How To Get Better At LeetCode: 6-Step Guide

Are you preparing for a coding interview and want to improve your LeetCode skills? Maybe you’ve been grinding LeetCode for some time already, but just can’t seem to make any progress. If so, then you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we will provide you with a 6-step guide on how to get better at LeetCode and help you ace your next coding interview.

LeetCode is an online platform that allows developers of all levels to practice their programming skills by solving real-world problems. It also includes tutorials and challenges that can be used as preparation for technical interviews or programming competitions.

With its wide range of topics ranging from data structures and algorithms to database systems, it has become one of the most popular platforms for software engineers around the world. So if you’re looking for tips on how to get better at LeetCode, here are the 6 steps you should follow!

Step 1. Solve Problems in the Right Order

Solving problems in a random order is not going to do you any good. If you are not making any progress in LeetCode, you may want to try an approach different from just trying to solve random problems without any systematization.

What should you do then? Learn one topic at a time! Before starting to dive into the problems of this specific data structure or algorithm, review the theory of the material. Make sure to fully understand ONE data structure or algorithm fully before moving on to LeetCode problems. 

Once you have reviewed a specific data structure or algorithm, start practicing ONLY THAT ONE TOPIC in LeetCode. This will help you solidify your understanding of that topic and actually get better at solving a particular type of questions that you are likely to encounter again and again. You can filter your questions according to one topic when you go into “Problems” by clicking tags specific to each topic.

Another way to filter LeetCode problems by topic is by using LeetCode Patterns. This is a great resource, in which you can sort the problem types of the LeetCode problem database.

When it comes to LeetCode problem-solving, you shouldn’t randomly pick any questions from that one topic either. You should sort them by difficulty and start with Easy questions, and then move on to Medium ones when you feel that you have gotten the grasp of the Easy questions within that topic.

Also, work on the problems that have good review ratings. LeetCode is a platform that has a lot of questions, and some of them are better than others in terms of quality. If a problem has a bogus solution or unclear instructions, it’s not worth losing time on it. Ratings usually reflect this correctly.

Step 2. Find a Partner (Strongly Recommended)

LeetCode can be a long and lonely journey. If you’re having trouble with how to get better at LeetCode, it may be a good idea to find a partner to collaborate with.

A study buddy or coding partner can be very helpful when it comes to solving problems. It’s best if you find someone who is at the same level or slightly more advanced than you since they can explain difficult concepts to you, and vice versa.

A partner would also help you with accountability. If you know someone is expecting you to show up and work on a problem together, it will be more likely that you’ll make the effort to sit down and work on it.

You can also help each other prepare for live coding interviews by conducting mock interviews with your LeetCode partner. This way, you can learn how to tackle real-world problems and how to explain your thought process in an interview.

You can find a partner in several ways, such as finding people on online forums or even local meetup groups. Being able to discuss your thoughts on how to solve the problems can create more insights and help you understand the material better. Reddit, LeetCode forums, and Stack Overflow are just some of the great resources to find a study partner.

Step 3. Time Yourself Correctly

One of the keys to getting better at LeetCode is knowing when to start and stop working on a problem.

If you give up and look at the solution after not finding any leads within 5-10 minutes, you will not have given yourself a chance to actually connect the dots and learn how to problem solve.

On the other hand, spending too long on a single question will be a waste of time for you. So what should you do? You should time yourself each time you begin solving a problem.

Here are some rules of thumb. Feel free to tweak them as you see fit.

1. Don’t look at the solution until at least 30 minutes in (unless you are completely clueless or haven’t yet studied that particular topic.). Allow yourself more time if you think you are getting closer, of course.
2. Take a maximum of 2 hours to solve a problem. If you spend too much time on one problem, you will be wasting time when you could just be learning the solution.
3. It’s okay to peek at some hints if you can’t find any leads. Keep in mind that in an actual interview, hints are normal and you can prepare the same way while studying.

If after spending an hour, you have no leads of how to approach a problem, you should understand that you just aren’t well versed with the given algorithm and go back to the theory or easier questions.

In this case, try not to look at the entire solution, and instead write down what data structure or algorithm you need to learn/refresh to solve it in the future. You can revisit the problem once you have filled in your knowledge gaps.

Even if you don’t develop the most sophisticated answer, coming up with a practical solution is still considered a success in an interview. A brute force approach may not be ideal, but it’s certainly good enough to make your mark and prove that you can solve problems quickly.

You can optimize your brute force solution to get a better result, even though it may not lead you all the way to the optimal answer. Making improvements is an invaluable skill that will serve you well throughout your career.

Step 4. Solve In a Smart Way

When reading a problem, first, try to identify what data structure or algorithm the question is pointing to. There are usually hints that let us know what is the best way to solve the problem, provided you are well-versed in this particular data structure or algorithm.

Think of the obvious solution first. Make a habit of communicating your find and its suboptimal nature with the interviewer, your partner, or just thinking out loud.

Then, see how the solution can be optimized by using a data structure. See if you know an algorithm that would be suitable for this problem (there usually is one).

Think about potential inputs and presumable outputs. Think about edge cases and if your algorithm works uniformly.

Think about the most optimal way to write your code. Communicate with your partner or say it out loud.

Only after you have considered the problem and your solution comprehensively and are confident you have your best solution in mind (not necessarily the best one objectively), start typing your solution.

Step 5. Review Solutions

After you are done writing your solution, or if you feel it’s time to give up on a problem, first look at the official solutions. Make sure to understand all of them! This is a step many developers feel lazy about and only check the most optimal solution. However, the suboptimal solution for this problem could be the most optimal for the next. Reviewing all solutions carefully and fully comprehending them is the most important part of the process.

Often, you will find that some solutions don’t make sense to you or you just can’t understand how they came up with them. In this case, discussion section is often helpful. Try to find good explanations for the solutions in there.

If nothing fruitful comes from the discussion section and you still can’t understand the solution to the problem, feel free to Google the problem and you may often find good explanations to the problem on the internet. Another option is to search for explanations to certain problems on YouTube.

Then, and this is very important, write the optimal solution for the problem on your own! Yes, it may seem pointless, as you already know what it is, but this is the only way to solidify what you have learned and insert it into your long-term memory.

Only move on to the next problem when you are confident you understand the solutions to the problem and could solve it on your own next time a similar problem comes up.

Step 6. Practice Consistently

Trying to get better at LeetCode requires consistent practice. Committing even half an hour each day can be enough to make substantial progress in the long term.

It is also important to take breaks and not get overwhelmed by too many problems each day, as this could lead to burnout.

Try to practice LeetCode everyday. In order to figure out how many questions you should do per day, refer to our article “How Many LeetCode Problems Per Day Should You Solve?“.

Remember, you can always do more in the weekends if you are short on time during the weekdays.

Finally, if you are just starting out, make sure to focus on the easy and medium level problems. Once you feel more confident, start tackling the hard ones as well.

Should I Get LeetCode Premium?

You might be wondering if it’s worth getting LeetCode Premium for preparing for coding interviews. The answer largely depends on whether you really need the extra features that come with Premium and how much money you have to spare.

The following are the extra features LeetCode Premium provides:

• LeetCode Premium Videos – collection of video lessons which demonstrate how to approach different types of coding problems.
• Premium Content – collection of high-quality questions, articles, lessons and tutorials which make it easier for you to learn how to get better at LeetCode.
• Ability to Filter Questions by Company – You can easily filter questions by companies to practice for the interviews of a specific company. This is useful if you are preparing for applications to a specific company.
• Ability to Sort Questions by Frequency – This feature helps you to quickly identify which questions come up most frequently in interviews and how many people are able to solve the questions correctly.
• Top 50 Questions for Each Company – This feature helps to provide an additional practice set of the most common 50 questions for each company in the database.
• Interview Simulations – mock assessments are the perfect way to sharpen your skills and prepare for a coding challenge or an on-site interview. Pick any company you want, and LeetCode will handpick the best question from their ever-expanding repository – all within a timeline that simulates real scenarios!

For those reasons, we recommend getting LeetCode Premium if you need the extra tools in your arsenal. Otherwise, the free version should be enough for most people.

How Long Does It Take to Get Good at LeetCode?

You won’t get good at LeetCode in a week. It takes months of regular practice to get proficient at coding and it’s true for LeetCode as well. How long exactly depends on how much time you are willing to dedicate to practice daily.

If you want to get good at LeetCode, it’s recommended that you spend at least 30-60 minutes each day going through questions and solving them, more on the weekends. This will help familiarize you with all the different types of questions and how to approach them.

With consistent practice, you should start to see improvements in your LeetCode scores within two to three months. It may take longer if you are just starting out and don’t have prior coding experience.

Is LeetCode Good for Beginners?

LeetCode can be a good tool for beginners, if used correctly. You shouldn’t jump into problem-solving directly as a beginner and spend most of your time in LeetCode.

Instead, you should spend some time with the basics, your online or college courses, and writing basic functional programs.

However, when you are up to the level where you start to cover basic data structures such as strings and arrays, you may want to try integrating Easy LeetCode questions into your practice little-by-little.

This will help you get comfortable with the problem-solving process and how to optimize solutions. However, you should only use LeetCode as supplemental problem-solving practice as a beginner. Spending too much time on LeetCode could be a waste of time as a beginner who is still trying to learn the basics.

Is Grinding LeetCode Worth It?

If you are looking for a programming job and preparing for coding interviews, grinding LeetCode is not only worth it, it is a necessity! It is probably your biggest time investment, too!

LeetCode is the sole best resource for the most commonly asked interview questions across the United States and even globally.

By solving LeetCode questions, you gain practice in the most commonly seen data structures and algorithms that are the core of coding interviews.

You gain hands-on practice with how to approach a problem, how to break down the question, how to come up with an algorithm and how to optimize it further.

These skills are extremely important when you have a coding challenge in an interview and the interviewer is looking for how you think and how quickly you can come up with a solution.

LeetCode is also a great resource to help you keep track of how well you are doing and how much further you need to go.

Overall, if you are willing to put in the time and dedication, grinding LeetCode is absolutely worth it!

Does LeetCode Make You a Better Programmer?

This is another questions that has been debated widely among the programming community. Sure, LeetCode helps with the technical interviews, but is it actually useful beyond that?

It is still debatable on how much you will actually use the skills you sharpen with LeetCode in real life at your workplace, with many developers saying they had never used most of the data structures or algorithms in their coding practice at work.

However, problem-solving is a very general skill, which is mined when you solve LeetCode questions. Although the DS & A part may not be that relevant in your particular job, how you approach problems will definitely be useful.

So, although it may not make you an expert programmer, it definitely improves how you solve problems and how you approach them.

Ultimately, how you use the skills you gain from LeetCode is up to the work you will be doing at your future company. Some jobs actually benefit from programmers who are well-versed in algorithms and data structures!

Conclusion

Getting better at LeetCode requires specific strategies. You can’t just randomly solve problems in your spare time and expect to become great at LeetCode. Instead, work through the 6-step process we discussed in the first part of this article. And don’t expect results in the first couple of weeks. Becoming better at LeetCode requires consistent and hard work, and it takes time. So stay committed and have patience!

Good luck on your journey to become a LeetCode master! With the right attitude and approach, you can achieve great results.