Last week there was a BubbleCup contest, where I was invited as a guest and gave a presentation. AFAIK the presentation was recorded, but I have no idea if it's going to be released (or when). The presentation itself, is probably the worst presentation I ever gave. I talked mostly about how confusing it's going to be, but I was the one confused there :)
Anyway, here's the link to the slides. I still think it might be useful for some people, since it touches something that is very rarely talked about. The presentation itself was made to counterbalance all of the simple answers to the old question of "How to get better in competitive programming?".
My main points (that I don't think were made clear enough):
It's better to train to be an all-rounder than to have a narrow specialization. Especially in the long-term. People very often change the area of interest. By focusing on being all-rounder, you don't have to start from beginning each time.
It's better to focus on skills that are harder to come by (writing bug-free code, problem solving), than focusing on some specific parts of knowledge (learning algorithms).
Since CP provides great feedback, it's an efficient way of developing general personal skills that have wide application (concentration, self-coaching, short & long-term memory, etc). Thus, it's usually better to not have a coach. You may feel lost without a coach, but that's how you'll learn to do your own research effectively.
Feel free to ask any questions or state how much you disagree with what I said :)
Great Presentation i like it,but i always feel that i want someone to guide me and help me when it need but unfortunately i do not find him,what is your advice to me?
You're asking about advice for not relying on advice. This is so meta ;)
On a more serious note: Remember that one of the more important skills in programming is the ability to dissect big problem into smaller pieces? Guess what, that's something you need in your whole life.
What questions would you ask your coach? Can you split them into smaller pieces? It's much easier to answer questions if they're simple and clearly defined. Probably some of those questions are quite common and you can find answers with simple google searches. It's beneficial to go through the whole process, not just looking at the final answer. After finding answers to easier questions, you can answer the more complex ones. You'll be able to fill the missing gaps with your own experience. The ability to gain knowledge is far more important than the knowledge itself.
Auto comment: topic has been updated by Psyho (previous revision, new revision, compare).
Good presentation. I am sorry because my team didn't solve anything in the second round and we didn't go to final. I really wished to hear your and MikeMirzayanov presentations :(
Mike if you can, please share your presentation with us :)
Honestly, both misof's and MikeMirzayanov's presentations were interesting. misof's one was a mix of interesting things glued together (some random bits about practicing, research and problem solving). Mike talked mostly about the history of CF in a fun way.
That quote "Winning sucks because it doesn't tell you what went wrong." was in your .pdf.
It maked me smile because I know that it is so true ! Nice one !
*made