Hasv's blog

should I rage quit problem solving?
By Hasv, history, 4 years ago, In English

I started completive programming really at start of this year but still stuck at newbie,Also I feel brain damaged .I think if I practice more,My upper limit will be specialist. I saw many people solve problems with rating 1400-1800 easily .also editorial is hard to understand or maybe I am stupid.so,should I rage quit problem solving?

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4 years ago, # |
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if you need to take a break take a break don't force yourself, and if you want to come back to it then come back to it

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4 years ago, # |
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I too feel the same. I have practised lot of problem. Even then sometimes i find it hard to understand the problem statement and the editorial too. I felt like quitting too but i have some hope in left that someday i will rise to be a Candidate Master.

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    4 years ago, # ^ |
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    your all submissions are just of 2 pages.. So how can you say that you have 'practised lot of problem'??

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4 years ago, # |
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http://www.30dayscoding.com/ https://cses.fi/book/book.pdf https://www.interviewbit.com/courses/programming/ https://www.codechef.com/LEARNDSA

i am going through these, and learning data structures and algorithms, then i see problems and get to use the new data structures and algorithms in the contests, are you studying data structures and algorithms ? Because there's not too much i leant from a contest when compared to these.

Also you could quit this and practice on leetcode for a while, go throught their explore cards, I'm currently at recursion 2 and that is also helpful, all the best :)

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    4 years ago, # ^ |
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    Thanks for the resources,I hope I can make them count :)

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4 years ago, # |
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If you like solving problems then don't quit. It doesn't matter if you're solving a problem of 1500 or 1000 if you like it then just keep doing it. Also during contests never think of competing and overperforming others. It disturbs your focus. Your only opponent and your only competition is the question in front of you. And your only task is to defeat that opponent by solving it.

If you don't like competitive programming don't do it. Go do something else. Create apps. Learn Web Dev, Mobile Dev, ML whatever you find interesting and keep doing it.

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4 years ago, # |
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Stress is bad for any task you do. For some time try to do something else. You are too stressed from this. Come back after you feel better.

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4 years ago, # |
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If you need to take a break, take because competitive programming is a bit stressing for a lot of people. Anyways, if you need to get better, you need to solve more harder problems. You only solved 12 1200 problems. And you solved 11 1300 problems. You need to solve a lot more! At least reach 50 for 1300 and I am sure you will get better. Just make sure you stay focused while solving them and solve as fast as possible with least wrong submissions(penalties).

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4 years ago, # |
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Yes.

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4 years ago, # |
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Just answer this question

Did you have fun while learning to walk as a baby ?

But now that you are a true expert at walking , you dont hate it , do you ??

Same goes for Competitive Programming ,

Why Do high rated users keep on going higher and not quit ....

The truth : — The more you become good at CP , the more hooked you get .... It simply depends if you have that moment or not ..... And once you become hooked , then it will be all you will be thinking about all day ...

Spoiler
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    4 years ago, # ^ |
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    isnt this from the anime haikyuu ?

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4 years ago, # |
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Practice more to solve problems easily. Don't quit unless you find problem solving no longer attracts you.

I agree sometimes EDITORIAL could be difficult to understand. (WEIRD math notations and BIG LEAPS in logic explanation) Feel free to read through submissions and ask questions.

Last, do not underestimate yourself. You never know your limit :)

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4 years ago, # |
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idk why every one who starts CP want to become too good in CP in a short time! if is was this easy it wasnt worth a lot! and my advice is dont compare yourself with somebody else compare yourself with your last week

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4 years ago, # |
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Yes, quit problem solving. And if you really loved CP you'll eventually come back and start again. If you don't come back then you'll realise that it wasn't for you.

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4 years ago, # |
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Thank you all for all your valuable advices and I will never give up

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4 years ago, # |
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[insert Um_nik answer here]

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4 years ago, # |
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Hey, I believe that the best avenue you need to follow in order to improve as fast and efficient as possible depends on your circumstances. For example, some people need to improve their problem solving skills, but some people have sufficient skill. Some people are still in high school or less and in such a case, they should improve other aspects before solving more difficult problems on cf. And so on and so forth.

For example, when I was in high school, I was in a similar situation with you. I was having difficulties to solve difficult problems and the editorials were so overwhelming for me. I was the only one practicing cf in my school and my region (in my country CP is not that popular). So, as I had no clue on what to do, I was resorting on advice from the internet. Everyone was saying: do problems, practice, practice, do more problems. I was doing exactly that, but my rating was stagnant and I was improving very slowly.

However, as soon as I joined university and bought an algorithms book, that changed a lot. Suddenly, my rating got increased from specialist to expert and now I am about to reach CM. in my case, revising the fundamentals enabled me to fill the knowledge gaps I had and to appreciate better the power of those basic stuff. That helped me a lot and I feel a great difference between a year ago.

I am saying that in order to highlight the fact that mainstream advice is not always the best to follow, as another path might be a better option for you! Idk, if you want to, you can DM me here in order to discuss this further!

Hope I helped! :)

If you are having difficulties with solving cf problems and you are stuck, I am suggesting you to try and learn some introductory algorithms stuff (worth of at least 2 introductory algorithms courses

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4 years ago, # |
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it's not rage quit if you don't shatter your laptop / monitor. Atleast break a keyboard.

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4 years ago, # |
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You managed to get 400 rating in a couple of months, that's pretty impressive. Why rage?

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4 years ago, # |
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Sounds like you don't enjoy competitive programming. It's a big world out there, go do something else you enjoy. Have fun. Come back if you ever feel like it.

Don't quit out of rage, quit out of acceptance that competitive programming might just not be right for you. There's so many things you can do, and definitely something you will enjoy more.

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    4 years ago, # ^ |
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    Quite right and wrong I think. When I started CP(three months ago), I was doing bad performance. I enjoyed problem solving. Enjoyed every AC I have but contest performancr was bad and I thought let's take a break.
    Then came back 1 months ago.Managed to push myself from 1469 to 1850 with like 130 submissions and I am enjoying a lot doing this. That feeling wasn't evident in 3 months ago.
    You can have fun in one thing. That fun isn't evident until you get some progress.
    I think he can take a break or continue. If he wants to come back and give a second try, then he would come back and maybe see some progress.

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      4 years ago, # ^ |
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      Oh, for sure. It's something that grows on specific individuals, but OP's burnt out. A break is an excellent course of action to re-evaluate things.

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4 years ago, # |
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You have to stop the Q-Tip when there's resistance.

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4 years ago, # |
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I already Did . I know CP is not for me , so better try out different things .

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4 years ago, # |
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I started completive programming really at one year ago. I practiced many problems at Leetcode.com for job interviews. I solved about 1600 problems at Leetcode.com before I picked up my codeforces account registered 4 years ago with 0 submissions. Then I started my codeforces tour at start of this year.

When I registered my first codeforces round, I has solved 1600 problems at Leetcode.com, and always be top 1-2% rank at Leetcode contest. Then I stuck in codeforces Expert for a long time.

Problems at Leetcode.com is rather easy and typical. I think it better for me to study in the beginning. If I started codeforces before solving leetcode problems, I think I will be like you. So you can try some easy and typical problems to be familiar with typical algorithm. When you are familiar with typical algorithm and data structures, you may be able to solve Div2 A-D easily.

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    4 years ago, # ^ |
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    You sir are a legend orz
    Solving 1600 problems on Leetcode is a really big achievement, considering the fact that there are a total of 1485 problems on leetcode (As of today)

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      4 years ago, # ^ |
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      sorry, I'm chinese and there's chinese version of leetcode: www.leetcode-cn.com which has more problems than global version.

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4 years ago, # |
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From my experience you need to train primary two skills: visualization of the statement and pattern recognition.

To train pattern recognition you need to solve problems meaningfully, searching for similarities with other problems and trying to catch the general thought chain that could help you in the future. Do not do this when you are half asleep.

Visualization also comes from practice, the more you try to imagine complicated stuff in your head, the more comfortable you get with it. It is also EXTREMELY helpful to draw on paper.

Also, I do not know a single person who had a good teacher and did not reach cyan. Most of people I was studying with got to blue/purple and the best ones all the way to master+. So you are probably not as dumb as you think. Try to adjust your training and you will be fine :)

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3 years ago, # |
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I started a Year Ago and whenever demotivation hits me , I just compare the knowledge I have right now to the knowledge I had a year Ago . It helps

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3 years ago, # |
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This may sound wrong, but don't use editorials too early. For most problems the explanations are wordy for someone without the proper background and instead of helping they actually produce more doubts. The general recommendations is always to solve more and more problems, if you try to solve problems at your aim rating but can't solve your rating problems then you are only dreaming without actually making progress, so try to go step by step without comparing your results with others, you are not in a speed race but in a resistance one.

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    3 years ago, # ^ |
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    This is why you should never ask for advice when cf magic is on...

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