startup help needed

hey, i know this is not the good ques to ask here
but i never participate in any programming contest before so please help me on how to start…
please mention few topics which are required to crack such contest …
i preferred java language because i know the basics…
and tell me good books also if u know…

@tarunchine You should start with practice problems first. You would learn how to take input and output here in codechef.

To crack contest always just have two paradigms:

  1. learn
  2. practice

and You will learn when you will try new problems and learn the techniques associated with it it will definitely help you in future.

Furthermore a mathematical background is good for online contest. I can mention a few books.

  1. COncrete Mathematics by Graham,knuth and patashnik
  2. Hacker’s delight(useful for bit manipulation)

as you prefer java you should learn how to take fast input/output in java and you should als know various library functions. Best book i can suggest is.

  1. Core Java By Hortsman

further more in online coding contests the programming technique is important rather than language feature.
So data structure should be thorough.
Codechef has listed many books and techniques here http://www.codechef.com/wiki/tutorials

By the way welcome to codechef enjoy coding. :slight_smile:

PS: practice and patience is the only key

4 Likes

@amitupadhyay,

Awesome answer :smiley: I’d upvote more times if I could :smiley:

I would only like to add my two cents to everything that it was already mentioned!!

A good book I also always recommend to people that are starting is: [How to Think like a Computer Scientist][1], written by Allen B. Downey…

It doesn’t cover much… Only the basics of the basics… But it covers them along with such good explanations, intuition and insight… That I really recommend to read at least the intro :slight_smile:

Also, reading editorials after each contest can help you greatly, as these editorials are really, really good :smiley:

Best regards,

Bruno
[1]: Think Java: How to Think Like a Computer Scientist

1 Like

Thanks @kuruma :slight_smile: The book you suggested i definitely going to be my next book to read :stuck_out_tongue: thanks for telling :slight_smile:

thanks for the reply it helps a lot…