Hello Community
I'm wondering what's a good amount of time to stop and look at the solution for thinking of a problem. Usually, I think about a problem for 15-30 minutes before looking at a solution. During that time, I try to solve it naively, and speed it up OR run through a checklist of different techniques to do, Dp, Greedy, etc..
I'm wondering if it is worth it to spend more time, and if it is even possible to solve problems given an infinite amount of time.
Ex. Can a 1200 solve a 2000 hard problem given 5 days? Maybe impossible... maybe not... What is your experience?
Thanks Fluffy-
I think there's no optimal time to think. It depends from person to person. Suppose, a LGM would figure out a solution to a given problem within a couple of minutes whereas the same would be nearly impossible for a Grey-Green guy to solve even in days. The 1200-2000 thing that you're talking about is the difference between a newbie who hasn't seen a lot of problems of topics covering from DP/Graph/tries/Trees,etc. and a Master with an experience of thousands of problems,and if not,some math experience. Yes a 1200 guy can solve a 2000 problem,given the topics related to problem are explored beforehand by him and he knows how to implement the logic behind the problem. But,in my opinion, instead of going for a 2000 problem and solving it in five days, go for some 100 problems above your current level in an increasing order of hardness in those 5 days and you can see yourself climbing the ladder in no time. P.S.: I'm a newbie too and following the same.
solve question slightly above your comfortable zone (1500+) is better than (2000+) at your level
after you feel like you can deal with simple technique, go insane (2400+)
Whaaatt!! you're suggesting 2400+ to a green. :O
Stop after being stuck for 15-20 minutes. That might mean solving a problem for hours — that's fine as long as you're trying some ideas.