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!
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
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.