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I want to ask about experience from people who have studied algorithm and data structure and have work experience :
1, Is it okay that I can not solve the all the problems in basic algorithm, intermediate algorithm and JavaScript Algorithms and Data Structures Projects without watching the videos on youtube or getting a hint( i have just started to learn how to code for about 2 months) ? What should i do to solve this problem
2, in coding interview, how much time do they give you to solve the Algorithms and Data Structures questions?
Thank you very much
Programming jobs are about using algorithms to manipulate data structures, in a very bread sense of terms.
Interview questions tend to focus specifically on these sorts of tasks.
It is normal to be struggling only two months in. You will likely need much, much more practice to become job ready.
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Thank you sir, but do you know how much time did they give you to solve a problem in algorithm, or you have to solve that instantly
Every interview is different. One hour is common, but you are probably going to do many questions during that time.
For interviews I’ve seen, you aren’t expected to memorize a playbook of algorithms. The idea is that you need to demonstrate that you are able to do some level of independent problem solving and you won’t need so much help that you drastically slow down the team you join.
It is perfectly normal to struggle with learning how to solve these challenges. This is especially true since you are not only learning how to create algorithms to solve the problems but learning coding syntax used to implement the algorithms you develop.
My personal opinion on watching videos that walk you through the entire coding of a challenge, is mostly useless. Looking at the hint section in the Guide for a particular challenge is useful as long as you do not look at the solutions sectuib until you have completed the challenge with your own code. Once you complete a challenge using your own ideas, looking at the other solutions can definitely give you insights on how you might approach a similar problem in the future.
Many struggle with these challenges because they immediately try to write code to solve without developing a complete algorithm (and writing it out). A working algorithm is one that you can walk through the test cases to validate your algorithm’s logic will create the desired outcome of each one. Only once you are confident the logic works, should you begin to write any code (especially as a someone so new to programming).
The more you practice solving such challenges, the better you will get at recognizing the type of solution that will be needed. As you get better at recognizing patterns of problems, the algorithms you document will have more pseudo-code in them vs. words and ideas.
That will vary depending on the position and company. You may not have any such questions and the interviewer may just want you to explain examples of code you have written where you solved a specific type of problem. The interviewer will be able to tell if you know enough for the position being filled based on how you answer without ever writing a piece of code.
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Thank you so much, sir. I really appreciate your help.
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