hi there,
Ive just joined the codechef, and was wondering where to start with. I have only learned C, so I was searching for its practice questions. But when I started solving the EASY section, it turned out to be little tough for me. Also i encountered some problem in the understanding of the question. So is it natural in the beginning or do i need to work more on my skills, before even getting started to solve this section. And even if i do, please mention the source from where should i learn.
You, Know competitive programming questions is a little bit different than normal questions. You need to learn some basic algorithms like(searching,sorting,graphs,dp,etc) before solving questions. I recommend you go to hackerearth’s codemonk it have all the topics and tutorials, though not much in detail. But you can choose a topic, learn that from other sources in great detail and then solve problems(difficulty ranges from very-easy to very-hard). Most very-easy questions are really just a simple inmplementation of algorithm. It is good for beginners.(i started there) You would be able to solve problems(after reading tutorials there) That would encourage you. And yaa do participate in all the contests of codechef. try to give your best and don’t forget to see the editorials of the question you weren’t able to solve and learn the idea behind it or new algorithms required to solve it. Really practice and experience of algorithms are the only thing that matter here. Also don’t give up on questions easily try to do as much as possible then only see the editorial.
learning algos can’t be independent of coding
Even today I don’t know all of this things… you just go for some beginner questions… if u find something difficult search that on google… (It will develop skill of searching ) and I have even got soln of very tough question in contest directly from google…
So keep a hope and google what you don’t know… try to get “used to” use codes of other programmers (be comfortable)(though u need to mention the link of the reference code in comment of ur code from which u copied some part for eg. from geeksforgeeks)…
LONG CHALLENGE is the best thing to do for u… try questions… and in each contest make a goal to increase your rank a little bit than earlier and don’t give up till you don’t get success…
after each contest view editorials of two(or at least one) question you haven’t solved… suppose you had solved first two question then see 3rd and 4th question and solve them in practice section and it will help u a lot…
#after you gain a little bit confidence understand each question properly and try to get 1st subtask if possible…
And In some months u will gain confidence…
if u find it difficult then solve 7 to 14 questions each week from practice section and ask for help if u need it… (cuz u can’t ask for help in contest except from google)
#prerequisites
loops (for , while)
scanning
printing
data types (int , long long int , float , double)
#this are the things u need to start competitive programming
try to use inbuilt functions also… they help a lot…
like
sort function in c++
To do list after some experience with programming (do not panic if u haven’t seen this things… they are very easy)(do them one after another):
Stack
Queue
priority queue
vector
vector pair
hashmap
hashset
PS:- all of this things are already available as inbuilt functions in c++…
You need to understand their
use , advantages , disadvantages , time complexity , space complexity…
#you can use almost all of the things of c in c++…
almost all functions of c are available in c++ with same syntax…
So feel free to switch to c++… It has many inbuilt functions to help u a lot without any extra effort to learn new language… they are almost similar
Given below are the resources i wish i had got access to earlier (These are pure gold):
1. https://www.codechef.com/certification/prepare#foundation
2. The book “Competitive programming” By Steven & felix, NUS