Should I Learn DSA First or Practice Problems Alongside?

Правка en1, от ahnaf09, 2025-06-19 04:08:19

Hey, I'm ahnaf09, a newbie who just started doing CP. Recently I learned C++ and some basic STL.

A few days ago, I faced binary search for the first time in a problem. To learn it better, I searched "binary search tutorials" on Google. I found some articles and eventually got to Errichto's binary search lecture. It helped, but I still feel I need more time to fully understand and be comfortable with this algorithm.

Right now my practice method is very simple:

  • I filter 800–900 rated problems
  • Try to solve 5 problems a day
  • I mostly pick from latest contests, attempt them seriously, think for 30 minutes, and if I can't solve them, I read the editorial and learn from it.

I do CP along with my academic studies and I get around 6–7 hours a day to study + practice.

Now I have a question. Should I pick a fixed day like Friday only for learning specific topics (like binary search, two pointers, prefix sums, etc.) and practicing them deeply? Or should I just learn topics when I face them in problems, and continue solving random problems every day?

Would love to hear advice from experienced people here. :)

Thanks in advance!

ahnaf09

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en1 Английский ahnaf09 2025-06-19 04:08:19 1337 Initial revision (published)