Myths every Competitive Programmer should know
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- čas přidán 23. 07. 2024
- Here are some common myths about competitive programming. These myths are more commonly found in beginners or those about to start competitive programming.
The video also has my personal views and advice on how to improve at competitive programming.
00:00 Who is this video for?
00:26 Alter-Ego
01:17 Right time to start?
03:04 Best Programming Language?
04:14 Way for Job Preparation?
05:23 When should you start?
06:36 Algorithms experts?
08:00 My take
09:22 Thank you!
You can start competitive programming at sites like HackerRank, Codingame, Codechef, HackerEarth, etc... These are useful when solving problems for fun or for interview preparation.
GitHub: github.com/coding-parrot
This video is gold Gaurav.
Probably the best video for 2 reasons.
1> You addressed the fact about viewers who ask silly/obvious questions just because they dont work hard enough themselves to find out & also as you mentioned people.feeling nice about you replying to them and they expecting to be spoonfed all of the skills through you.
2> What you mentioned about experience of solving problems,hitting a wall,reading theory and repeating the process indefinetely is so true.
Only people who have done it will understand the authenticity of what you said.The process is pure passion and relentless stubbornness to succeed no matter what.It is a beautiful process.
And yeah this is an.amazingly bold and much needed video.
#MuchRespect
#IndeedASuperhuman
Thanks so much Soumya 😍
I disagree. If you don't want to engage with your audience or answer questions on CZcams, fine. If you don't want questions from beginners, don't post content for beginners. It's arrogant and hypocritical to berate them and claim that they're "hurting the morale of the community" for being inquisitive about the very topic that you're posting on, while you personally benefit from their traffic.
@@neilmurphy7594 yep I am also a beginner and if I was so much experienced of a programmer I would not even ask the question .. even the stackoverflow community is full of cocky old programmers ...just watch the video 8 bit advice for beginners .. it's what we all need for now
Unfortunately, I disagree about the fact -> do not ask silly questions.
Nowadays, asking questions is really encouraged in software industry because if the requirements are not crystal clear, then you might land into developing completely different product or a different module.
This is SHEER UTMOST fact any recruiter ( Google, MS, Uber, Facebook, Apple, Airbnb, Netflix) will always tell you before interviewing with their companies.
@@prashantpatel1 I guess, Gaurav is emphasizing on doing some research on those silly questions before posting it or asking it directly. It's important to understand how valid our questions are! That can only be done by doing some research. Experts want to utilize their time. And that's well justified. We can't expect them to spoon-feed everyone. :)
Are we just gonna ignore the fact that this guy actually knows how to play minesweeper?!!
Finally! 😛
Bhai maine try kiya, nahi samajh aya, kaise khelte hain? (asking a stupid question to a senior :P )
The fact that you coudn't complete minesweeper, is because you coudn't reach the truth 😏
you don't? probably you are not tryingharder enough! 😝
Yes. Oh god. Idk how this guy is playing this game so nicely 😂
Quick takeaways:
5. there is no age limit (I started at about 35, BTW);
4. there is no definitive programming language;
3. is not mandatory to get a good engineering job;
2. you don't have to solve countless problems before you start;
1. you don't need to be an algorithm wizard.
I would say I disagree with most points somehow, but still good food for thought.
i know u from leetcode :)
i know you from codewars))
but if u started at 35, did u reach m or gm. how old are you now.
Simply loved this video. Thanks for being here!
In my whole life I've never seen one being this honest and straight to point
You're doing a great job my man
Thank you 😁
dont play this game in backround, my father is thinking that i m playing games :P
hahAH
🤣🤣🤣
Tim Sort ni padhni hai kisi ko, scoopwhoop ne poora trend hi kharab krdia hai 😂😂😂
Bilkul bhai 😝
@@gkcs You said competitive programming is of no use for a person with 4-5 years of exp, I am having the same but I want to get into better product based companies. I have already started learning and solving DS and Algo. Now I am confuse how should I go for my preparation?
@@RishiPrakash I think his point was that with experience there is less requirement for DS as at 7+ years of experience you will be some tech lead or architect designer. At that point of time your overall understanding of system is more important than DS as the task of applying DS will be done by fellows working for you. Apart there is no age for learning anything new. Also to get in any product organization, DS & Algo is very basic requirement with proper understanding of System designing and Scaling up the systems.
So if you wanna be in product organization - go ahead and start preparing for DS Algos.
@@charchitpatodi8677 appreciate your reply, thanks man!!
@@RishiPrakash For preparation : As Gaurav suggest there are many things you can find online. Even you can find step by step topics need to cover to get into Google. But I just put tips what you need to do to get into any product organization - Start with basic DS topics like stack, queue, linked list, and till you reach trees, you must know how to play with them. Then you must have knowledge of some algos and strategies like Recursion, DP, Greedy Algo, Knapsack. I think these are fine enough. You must know when and how to use them. If you are Java Guy - you must know Collections and which one you should apply OR if C/C++ guy then knowledge STL library will make things easy for you. Source for preparation - Go for Geeks4Geeks - you find company wise preparation content and even topic wise. They have really good collection. With all of this become active on any competitive programming sites, few also host Companies' challenges, if you top the leader board they will call you for interview. One last thing - I would suggest while preparing start applying for Jobs. So you will get exposure also. "oops my comment become too large ;)" Hope it will help you.
the best code that you are writing is in the mind of your listeners, this will give you the highest value!!
i loved how you are using mine sweep as background like a nod to youtube commentary channels using a video game for background while speaking..
😁
Are you collecting data of different playing scenarios to train a neural network by playing minesweeper manually??
Yes of course 😛😁
That's the first thing that came to my mind
yes it also came to my mind
That was irritating to my eyes btw.. Idk about others
Wanted to work on competitive coding today. Watched this video for motivation. Started playing minesweeper for hours. fml
Hahaha!
😀😂
Thank you for the insights really helpful :)
Please keep up the good work.
Just an insignificant comment but as a member of this community I need to address this. I have noticed a great shift of mentality among college students regarding cp. Competitive programming from being a sport now has totally transformed to another mandatory subject that students study willingly or unwillingly to clear job interviews. These days I find very less students who do CP because they like it :(
The ones who like it are usually the ones good at it. Ironically, they end up with the 'top' jobs too. The cycle is becoming vicious. We need the train's bogeys to learn from the engine. Move towards what you like instead of following along 😛
Btw, just tweeted this conversation 😋
Nice insights, Guarav. Thanks for the video!
Thanks Vinnie :D
I have learned java and want to get into competitive programming but I'm confused should I start learning ds algo in java only or should I learn cpp first and then learn dsa in cpp. Can someone give me advice?
Thank you gaurav for the video. To reach a level where you can clear the interview rounds of most product based companies, which platform do you recommend ? Would it be okay to straightaway jump into leetcode,interviewbit etc to get familiar with most company questions for the short term(placement season) ?Or start from scratch in SPOJ,HR ,codechef and build it over a long term. How often should geeks be referred, when you cannot come up with the solution? Currently i have been practising on hackerrank only. Not sure of which platform to move to next.
Leetcode is very useful if you are preparing for interviews. I'd recommend that for interviews. The other platforms are for competitive programming, which makes your problem solving great for the long run.
It depends on the time you have to prepare.
Ok..sure..Thank you gaurav :)
thank you man!! guys like you are awesome.. keep it up.. wish you more success.
Thanks!
You are a very inspirational man!! :)
Keep posting videos, we love it
Thanks! 😁
Hi Gaurav, I'm 2 years experienced and want to switch company and go to a good product based company. I have never done competitive programming before. Should I start cp now as i want to learn ds and algorithms for interviews and all.
I just started competitive programming..and feel much better after watching this.I feel very frustrated sometimes but your video motivates me.
Very nice video Gaurav. What's your opinion on contributing to Open Source projects? Do you think it could help to build one's career by opening up new avenues? It would be great if you could make a video on it.
Thank you for making this video. You're awesome bro
Thanks!
amazing video gaurav, this is the best answer i have received by far. Hats off to you.
Thanks Ishaan!
Oh my god this is amazing! Thanks Gaurav
Thanks Gaurav!!
Amazing Video
Thank you for clearing lot many things for me😊
I agree about practice I as a beginner always wondered how to think like I see few people who write in paper while solving a code and I didn't understand what's there to write after I participated in my first coding competition I realized that they were either dry running the code or writing algorithm. I still have many doubts and would like to know where can I ask them like a forum or community.
Hey bro I'm not that good at maths can I still learn it side-by-side during competitive programming? Does maths matter that much?
I agree 100% to most of the points u mentioned.
My experience is as mentioned below
1) When I started competitive programming I already had around 10 yrs of experience and I was finding it difficult to participate in competition and beat fresher's who already had answers available at hand and they used to solve problem in less than a minute. I later started only focusing on algorithms which are useful for my current work at hand.
2) The skills which we learn in CP won't be so helpful when u want to scale an application in realtime. To scale an application you have learn a lot of scalable design, session management, load balancing, database sharding, master slave architecture etc.. which also takes a lot of time to learn.
3) For senior level engineer interviews no one will focus on CP rank and they just focus on algorithm problem solving and hence you should just focus on building that foundation.
Keep up the good work.
That's a valuable experience. Thanks for sharing 😊
Venkatesh Manohar same questions I wanna ask
When you say algorithms, it still needs practice, probably on same platforms. What did you do about it?
These are two different worlds. Algorithms involved in CP are at a much higher level than what's required for most of the regular web applications. Algorithms involved in CP are more on the side of AI design, machine learning than any regular backend/distributed system design. I don't think all the legendary grandmasters on codeforces are high-level web app developers that require specialized skill sets.
I'm good with C++ internals, know a lot about c++11/14 language features, multithreading, have good domain knowledge (I want to work in low level computer vision or scientific computing) ie all required math, decomposing differential equations and solving linear equations, numerical optimisation methods, writing GPGPU code, how to optimise code to run in real time, designing software architecture etc. But in my last interviews I failed at simple algorithm interview questions which really made me doubt my abilities and even question career in computer engineering. I was in a rut for long time but I decided to make resume stronger by getting a few self-projects under my belt. Once those are done I want to spend a month learning DSA. Tim Roughgarden's lectures along with videos from channels like yours, and of course practice are quickest way for me to get better. I hope to be able to come here in some time and say I got a job thanks to your channel.
Cheers.
All the best!
Hay Gaurav, have you been to Galle fort? any plans to visit sri lanka again
Great video! Thanks for the guidance!
Cheers! 😋
Best video to describe competitive programming! You ROCK !!!
Thanks Himanshu 😁
Can you tell how programmers googling for code when working in industry
Amazing video..thanks gaurav
I liked your way of audience engagement.
Hi Gaurav.
I want to learn and work with you. Is that possible 😶. I m on urgent need 😶
Ive been feeling like im at a plateau for a while now, thought something was wrong with me. Thank you! Now i feel more motivated, coz i can progress!
All the best!
Probably the best practical video I have seen in computer field. We all get motivation by false hope, but here you are putting the harsh truth. Hope to see such videos in future. Great work !
Thanks Manish!
Hi gaurav..
Could u plz give me a brief about ur daily routine
I mean from where u get that much energy or enthusiasm :)
Actually, when it comes to languages, it is a fact that some platforms (e.g. Codeforces,..) do not implement time extensions for slower languages, thus, you can not overcome some problems even though you came up with the right algorithm.
Codeforces is pretty understanding. SPOJ is brutal.
I understand the sentiment though. However, people usually argue on languages because they have no idea. The asking parties want a debate more than trying it out.
This time I got notification from your channel
Always a good thing 😛
This video felt like it was straight from the heart..
where are these pics and background videos from they are beautiful.!!
All of them are from Sri Lanka!
The minesweeper was me playing :)
Great video... It will help me a lot in my career.
Thanks Gaurav !!
You are welcome 😁
To crack the written rounds of campus placements do we need to be very good at CP?
Yes, you need to be red on codeforces.
Have a look at the video for proof.
Gaurav Sen that’s hilarious
Thanks.. great video, quite inspiring though!!!!
Mission Accomplished!
I am a student of class 10,from India and from The CISCE board and I am quiet aquinted with java which we have be learning since class 7. I have got a special weakness for programming but My dream is a gold At the IOI but I can't understand where to start.The only data structure I know is Array . Well If you don't mind can you please suggest your, this younger brother a good book on algorithm aswell as on data structure in java for beginners because the problem I am facing is not the lack of resources but the availability of so many resources.
09:09 "I want to improve this community, not to make it feel good. If it happens together, that's great. But improving this community will always be my first goal." 😊 One of the reasons I love your channel is that you give honest feedback. You're 100% right when you say that people need the kind of critique that helps them see what they're doing right or wrong (if they want to grow). We don't want false praise or watered down advice. I think that teachers who don't give honest advice care more about their ego and about other people's opinions than they care about their students.
Of course, you don't have to be rude when you tell someone they're bad at something. 😊 But you, Guarav, are never rude. You are a smart, caring teacher. Keep up the great work.
Thank you so much Bianca!
It's came out pretty good..
Nice 1...
Another thing that's great about your channel is it exhibits your growth as a person and your journey as a whole starting from a college student.
Your editing has gone up a notch along with your skills with every video you've made. The transition is indeed visible.
Keep up the amazing work! :)
Thanks Prashanth! Happy to hear that :D
Both of you inspire me a lot! Keep posting informative videos.
Can you do something to help beginners with competitive programming with Java
U solved every doubt i hd regarding Cpp....thanks
Your guidance is very helpful.
myself i started it @ the age of 30+ ... i left my job and joined a project (in IIT) earning 40+ and doing DS and algorithms and maths. in project rarely work load is high so it's easy to explore. but one thing i must say doing things in a right way actually enhances your thinking ability. and i am doing it last 2 years and came to know lot of fundamental things, how to think abstractly etc.. and all the technologies based on fundamental things .. :) at the end of the day abstract thinking is must :)
Congrats!
I like to hear these stories, but they are the exception rather than norm, from the stories I hear 🙂
You left your job for competitive programming?
hi gourav, I agree with all your points...and ..lets say a person is good at cp, and he is looking to find a good job outside the campus what would u suggest to such person. btw thank u 4 a good video...hoping 4 ur reply
Apply apply apply!
Thanks for providing quality insights
Thanks!
I am just start computetive programming i have 3 year in PHP so PHP comfortable to start computetive programming because in video you mentioned language is not matter and give me feedback ASAP
Great work gaurav sir.
I am currently in my pre-final year of college. Is it a good time to start competitive programming? How should I proceed and practice?I still can't figure out whether it's too late or not.
Yeah it is ..im also starting at the same time
Happy belated birthday legend.
bro, awesome video as usual.
just one clarification: if you do not seek to be hassled by silly doubts, your only option is to quit interacting with hapless beginners altogether. But considering CZcams is open to all, silly are thus an unavoidable part of having a CZcams channel.
I don't think so. Silly doubts on system design are rare compared to that in Competitive Programming. I think that people in the CP community are lazy, comparatively.
I actually like your videos usually. This one seemed to move off course. If what you are saying is you only want experienced and powerful coders on your channel and so if someone is less experienced they should sit back and not comment... I think that is not helpful for anyone and would make this though a nice exclusive space for experienced programmers... probably they would not need you. The reality is that no one is required to answer a question. Also, answering with "A quick google search will bring up your answer" would also be fine. But this leaves behind the possible reasons someone asks a question. It is not always because they were too lazy to look it up and want you to spoon feed them. It is, also, possible that they wanted to hear your answer as they have looked up conflicting answers or that they were seeking your encouragement. There are many reasons that people ask questions. Again, I really like the enthusiasm and energy of your normal videos. This one just fell a little hard on elitism and that we seem to have enough of in the programming world.
Said... with... respect
When I say poor questions, I don't mean ones which have subjective answers. The ones I am primarily talking about are debugging or syntax questions, which are pathetic.
There are others who ask for 'hints' in a live contest, which is unethical. Some people start with a question clarification and move to shooting possible solutions, hoping that I'll point out the correct one amongst them.
I've noticed this the most amongst Indian participants, maybe because I am from India and hence my user base is primarily Indian. I don't want to publicly shame them but it gets on anybody's nerves given enough time. And I don't want my country's name associated with this behavior, as it was in one of Bohdan answer's here: www.quora.com/Why-do-a-lot-of-successful-competitive-programmers-not-participate-actively-on-CodeChef-but-participate-often-on-sites-like-TopCoder-and-Codeforces
The final kind of stupid question is: help me step by step to learn programming. I could, but why would I? Basic programming tutorials are out there to consume. "Leeches asking for elementary stuff which already exists because they are too lazy to go through the same process as everyone else" - Me.
Finally, people asking life advice. "What should I do now? Where should I focus in life?" I mean, I could tell them if I invested a day in knowing about their current state and then spoon feeding them, but why? "Take responsibility, acquire skills and do your goddamn job." - Also, me 😛
Cheers for the respectful question, and thanks for the feedback!
Awesome tips
Thanks for saying this, i get daily dumb texts asking super silly things, It literally irritates me to the core
Absolutely 😛
Very much informative!
i just felt bad for one point of yours, i am a beginner and started competitive coding few months ago, and when everybody starts they have questions, same for me i had a 'question' and i searched it on the internet, and didn't find anything useful, i posted it on stack overflow, i got the answer and also found out that it already had a solution, but the 'terminology' which it was associated with was unknown to me, got several down votes, got few "don't ask 'silly questions' ". How was i supposed to know that?
Don't experienced programmers realize that 'silly question' for them might be just a 'question' for us?
It demotivated me further.
You are truly an inspiration 💫
Amazing video
I NEEDED THIS!!
focusing on camera instead of screen is more attractive
What is the background game ?
Minesweeper.Classic Win xp game.
Is the start of the video from one of the rooms of Taj Banjara??
It's Sri Lanka's Cinnamon hotel 😋
@@gkcs My bad then 😅
@@gkcs You should make a video like 'A Day of Software Engineer at ...' which is common trend now and none of India. ✌️
good bhai great effort
Hey ...I am now in 12 science....so suggest me from where do I start to master in competitive programming??
As he said in the video: "google it first".
This channel helps me alot bro 😍 #keepdoing
Cheers!
Closed lot of doubts, thanks
I’ll say this will be a great opportunity for college students. If one start doing it at college, by the time one comes out, he’ll either have developed something or be at a different level. Which will make one better at their job.
Mean while I am reading pygame python doc's ....great vedio are you from india I am from India Mumbai just 14 and learning python
I somewhere found that, Gaurav was in Galle Cricket Stadium, Srilanka
Which city are you from!! I think i saw you few days back
I am from Mumbai :)
Now you are sounding a lot more experienced.
Bro, m pretty good at C n C++. But I think I don't have to dirty my hands with Java. Instead focus on python. Am I right..?
Learn all programming languages 😁
@@gkcs Thanks man.
I was kidding. Watch the video before commenting buddy 😋
BHAU kaha ho aap....
Awsum 👍
As I’m beginner 😊
By the end of the video, Doubts abt competitive programming become clear but getting another doubt that how to play minesweeper
Excellent video!
Nice bro.Its really motivating.
Thanks!
Wow you reply to so many comments here, unexpected from a creator.
Thanks for making this video
I thought I'll stop reading comments when the channel becomes big.
I didn't 😁
thanks for your thought
Thanks for listening!
You always motivates me :)
Almost every big company like Amazon, Samsung, Uber and good startups always have a round where they test problem solving. Hence CP gives such an exposure and knowledge. Most of the programmers in India are good at bull work and fail at work that needs deep thinking. CP develops the thinking side. Hence even though ranking may not be a need but you get noticed and may get calls from good companies. It is time that few more people start doing cutting edge brainy work and give up on bull work. Ability to write a highly scalable, maintainable programs with very good knowledge of CP will enable good products to happen. CP enables us to develop a thinking brain which will be a useful tool for doing any work. Of course there are may ways of developing it.
Doing it in college is easy as compared to doing while working. Work cultures in India do not allow any free time when you are in an active product development.
yep i have seen this experienced peeps are very helpful but they get annoyed if you ask stupid questions
Bro, Your videos are top notch...
Thank you!
Should i stop doing competitive programming cause i m bowed towards it. 75% of my study hrs i devotes to cc nd 30%to my semester subjects m in 3rd year after watching the video i got confused what to do 😂
I am using python on codeforces and many of my friends are saying to move to C++ if I can. I am definitely having a disadvantage for using python as it is slow, but at the same time, I think I work hard more to solve the problem more efficiently, thus getting a good basic understanding. I try to look pass the disadvantage and try to focus on logic. So far, doing really great. Anyone in similar situation, my advice would be just stop worrying and start coding in your language of ease.
C++ will probably help you understand the underlying CS principles better
@@ImperatorZed update: I use C++ nowadays for competitive programming.
I did a course on operating system that made me code C. So, after 4 months of rigorous C, now I am okay with C++.
And yes, I agree with you about understanding concepts better in C/C++.
Bro look at the cam not the screen
Brutal but honest😎 background is nice though 😂
I like playing minesweeper 😁
Hey I'm starting programming from tomorrow wish me well I'm starting with python
Hey u Know how to play minesweeper...great🙌
I'm impressed. Good job.
Thank you!
A great discussion