Code as “level two fizz-buzz” based on the examples. That’s not how companies are likely to use it. Instead, they test candidate code with “interesting size data” so that “fizzy-buzzy” solutions fall over. Just as they will in production.
Maybe that’s not you…but if Leet Code problems don’t look like what you do daily at work or something you struggled against in a class that used “interesting size data” grinding may not get you anywhere. Except avoiding the rejection and networking of a job search. Good luck.
It also involves the most work and involves the most risk of rejection…things we are often wired to avoid.
You have to get way down the road before failing a Leet Code problem is even possible. And six months of grinding on professional networking are much more likely to bear fruit. Both in the short term and in the long term because Leet Code is neither work experience, nor knowing someone.
In addition, there is a tendency to approach Leet Code as “level two fizz-buzz” based on the examples. That’s not how companies are likely to use it. Instead, they test candidate code with “interesting size data” so that “fizzy-buzzy” solutions fall over. Just as they will in production.
Maybe that’s not you…but if Leet Code problems don’t look like what you do daily at work or something you struggled against in a class that used “interesting size data” grinding may not get you anywhere. Except avoiding the rejection and networking of a job search. Good luck.
Leetcode