Hello everyone!
I’m very new in competitive programming, joined Codechef this month, and have my own queries. So I’ll try to unleash every possible information of mine for you to understand me and help me with your utmost.
What I know:
I feel I’m good with basics of CP, but for your information- I’ve programmed in C/C++ before and I feel quite comfortable with that. I’ve also knowledge of basic data structures and basic algorithm like searching, sorting. I’m also familiar with WebDev and Open Source but I guess It has nothing to with competitive programming so I won’t talk much about that.
In “April Challenge 2017”, my first contest, I were able to solve 2 full problems (SIMDISH, DISHLIFE) with ease and one problem (ROWSOLD) partially (got TLE), and at the end I were able to grab this:
1526
★★
CodeChef Rating
(Highest Rating 1526)
Global Rank 29025
Country Rank 16489
I know this is not even good enough to mention but not the last one either. I will take it as lesson on how incompetent I’m in competitive programming.
Query:
- How to proceed from now on to grasp good knowledge of CP, algorithm and become yellow and then red eventually?
- Should I continue participating in Codechef monthly contest while I’m learning algorithm, or I should learn algorithm first and then should compete in monthly contest?
- I often see good coders who are yellow or red talk about solving hard problems, not the easy one. How would I know which one to solve and which one to avoid as I have already experienced of seeing some problems very easy but I face many errors and I learn new concept when I solve them in real?
- What mistakes should I avoid on this long journey of competitive programming?
I have no one around me who can help me with all these queries and guide me to the right path. I’ll really appreciate if you consider to help me with your best. Thank you!
Edit: Please try to clarify queries 2 and 3 in more deep way. Every great programmers have their initial days, and so have I. So please, I’ll appreciate your suggestion.