CodeForWar

Studying Algorithms

I have been spending some time refreshing up on Complex Data Structures and Algorithms. Luckily I spend a lot of time coding in C where often times you still use LinkedLists. However, I haven't done a lot of this since college in the early 2000's. Here is a rough list of order I recommend approaching these:

1. Binary Search
   • two-pointers
   • sliding window
2. Decision Trees and Recursion
   • Binary Trees
   • Backtracking Problems
   • Combinatorics
   • Dynamic Programming
3. Graphs
   • DFS - Depth First Searching
   • BFS - Breadth First Searching
4. Graphs with edge cases, infinite loops, cycle detection, shortest path
5. HashMaps
   • Counting Frequencies
   • Quick lookups (O(1) time complexity)
   • Graph Adjacency lists
6. Heaps
   • Min-Heaps
   • Max-Heaps
   • K elements efficiently
7. Dynamic Programming
   • Longest Common Subsequence
   • Coin Change
   • Classic DP patterns. (Knapsack, LIS, partitioning)

Probably the best study resource I have found for a good refresher is Structy. Alvin is an amazing teacher and the way he splits up the explanations with the solutions makes it easier to first challenge yourself.

I am not against Interview questions regarding Complex Data structures and Algorithms as long as they try and avoid the silly brain teasers. I still highly suggest practicing on some Leet code throughout your career as a way to feed your programming problem solving mind and to build up confidence.