Hey devs from all over the world😊
I have been doing interviews lately and I still have a couple to tackle. That's why I have been on Codewars & Hackerrank, Solving some coding challenges in preparation. After all,
“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” ― Benjamin Franklin
As a frontend developer, I rarely encounter code challenges at my day to day work. Don't get me wrong! I know they are important, I am just saying they are more important in the interviewing phase.
The issue is. I feel like I need to get better at coding challenges. I am not all bad. By Hackerrank standards, If It's an easy one I can do it. If its a medium I struggle. Some mediums are ok, others I have to look at the discussions to get ideas. If it's hard, I don't even bother.
Most interviews don't ask around the hard level anyway. In my experience, they somewhat below the medium level. Maybe because I am interviewing for junior to mid-level positions. However, solving those challenges live is a whole different story!
My strategy up till now is to solve as much as I can. But, I find myself wondering...
- Are there any other strategies out there?
- Is there a way to get better at them other than solving as much as you can?
- Are there some concepts out there (Math or programming) that someone needs to know before even trying to solve a coding challenge?
- How do you guys prepare for coding challenges in interviews?
Top comments (6)
Thanks, Carson. Yeaah I agree with you. I just have to man up and solve as much as I can.
I find myself wasting a bunch of time on some problems tho. What do you think is better taking my time and ending up with my solution or just look at people's solutions for help to save time.
I mean committing to a hard challenge could take all day, Looking at the solution and figuring the idea out won't
Thanks, Carson.
Have you tried other websites that aren't hackerank? Check out exercism.io for instance. Sometimes a change in environment helps us to overcome mental barriers :)
When I get stuck, I usually sketch out the problem on a notepad. Sometimes I'll write full code in pen!
Thanks, James. I will definitely try switching environments.
Notepads for sure makes a ton of difference.