We all do programming; we all want to improve our reasoning and crack the logic of a problem as fast as possible what we can do? YES! You need a loop of competitive programming. Let me clear myself that I am no pro to this I am just a learning student like you all but I am experiencing this loop for quite a few months and I want you to do it as well. Firstly, you have to understand that,
What is Competitive programming?
Competitive programming is like a sport, maybe even an art form. This usually involves the presenter presenting a set of logical or mathematical problems, also known as puzzles, to candidates who are asked to write computer programs capable of solving each problem. The evaluation is mainly based on the number of problems solved and the time spent writing successful solutions. However, this can also include other factors such as the quality of the output produced, execution time, program size, etc. It is also an activity that requires creativity and analytical thinking to solve complex coding problems.
Where to start?
Firstly, you should have basic knowledge about programming andselect one programming language in which you prefer to solve theproblems. Then find anonline platform where you can do competitive programming and practice for contests and build up your logic.So, there are a lot of platformswhere you can practice and participate in contests one of such platforms is;
CODECHEF is a competitive programming website. It is a very good platform for beginners to enhance their Reasoning skills and get great exposure to competitive programming. CODECHEF supports a large number of different programming languages, organizes contests every month, and has no shortage of contests ranging from short duration contests that last for about 3 hours, to long duration contests which last for several days. CODECHEF has a very user-friendly interface that is easy to understand and gives you a good experience to solve the problem.
Mistake beginner’s make!
- Not being consistent you may solve many problems in the first week but then you get lazy to solve the problems, now think if you go to the gym for one week will you be able to build up your muscles? NO right you have to go daily and then only you can see the result. So, you Solve 2 problems only but solve them daily.
- Getting demotivated I think most of us go through this we are not able to solve problems and then stop doing it but when you see the solution you get to learn new functions and methods to solve a problem also in online platforms like Codechef we have difficulty rating so we can start from easy level and then increase our difficulty level on weekly basis.
- Solving easy problems and being in the comfort zone by this you will not be able to solve and learn problems with more difficulty problems so which will be of no use and the time you will give daily will be a waste so stop being in your comfort concept and start doing all the concept and explore it as much as possible.
- Whenever you learn something new you don’t implement you think you have seen it and you can solve it but that’s not the case you have to implement it in your system and try to do some variations.
DRY RUN
A dry run is the process of a programmer manually working through their code to trace the value of variables. There is no software involved in this process.Dry runs help you identify trouble spots, discover sections you may not fully understand, and get a better understanding of how everything fits together. It’s also a good way to find out if you don’t fully understand how an activity is supposed to be conducted or how the virtual tools function.
When you start doing competitive programming practice and participating in contests, I can assure you that you will not fear code in an algorithm, you can crack any logic of the problem easily and tackle all the technical rounds in your interview.
So, this is all you should know about competitive programming as a beginner and then you all are ready for this loop.
Happy coding!
STUDENT (TE-IT)
Ayush Singh