Hi, my name is Gary, a software engineer wannabe.

My first competitive coding contest was on LeetCode 2.5 weeks ago.

I started with the 3rd question, solved it. Then struggled to solve another question within the 1.5 hr time limit. I am here because there was a typo in the C++ specs that would cause solutions to not compile (if the solutions were tested as stated in the specs) unless you addressed this issue (I did.) LeetCode acknowledged the mistake, and apologized, but refused to remove the question or retest everyone's solution, which I believed was not "right".

That's why I am here.

It's been a week, and during this week, I really fell in love with competitive programming (the same way I fell in love with C++).

I want to post my solutions to questions that I thought was challenge and/or interesting. My hope is to receive criticism and perhaps even some useful advice. But ultimately, my main motive is to share details of my competitive programming journey, which people can relate to or laugh about.

First of those such detail is, my first contest here, I solved 0 problems! I actually couldn't believe that. So... 1500 -> 1378.