VandanRogheliya's blog

By VandanRogheliya, history, 4 years ago, In English

Title says it all, what are your thoughts on competing everyday to improve at CP? It includes all live contests on CF and AtCoder plus virtual contests on days when there are no live contests available. After the contest you either up solve or learn new concepts which came in it.

Recently I got enough time to make this possible. Should I invest my time like this or follow a roadmap which covers all DSA in a sequence (I find latter one kinda boring)?

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4 years ago, # |
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I've found that many virtual contests + learning concepts on the fly worked well for me.

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    4 years ago, # ^ |
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    What do you mean with learning concepts on the fly?

    Only whenever you face a new one?

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      4 years ago, # ^ |
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      Yes

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      4 years ago, # ^ |
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      Yup. Getting stuck on problems, reading the editorials after a while, and heading to different websites (most commonly CF blogs or CP-Algorithms) to learn the concepts involved.

      I do believe that after a certain rating point (roughly 2000), it makes sense to study algorithms more in-depth like topo-sort, Fenwick/segment trees, etc. Till that point, however, I personally found that I learned best by simply solving problems in virtuals and in contests.

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        4 years ago, # ^ |
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        What do you think about A2OJ ladders? Are virtuals + contests better then completing ladders too?

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4 years ago, # |
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I started following such a strategy when I was at 1600. And I can assure you that this practice method will prove very beneficial.

Now also I practice the same way. Just my frequency of giving contests has decreased.

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    4 years ago, # ^ |
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    Yes, I can see a noticeable improvement in your rating after the 1600 mark. Excited to try this method out!

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      4 years ago, # ^ |
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      Good to see your enthusiasm :)

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        4 years ago, # ^ |
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        I'm really curious how do you decide what round to virtual contest on. Are there any resources that pick specific contests that have a variety of questions. Or are you just picking the most recent contests you were unable to participate in

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          4 years ago, # ^ |
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          I pick the most recent ones.

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          4 years ago, # ^ |
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          In my case, I just check the last contest that I did not participate in. I would also like to know if there is a better way.