I studied leetcode for 1 year

I studied leetcode for coding interviews for a whole year, and today I'm going to be sharing my experience.

00:00 - Intro
01:19 - My decision for studying
02:02 - Process for studying
03:00 - Was it worth it?
03:34 - Would I do it again?
04:59 - Should you do it?

social:

[yuhanlian]

Side note: while I have been hearing huge amount of complaints about how data structure and algorithm questions are unnecessary in many technical interviews, learning it in depth has helped me tremendously to write faster and readable code after spending nearly a year studying it.

So I do urge future developers to use it to benefit yourself and not solely on getting pay raise.

[zackbreckenridge]

I've been in this industry for 15 years. I've worked at large and small companies, etc. I've also bombed multiple leetcode interviews and some of the best engineers I've known have as well. I think your comments about getting burned out during your leetcode streak is the most directly translatable aspect of these exercises to real world experience.

[Leon-Li]

I did leetcode for 3 months before I got my new role and i would say it definitely improved my programming skills.

[winterheat]

yes, it is like studying SAT vocabularies. Once you know what "adumbrate" means, you are so much smarter and you become invincible and you will save the world

[sahilkapoor]

Haven't seen this honest leetcode guide on youtube till now. keep making content

[grandparick]

Nice video bro. I loved how you honestly shared your experience and said how it's OK to struggle. I am doing the leetcode grind myself to get an internship but am constantly slipping because of my grand level procrastinating problems.

[traezeeofor]

Love this video. I started Leetcode in November 2023 to help with my consistency. Wanted to make sure I code every day. It has surely helped with that. Plus helped me brush up on my fundamentals and problem-solving skills. I'm excited about the future!

[mohammed_haddad]

I kinda expected that you're gonna make it sound pinky and fun.. but turned out very realistic 😅😂. Thanks for sharing man.. loved it.

[xggbrnr]

I’m just glad you keep it a buck. I like the way you ended the video. You seem like you’re a smart guy who has the same struggles I do with procrastination and overall angst towards the process. Yet, you got through it. That’s why I’m here and that’s why I value your content. The other material on YT is so fake and happy. I’m tired of the positivity around this process - it’s an ugly process that’s mostly unnecessary for what the job actually entails. Thanks for your videos.

[sinakalantar]

Hello Kevin! I am just writing this comment to you to thank you for making this video. This gave me a great overview of how I should get started to efficiently reach my goal. Your goal, the position that you were in, and pretty much everything you said aligns with my position and the path that I want to take. This helped me a lot, and thanks again!

[punkomattic]

Great vid! I like how you kept this vid <10 mins. So many creators would drag it out. You kept it very succinct.

[alichamas]

Congrats on working hard man, no doubt that is never a waste. Ironically while you can indeed step up in pay and status by getting into big tech, you can also diminish in job satisfaction and autonomy as most of these environments are essentially thinly veiled cold corporate cultures with bureaucratic line management just waiting to throw you at some problem without much empathy for your happiness. The assumption is "you're lucky to be here and you get perks, so deal with it or leave" - this doesn't always cut it for your soul though.

For example you're far more likely in a big tech company to end up feeling like a cog in a large machine, even feeling like an anonymous mop and bucket used to clean up whatever boring problems hit these companies at scale, and there are plenty. For all the expertise knowledge on data structures and algorithms, you could end up hitting a point where you would rather be more happy with the genuine feeling of accomplishing something interesting which is more aligned with your personal passions and interests. You may even end up doing less coding and more documents and meetings, it's happened to me and many fellow engineers I've worked with at a big tech company I worked at for over 5 years.

This is why many people leave big tech eventually to try their own startups or switch lanes. Those that stay for long periods are just like the furniture at any old company (think long timer at a government job - same kind of person).

Still, work hard and take what's yours my friend while the going is good. Good luck and well done!

[peterlin]

Leetcode is the worst time that I put myself in. It has wasted my life in the past. It’s not worthy at all.

[lejustee]

Niceee! Solid video! 2 hours/day is so much! I'm glad you were able to achieve what you really wanted and warned your audience about burn out when you're not motivated by the right reasons.

[thebiri]

Loved the last line at the end. Made me chuckle. I think everyone shares the same feeling.

[FatherPhi]

I'm doing the same thing dude!! And I agree LC only is the way to go also the time boxing. I also highly recommend doing mock interviews

[oceejekwam]

This is loaded with endless facts. Thank you for getting to the point quickly.

[erincarax]

Thanks for this video Kevin! I’m currently studying daily for some FAANG interviews I’va coming up and I’m using the book you mentioned, which after watching you video makes me feel a lot more secure of what I’m doing.

[joseintech]

I'm doing the same but got my goal is 6 months, I might need to be more realistic and change it to one year. Last year I started with algo expert and the fundamentals are briefly explained in like 10-min video and then straight to problem in no order whatsoever.

This year I'm following Kunal DSA boot camp along with all the leet code problems.

[OConnelsSideOfDaRiver]

If you're early on, you could also do a couple a week for a couple of years and be super duper ready