Hello, Codeforces Community!
I’ve been doing competitive programming for the past 2-3 months (with an attempt 12-13 months ago that I didn’t continue). Despite my efforts, I haven’t seen much improvement, and it’s starting to feel frustrating.
I recognize that my knowledge of data structures and algorithms is still limited. When I try to learn new topics, such as maps and sorting, I often struggle to find beginner-friendly problems to practice. For example, while resources like the USACO guide provide clear explanations, the practice problems feel disproportionately difficult for someone just starting out.
I’m determined to work hard and improve. My goal is to reach a rating of 1200+ within the next 4 months. Could you kindly suggest:
A structured learning plan or roadmap for the next 4 months? Resources with easier problems to implement newly learned concepts? Effective practice strategies that worked for you at this stage? I’d greatly appreciate your insights and guidance. Thank you for taking the time to help, and I wish you all a great day!
i have seen your profile you are just focusing on 800 level problems.. try out 1000 and 1100 level problems more..dont need to do 800 more.. learn stl in-built functions and stl containers specially set and map.. solve problems on binary search and prefix sums.. no need to learn advanced data structures or dp for now (considering your target is to improve rating)
Yeah for last 1 month iam trying 1000-1200 (800-900 only in running contests / for upsolving )but tbh i cant see any improvement
like you solved a lot of 800s..dont ever try 800 unless it is contest..and if this is the only account where you are practicing then only 10 problems of 1000 or 1200 will not help you much.... you gotta solve more of those problems.. also the first thing is you must have a very good grasp over stl..also you gotta know string functions.. you can try out the sorting and searching section of cses if you haven't already..eventually you will see that you can slv 1000 1100 or 1200 faster than now..
so if i summarize u're suggesting to solve sorting section of CSES if if i'm not wrong and what is string function ?
i meant the inbuilt string functions like insert,substr etc..(this just increases your speed) and yes if you haven't tried out cses introductory problmes or sorting part do try them.. (you do not need to try them all as some of them are very very difficult at this level and the solutions are also available on yt or cf blogs..just one search away :D)
Try to solve 50 problems of every rating (900-1300) and learn two pointer, prefix sum, sliding window, binary search, bitmask etc.
Addition : Try to solve past Div. 2 B.
can you plz suggest some resources ? or lets say i'm gonna solve 50 900* problems + Div2 A+B will that be good for the 1st month ?
Use TLE eliminators(As I only used that) it will be great. Link : Already given by superman44.
You can practice rating wise questions from here TLE Eliminators and if you want to learn basic topics you can refer to this DSA
Best method which i found very very helpful is to pick past 50-60 div 2 or div1 + div2...... Then keep solving B till you become comfortable. Then Start with C... Benefit:- You will get to know what topics you need to learn in order to solve a type of questions..
I used this roadmap when I started 17mo ago and it helped me quickly get on my feet. It organizes the content by topic with both problems and reading material to help you practice.
What I did to study was try the problems in a section until I got stuck, try a bit longer, and then read the material. I think your main focus should be to develop an understanding and intuition for why certain ideas work for certain problems and why they don't for others. This is very applicable in a contest because it helps you focus your problem solving time on ideas that have a potential to work.