How I Did My First 100 LeetCode Questions

I tried LeetCode, thought it was impossible, found NeetCode, and came back a completely different problem solver.

Starting LeetCode

I did about 10 problems on LeetCode and thought it was way too hard. I'd stare at a medium, have no idea where to start, look at the solution, and understand nothing. I was convinced this wasn't for me.

Discovering NeetCode

Then I found NeetCode and realized my problem wasn't ability, it was structure. NeetCode groups problems by pattern, and that made all the difference. Instead of random grinding, I was learning why solutions work.

I worked through 109 NeetCode problems and learned to recognize ~12 core patterns:

• Sliding Window, Two Pointers, Fast & Slow Pointers
• Merge Intervals, Binary Search, BFS/DFS
• Topological Sort, Dynamic Programming, Backtracking
• Heap/Priority Queue, Monotonic Stack, Union Find

These covered probably 90% of what I encountered.

Going Back to LeetCode

After NeetCode, LeetCode felt completely different. Problems that used to seem impossible were taking me 20 minutes. I could actually recognize what pattern a problem was asking for.

I've done 100 more problems on LeetCode since, and now I'm doing the daily challenge every day this month.

What I'd Tell You at Question 1

Don't start with random LeetCode problems. Go to NeetCode, pick a pattern, do 5-8 problems from that pattern back to back, and write down the template. Once the patterns click, LeetCode stops feeling impossible and starts feeling like practice.