How do you prepare for coding challenges?

?? Ace those coding challenges! I'd recommend a holistic approach to mastering the art of coding challenges. Begin by reinforcing your foundational knowledge in core computer science areas. Familiarize yourself with requisite tools, ensuring your coding environment aids, not hinders. Always digest the instructions meticulously before diving in. Proactively engage with platforms like Edabit or LeetCode to hone your skills and explore diverse problem types. Finally, leverage the power of collaboration; interacting with peers can offer fresh perspectives and innovative solutions. Commit to this regimen, and you'll be better equipped to tackle any coding curveball.

Coding challenges represent smaller parts of code you'll likely need in your future projects. Practicing those examples in these isolated instances helps with internalizing standard solutions to many desired outcomes. Eventually though, I'd strongly recommend you create a larger project where you can use many of the solutions learned with coding challenges to experience them in a more 'real-life' setting.

1. Revisit the Core Concepts: Prioritize understanding the basics is crucial. Books like "Cracking the Coding Interview" and online courses such as "Algorithms, Part I" on Coursera provide comprehensive insights. 2. Targeted Learning Resources: Choose one or two quality resources to deepen your understanding. Leverage platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank for a vast problem set that covers various topics. For a structured approach, use Grind 75 or Leetcode 75. 3. Consistent Practice: Regularly hands-on practice. Platforms like LeetCode and HackerRank offer targeted challenges. Leverage the "xxx Days of Code" challenge on HackerRank, Replit, and other platforms for daily, focused practice. *freecodecamp.org has almost everything you need.

I find that best way to review the basics is to read the documentation of your chosen coding language. Each language has its own way of dealing with data, so you should get to know it's basics well, before starting on the coding challenges. Another way is to find a solid tutorial that explains those basics to you.

I prefer to read the important parts of the documentation to be able to remember all features vividly. Sometimes you do not have any idea about some features of the tools you use everyday, because you did not even touch their documentations.

To start with learn the basics, everything else will come with continued use and practice. Don't overwhelm yourself with all the details from the start, discover them as you go. Shortcuts will definitely make you work faster, for example, but if you try to memorize them all from the get-go you won't actually start your project and might loose interest quickly.

Always think of what the desired effect is first. If you don't understand the task, you can't deliver the results. Generally coding challenges have good descriptions of what they want you to do, so once you understand that, you can start thinking and planning the best approach to realize it. This is something that IRL often requires some back and forth with the client to be sure you're on the right track.

Even interviews aren't about rushing into coding after hearing a problem. What interviewers truly value is your ability to articulate your strategic problem-solving process. It's all about breaking down complex issues into manageable components and presenting a thoughtfully devised plan before the coding begins. Divide the problem into smaller segments, plan your approach for each, and then proceed with coding. This methodical approach not only demonstrates your problem-solving prowess but also showcases your capacity for structured thinking, a highly prized skill in the world of software development.

Commenting the code and picking meaningful names for variables, classes etc. will make your code more readable, easier to understand and maintain. This is important for whether you're doing a coding challenge, working on a personal project or something you get paid for.

Sometimes when we just focus on getting the task of solving something, we don't always think of design. Design isn't just about UX but rather, how would you approach the system as a whole. I sometimes start on paper (or on a white board) to design the flow before I code. When you think of the architecture first and the inputs you'll need, you can build something that is more elegant (I have had my share of brute forced code - ha!)...also, the practice of thinking about design before you code will allow you to better explain how you approached the challenge/problem.