Introduction to Competitive Programming

 

Do you have your placement year around the corner? Competitive programming is one area that can help you sharpen your skills of grabbing your desired placement. 

Competitive programming is a form of creative problem-solving in the programming area. You are given basic to complex problems in the real world terminology.

Problem-solving in competitive programming involves the application of your analytical mind and creativity. 

Through competitive programming, you can practice and excel on various problems. You can grab a grip on solving complex problems, algorithms, and data structures. 

During competitive programming, you try to solve the problem at hand within a limited time and a pre-decided complexity. It helps you solve problems in less time and more efficiently. 

Competitive programming will help you to improve your logical thinking ability. You challenge your mind to think analytically and solve programming problems. 

But how to get started with competitive programming?

There are a plethora of platforms providing the feature of competitive programming. Some of the popular competitive programming platforms are HackerRank, CodeChef, Leetcode, etc. 

But before you directly jump into the practice session, there are steps that you can follow for a more structured approach to competitive programming. 

Pick a Programming Language 

You can do competitive programming in any programming language. But to begin with, you can choose a particular language from the pool. Starting with one language will help you set your base and clear the basics. Once you feel confident about your problem-solving skills in one language, you can switch to another programming language. 

According to my preferences, Java or C++ can be a programming language to begin. 

Learn Basic Mathematical Concepts 

Coding problems involve prior knowledge of some basic mathematical concepts. The mathematical concepts help you solve competitive programming problems in less time. Some of the mathematical concepts that you can start learning are basic number theory, sets, combinations, functions, etc. 

Learn About Algorithm Analysis

The efficiency of the solution is determined using the concept of algorithm analysis. Algorithm analysis is one of the crucial concepts that can help you in your competitive programming journey. 

The sub-topics involved in algorithm analysis are time complexity and space complexity.

Time complexity, as the name suggests, analyzes the time taken by your solution to obtain the outcome. It determines the efficiency level of your problem solution in terms of time. 

Space complexity determines the amount of memory space taken by your solution. A problem-solution taking a lot more space than required is not an ideal solution. 

Thus, to have a problem solution with efficient time and space complexity, you can learn algorithm analysis. 

Choose a Competitive Programming Platform 

To begin with, competitive programming, choose a beginner-friendly competitive programming language platform. Research about the competitive programming websites that are preferred by employers and offer a basic level of coding problems. One such website is HackerRank. HackerRank provides a basic level of coding problem statements. 

Start With Easy Level Questions 

In the majority of competitive programming websites, the problem statements are split into three categories. These are easy, medium, and difficult. 

The category is determined depending upon the complexity and difficulty level of the problem statement. When you are starting with competitive programming, start with an easy level of questions. Starting with an easy level of questions has many benefits:

• It boosts your confidence while solving problems. 
• It helps you clear the basics.
• It makes you familiar with the type of questions you can experience in competitive exams.
• You feel motivated to keep the journey of competitive programming ongoing. 

Otherwise, if you start with difficult problem statements, you may fail and then quit the journey. Gradually move between the levels of problem statements. 

Tips For Competitive Programming 

Competitive programming can be exhaustive. Here are some tips that can help you in your journey:

Practice regularly: Practicing problem-solving will help you focus on improving your problem-solving skills. 

Do not rush: At the start, go slow with the number of questions you solve in a day. Solving 20 problems in a day will exhaust you without providing any benefits. Thus, start with 2-3 problems in a day. 

Find a programming buddy: Pair programming helps in keeping the motivating level of doing competitive programming high. Having a buddy will keep you both accountable towards each other. Thus, you will always feel motivated to stay on track. 

Do not give up: It may happen that at the start, your submissions fail. But do not give up. Consistent practice and learning will improve your logical thinking, the number of successful solutions will go up. 

Participate: There are numerous competitive programming competitions conducted on competitive programming websites. You can participate in these competitions and improve your logical thinking. You will be able to judge your position and the efforts required to improve.

Conclusion 

Competitive programming can be a daunting task without a proper guide. I hope the above roadmap is helpful for you to get started. Start with motivation and pillar of your programming basics. 

Moving gradually and consistently will help you do more questions on your own. It will help you improve your problem-solving capabilities. 

Thus, do your research, pick a language and start competitive programming. Do tell me if you already do competitive programming in the comments below.