belalahmed_'s blog

STOP TRAINING BY TOPICS
By belalahmed_, history, 3 hours ago, In English

STOP TRAINING BY TOPICS ****================== That's exactly what my friends told me to do. I was just learning a specific topic and solving a couple of problems about it. I was not solving ad hoc or random problems. I was so bad at codeforce rounds (and still, tbh). I just solved A at DIV 2, sometimes maybe B virtual, but then I asked my friends Gedawy, OmarNabill, Fadyy_yosryy77 , Richard-Dyinman What am I doing wrong? They said it's foolish just to train on topics, and I need to really solve random problems.  With some guidance, I think I will be better, so here we go. I will start a new closed camp with new training methods, and we will see if there is any difference or not. 17/7/2024----->.....

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3 hours ago, # |
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Perfect blog

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2 hours ago, # |
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Gedawy

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115 minutes ago, # |
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no

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105 minutes ago, # |
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The hope is that if you solve a specific topic you will gain mastery on that topic, specifically. While it makes total sense and does sound intuitively right, it might not be entirely correct.

What you are aiming is to train your brain, not just that topic. Consider this, an olympiad mathematician with no programming background may improves faster than a competitive programmer who has no background in mathematics, both of them are unfamiliar with data structure and algorithms, like Dynamic Programming (maybe), Segment Tree, Graph Algorithm, etc. Since the math person had built his/her brain muscle maturely, that person will easily pickup this unfamiliar topic faster than the other guy.

What I believe is training on general knowledge leads to specific mastery, even though you are training on unrelated subjects, your brains grow which implies intuition growth, like the math guy example. I hope this helps.

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    43 minutes ago, # ^ |
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    I completely agree.

    Topic-based practice, as the name suggests, is meant for learning new topics. I always say the same two sentences: "You won't encounter a question on a specific topic that needs thorough study until Div2 D. If you solve up to C as quickly as possible, you can become Cyan." I insist that no one should study topics until they at least reach Green.

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      27 minutes ago, # ^ |
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      Really ? You never encountered DP or Number theory in Div2 C ? I got your point that improving logic and general blind practice is more important, but topics are equally important too.

      Usually div3 E is a topic. round 1945, I gave it on this account, topic-based practice on binary search helped me do question E which was rated 1700. round 1941, topic-based practice helped me do E also.

      Your point holds btw for the most recent div2, C just needed bitmasking surface knowledge, and it was more of speed forces.

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        19 minutes ago, # ^ |
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        I rarely encounter DP before Div 2 D. If it does happen, and Div 2 C is a DP problem, it's either a hard Div 2 C or there is another solution to the problem. I recall that in Div 2 Round 949, C was a tough DP problem. Those who solved up to B were able to achieve a high positive delta in that round (I know someone who reached Blue just by solving A and B in this round). That's my point.

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        12 minutes ago, # ^ |
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        I know topics are important, but I believe they should be postponed until you grasp the skill of problem-solving. That's my point. Thanks for sharing, though—I really appreciate it and will consider studying more topics. :)

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          4 minutes ago, # ^ |
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          You're welcome. Yeah topic wise with bad logic makes problem solving be "basmaga" . It was a nice talk anyways

          Spoiler
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49 minutes ago, # |
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Are you for real in university?

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