CPharderthanDarkSouls's blog

Do you need a "course" to excel in competitive programming(CP) ?
By CPharderthanDarkSouls, history, 5 years ago, In English

i have to do a "summer training" as it is mandated by our college so i came across various "courses" for CP(and they are quite expensive too) but i feel like all this is just business and they mostly target gullible students as they are mostly from lower tier colleges. Now i am confused whether to go for it or not , and as it is mandatory give your suggestions on various other courses or CP course which you think is reliable (NO PROMOTIONS PLEASE). (I am asking because i read few blogs on codeforces itself on how they are scamming and stuff)

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5 years ago, # |
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If you are going to learn CP just because your college instructed then I recommend to try something else other than CP. You can learn CP only if you enjoy doing it. If you are really interested you can join courses from coding blocks, coding ninjas or geeks for geeks. I recommend practicing on your own rather joining any course

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5 years ago, # |
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Once search for competetive programming on youtube and decide it yourself :)

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5 years ago, # |
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No ! I am from low tier college as well, all resources are available online, you just need to know where to look

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5 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +38 Vote: I do not like it

Courses and camps are not necessary. CP has a huge community and thus enough free resources. If you really want to pay for something, at least make sure that the staff is experienced (in both competing and teaching).

Escaping gray is mainly about knowing basic math and programming. When you encounter the same topic a few times (like binary search), just google any tutorial and understand it. If you can't understand anything online, you wouldn't understand it in a course either. Btw. you should go read Competitive Programmer's Handbook for free. It will be difficult for you to find free or paid materials of better quality.

If you want to become red, it's nice to have regular trainings/classes at university, and sometimes big camps like Petrozavodsk. Generally, becoming red is quite difficult.

Obviously, it's good to have somebody who can help you when you have doubts. For me, it was always a friend at high school or university. If you don't have such a teacher or friend, then stay active in places like CF forum or Discord CP servers. You will sometimes clear your doubts or learn a simple trick which wasn't even mentioned in some official editorial.

All that being said, it's nice to use organized content prepared by a strong author. You will waste less time and understand a topic better. But if you can't judge the course quality properly, assume that a random book has better value/price ratio than a random course.

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5 years ago, # |
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I signed up for GeekforGeek's online DSA course recently — it costs Rs.2,499 for life time access. It covers all DSA topics in great detail. I also joined Coding Block's online CP course — I paid Rs.6,000 for 6 months access- it covers a lot of topics but not very thoroughly. Doing a course will ensure that you won't miss any important topic.

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    5 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +11 Vote: I do not like it

    smh. Doing FREE contests and upsolving regularly also ensure that you don't miss out on important "topics".

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