Master Solving Coding Problems with 8 Guidelines and Correct Strategy

Traditional strategy

Solving Coding problems are challenging and sometimes tricky. We are told to practice a lot of problems will help hone our coding skills. But, it is partially true. I will say, this is a deviation from the right strategy. Let us see how

Problems with this approach:-

• Monotonous and demotivating.
• It is hard to measure progress.
• Output is suboptimal
• People became frustrated after some time (maybe 2 months to 6 months) and quit preparation.

The right approach: Intelligent regular practice is key for Solving Coding Problems

With this approach, I mean that practice fewer questions intelligently. The quality of the practice matters and will help you solve coding problems.

Key points with this approach are as below:-

• Practice questions as per your capacity, less is good here.
• Practice in a time-bound manner.
• Review the code before submitting.
• Use free online programming platforms, like, leetcode.
• First practice with pen and paper.
• Pay attention to details in the problem statement.
• Think of all test cases and corner cases and statically run through your program.
• Real magic of this approch is how to proceed when solution fails(partially included).
  • Don’t get disheartened.
  • Think why a test case failed.
  • Come up with an approach to solve this.
  • If you are comfortable with unit-testing then develop with this approach. It will help you develop your solution iteratively. It will also help to understand possible test cases and how to pass them.
  • Still the solution does not work, try it the next day.
  • If also does not work on next day then see the other’s solution but don’t forget to code it out yourself.

You can learn about the divide-and-conquer approach to solve coding problems.