I’m new to codechef and i don’t know if this is the right category to post this thing so i’m sorry. I was solving practice problems in 500-1000 rating category i’m very comfortable upto around 700s after that i can solve few but i really couldn’t solve the rest how can i work upon only these kind of problems which i couldn’t solve and improve my problem solving abilities ? thanks in advance.
Hello!
Well, first you should practice some habits that might help you.
- Pre-solve (most of) the problem before starting coding.
Have a notebook, a pencil, and maybe a calculator with you every time you code. After reading the problem, write in your notebook the possible numbers, string, matrix or whatever. Imagine you are simulating the process. Only after that, you might start coding.
- Read the test cases and create your own
Test cases generally are giving you half of the answer. Analyzing the outputs of the year cases is super helpful. Moreover, creating your own test cases following the constraints is as helpful.
- Read the Editorial, Submissions and commented codes after your attempts
Many problems in the practice part are heavily commented. In some are videos even!! Try reading and watching them. Those are meant to tell you the particular technique to solve that problem. In the beginning, it might seem that they are unrelated, but you’ll see after many problems and approachings are kinda similar: number theory, binary manipulation, statistics, etc.
- Keep learning your language
Even if you solved a problem, give yourself a moment to wonder how could’ve been solved more efficiently. Maybe there was another data structure, a built in canonical function, or a common DSA you weren’t aware of. All that can be found in the submissions.
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Thank you so much for responding to my question. I’m relatively new to programming so can you explain how to come up with rare test cases myself with a small example TuT i’m really sorry me dumb aff generally i will be like what the heck is this statement and i do all those stupid stuff which is totally unnecessary to try solving it, only when i look at the solution i’ll be like what? this simple? TuT halp thanks in advance
Think of the worst and best escenario according the constraints. If the problem tells you to look for something, then imagine the element will be at the end of the beginning. If you are asked to sort an array, then assume every element will be unsorted. If N can be up 1 to 10^9, then assume those two examples.
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thank you so much TuT i’ll be forever grateful.
just one path - learn and practice.
thank you so much @anujsinghx7 i was wondering for example if i’m stuck at sorting an array of integers let’s say how can i practice on only these problems alone like sorting yes i can come up with what should be done but few problems i don’t even know under which topic it comes from to even search and practice but now as @ulisesaugusto1 said i’m having a note with me for solving it before hand and also a calculator just incase fr it did help me a lot and i’m solving a lot better compared to before but still i couldn’t find the operation that needs to be performed for some problems as he said again i need a lot of practice ig to identify it and solve it correctly if you know something it would be really helpful if you tell me