Trying to Become Good at Programming except I am suffering

00:15:18
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_cbnOim46A

Summary

TLDRIn this video, the creator continues their journey to become a better programmer by tackling an advanced data structures and algorithms course. The goal is to enhance skills necessary for technical interviews. Initially, the creator faced challenges in solving complex problems and experienced significant frustration. By revising their approach to focus more on learning concepts and understanding over solving every practice problem, they found more success and less stress. The video also highlights the ethical struggle with using solutions and balancing learning efficiency. Eventually, the creator managed to complete the course with a newfound appreciation for the process and a strategy that provided better learning outcomes.

Takeaways

  • 💻 Focus on preparing for technical interviews to secure a job.
  • 📆 Set a time-bound challenge to complete the course quickly.
  • 👩‍💻 Realize it's okay to use resources when stuck on problems.
  • 🧠 Adapt strategies to make learning more efficient.
  • 📚 Understanding theory before heavy practice helps.
  • ⏱️ Manage time wisely for optimal learning pace.
  • 🤔 Use insights from lessons rather than solving all exercises.
  • 🔄 Be flexible in approach to deal with frustrations.
  • 🎯 Aim for a balanced learning process, focusing on essential concepts.
  • 🌟 Appreciate progress and be open to revisiting challenging topics.

Timeline

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    The speaker is attempting to improve their programming skills for a technical interview by taking an advanced course on data structures and algorithms, after previously completing a beginner course. They aim to finish this course in a week, despite the challenge and suffering, and adjust their strategy to make problem-solving more efficient, such as using solutions if stuck for too long.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:10:00

    The speaker experiences frustration and considers abandoning the goal due to the overwhelming number of problems per lesson and difficulty in solving them within the allotted time. However, they decide to focus on understanding the concepts rather than completing every problem, which leads to more effective learning and less stress.

  • 00:10:00 - 00:15:18

    With a renewed strategy focusing on grasping key concepts over exhaustive problem practice, the speaker rapidly progresses through the course. They highlight the importance of understanding over problem count and express newfound clarity and confidence. Ultimately, the speaker finishes the course by the deadline and reflects positively on the experience, expressing gratitude towards viewers for their support.

Mind Map

Video Q&A

  • Why did the creator decide to take an advanced course?

    To secure a job by preparing for technical interviews.

  • What challenge did the creator face while solving problems?

    The creator found it initially difficult to solve problems without using resources, leading to frustration.

  • How did the creator alter their study strategy?

    Focused on understanding lesson materials and solving fewer practice problems.

  • How did the creator feel about using solutions?

    Realized it was okay to use solutions if stuck, as it doesn’t make someone a bad programmer.

  • What was the outcome of the creator's new strategy?

    They completed the lessons more efficiently, with increased understanding and less frustration.

View more video summaries

Get instant access to free YouTube video summaries powered by AI!
Subtitles
en
Auto Scroll:
  • 00:00:00
    hello and welcome back to me trying to
  • 00:00:02
    become a better programmer by learning
  • 00:00:03
    something that I will definitely need to
  • 00:00:04
    pass a technical interview but we'll
  • 00:00:07
    probably forget in about a year from
  • 00:00:10
    now I'm already tired I I haven't even
  • 00:00:13
    started yet in my previous video go
  • 00:00:15
    watch it if you haven't I had
  • 00:00:16
    successfully conquered KNE code's data
  • 00:00:18
    structures and algorithms course for
  • 00:00:20
    beginners I completed all the lessons
  • 00:00:22
    did all the Le code problems and most
  • 00:00:24
    importantly managed to retain some of my
  • 00:00:27
    sanity I think you know definitely not
  • 00:00:30
    because I'm willing to put myself
  • 00:00:31
    through hell all over again only this
  • 00:00:33
    time it's the advanced version why am I
  • 00:00:36
    doing this because I need a job because
  • 00:00:38
    I need a job the plan is simple once
  • 00:00:40
    again to finish the course only this
  • 00:00:43
    time I'm giving myself a deadline you
  • 00:00:45
    see in the previous video I completed
  • 00:00:47
    all of the lessons in about 2 weeks it's
  • 00:00:49
    not bad I wasn't really in a hurry and I
  • 00:00:51
    was taking my time trying to understand
  • 00:00:53
    the lessons and totally not
  • 00:00:55
    procrastinating and so this time I'm
  • 00:00:56
    going to challenge myself and try to
  • 00:00:58
    complete everything in the span of one
  • 00:01:01
    week or in general as soon as possible
  • 00:01:03
    because I want the suffering to end
  • 00:01:04
    quickly and because I want to see if any
  • 00:01:06
    of this is actually going to help me
  • 00:01:08
    when I'm doing a programming project
  • 00:01:10
    like usual the internet is giving me
  • 00:01:11
    conflicting answers and so I figured if
  • 00:01:13
    I want the truth I'm going to have to
  • 00:01:15
    dig for it myself well I guess I better
  • 00:01:17
    get started because today is Saturday um
  • 00:01:20
    and I'm going to give myself
  • 00:01:23
    until next Saturday or as soon as
  • 00:01:26
    possible okay I don't have time to do
  • 00:01:27
    this I have to I have to start happy
  • 00:01:30
    thoughts happy thoughts happy thoughts
  • 00:01:31
    let's
  • 00:01:34
    [Music]
  • 00:01:49
    go now before I jump head first into
  • 00:01:52
    doing the course I want to discuss a bit
  • 00:01:54
    of a change in my strategy you see after
  • 00:01:56
    the pain I went through in the previous
  • 00:01:57
    video trying to solve every problem off
  • 00:01:59
    the top of my head
  • 00:02:00
    I've come to the realization that I
  • 00:02:02
    don't need to do that just because I
  • 00:02:04
    don't know how to solve a problem I've
  • 00:02:06
    never seen before in the first 5 Seconds
  • 00:02:08
    of seeing it doesn't mean that I'm going
  • 00:02:10
    to be a bad programmer in fact it
  • 00:02:11
    doesn't really mean anything at all if
  • 00:02:13
    using Google was a sin then every
  • 00:02:15
    programmer would burst into flames so I
  • 00:02:17
    decided that instead of banging my head
  • 00:02:18
    against the wall for 30 minutes if I
  • 00:02:20
    really don't understand what's going on
  • 00:02:22
    I'm going to use the solution to work
  • 00:02:23
    through the problem other than that I
  • 00:02:25
    just need to have some fun because
  • 00:02:26
    otherwise I'm going to go insane
  • 00:02:29
    although I already think think I've
  • 00:02:30
    reached that
  • 00:02:33
    point okay so I think what I'm going to
  • 00:02:36
    try to do obviously the goal is to
  • 00:02:37
    finish this as quick as possible so it
  • 00:02:39
    doesn't really matter how far I can get
  • 00:02:40
    in a day but I should at least set like
  • 00:02:43
    a minimum goal for today which I'm going
  • 00:02:47
    to say is fast and slow pointers and if
  • 00:02:49
    I get to it and there's still enough
  • 00:02:51
    time during the day and I still have
  • 00:02:52
    brain cells left to burn then I will
  • 00:02:54
    continue on to trade this should not be
  • 00:02:57
    too bad and I hope with say that I
  • 00:03:00
    didn't just jinx
  • 00:03:07
    myself
  • 00:03:09
    cadan kadan it's been a full week and I
  • 00:03:12
    still don't know how to say it kadon
  • 00:03:15
    yeah I'm not going to remember that
  • 00:03:16
    anyway speaking of remembering things I
  • 00:03:18
    actually already know how to do most of
  • 00:03:20
    these algorithms in the eras section
  • 00:03:21
    courtesy of the leak code data
  • 00:03:23
    structures and algorithms course that I
  • 00:03:25
    never finished but I did manage to go
  • 00:03:27
    through the erase section that taught me
  • 00:03:28
    about sliding window and two pointers so
  • 00:03:30
    this wasn't anything new I should
  • 00:03:32
    probably do this course I paid like 80
  • 00:03:33
    bucks for it also if you look at the
  • 00:03:35
    corner you might notice this little
  • 00:03:36
    timer well I put it there to tell me to
  • 00:03:38
    move on if I'm taking too long in a
  • 00:03:40
    problem I figured it would help me waste
  • 00:03:42
    less time
  • 00:03:43
    but it didn't but yeah since I did
  • 00:03:46
    remember these Concepts I was able to
  • 00:03:47
    Breeze through them the only thing I was
  • 00:03:49
    messing up on was the English
  • 00:03:52
    language please
  • 00:03:57
    please at least it's a TI
  • 00:04:00
    and next please
  • 00:04:05
    please oh I did it again no [ __ ] okay
  • 00:04:09
    that should be the
  • 00:04:15
    only after about 30 minutes and figuring
  • 00:04:18
    out how to type I had officially
  • 00:04:19
    completed all of the leak Cod problems
  • 00:04:21
    for the first lesson even though I
  • 00:04:23
    didn't really take that long there was
  • 00:04:24
    already a little voice in my head
  • 00:04:25
    beginning to doubt whether or not I
  • 00:04:27
    would get to link lists today did I say
  • 00:04:29
    something something about trying to
  • 00:04:30
    finish
  • 00:04:33
    like it's okay we still have time how
  • 00:04:37
    naive I was almost as if the universe
  • 00:04:39
    could sense I was having too much fun my
  • 00:04:41
    steady pace of solving problems in
  • 00:04:43
    around 10 minutes was beginning to slow
  • 00:04:45
    down by a
  • 00:04:52
    lot
  • 00:04:53
    interesting wow whatever I think I can
  • 00:04:55
    just solve things in like two seconds
  • 00:04:57
    I'm proven wrong
  • 00:05:04
    two hours
  • 00:05:07
    later you would have to
  • 00:05:09
    use
  • 00:05:11
    kadan's algorithm
  • 00:05:13
    here kadon kadon algorithm oh my [ __ ]
  • 00:05:19
    God yeah I've already forgotten anyway
  • 00:05:21
    at this point I was beginning to notice
  • 00:05:23
    that I was falling into a steady
  • 00:05:25
    learning pattern you see I would begin
  • 00:05:26
    with watching the video and or reading
  • 00:05:28
    through the lesson then I rewrite the
  • 00:05:30
    code myself and then try to apply all of
  • 00:05:32
    that knowledge to a lead code problem it
  • 00:05:34
    proved to be very efficient and for a
  • 00:05:36
    bit it looked like I was doing okay and
  • 00:05:38
    just as I finished up a question that
  • 00:05:39
    took a good second to finish I was faced
  • 00:05:41
    with even more
  • 00:05:45
    [Music]
  • 00:05:46
    trouble why are there so
  • 00:05:49
    many oh my
  • 00:05:54
    God you see in the beginner's course the
  • 00:05:56
    lead code questions sometimes range from
  • 00:05:58
    1 to three per lesson so to see not four
  • 00:06:02
    not five but sometimes six Leo questions
  • 00:06:07
    I was ready to throw the entire deadline
  • 00:06:08
    idea out the window oh but in my naivity
  • 00:06:12
    I decided to just keep pushing after all
  • 00:06:14
    I still had plenty of time
  • 00:06:26
    left I'm
  • 00:06:28
    free for
  • 00:06:31
    today the next day I woke up with a
  • 00:06:33
    fresh mind and was ready to take on the
  • 00:06:35
    challenge of completing the next few
  • 00:06:36
    chapters trees heaps and backtracking
  • 00:06:40
    and after about 20 minutes I realized
  • 00:06:41
    that that wasn't going to happen once
  • 00:06:44
    again I was using the timer to tell
  • 00:06:45
    myself to move on and look at the answer
  • 00:06:47
    if I really didn't know how to figure
  • 00:06:49
    things out and um yeah I was ignoring
  • 00:06:52
    the timer I mean I did give myself way
  • 00:06:54
    too little time 5 minutes is not enough
  • 00:06:57
    but it doesn't really matter cuz I
  • 00:06:58
    didn't listen to it anyway and so I
  • 00:07:01
    spent 1 hour and 30 minutes answering
  • 00:07:05
    two lead code problems and by the time I
  • 00:07:08
    was moving on to the third I was not
  • 00:07:11
    feeling it
  • 00:07:12
    anymore we're not done
  • 00:07:14
    yet I know I already hate it I don't get
  • 00:07:18
    it away from
  • 00:07:19
    me I don't want to do this but I have to
  • 00:07:25
    cuz I said I would do all of them I'm
  • 00:07:28
    going to see seem like a
  • 00:07:39
    liar you know what I'll come back to
  • 00:07:41
    this I will come back to this I just
  • 00:07:44
    can't do this right now of course I
  • 00:07:46
    didn't listen to myself and still tried
  • 00:07:48
    to solve the word search problem even
  • 00:07:49
    though my brain was clearly not
  • 00:07:51
    functioning but I ended up looking at
  • 00:07:52
    the solution anyway and so I went to bed
  • 00:07:54
    feeling quite down that I only managed
  • 00:07:56
    to solve a total of one lesson after 2
  • 00:08:00
    hours of sitting on my computer it
  • 00:08:02
    wasn't looking good I remember there was
  • 00:08:05
    like a girl that came into our class one
  • 00:08:08
    time and she was bragging about how she
  • 00:08:10
    had like a answer that was like a really
  • 00:08:14
    good
  • 00:08:15
    runtime I I'm just happy that I have a
  • 00:08:18
    that I have an answer and here is where
  • 00:08:21
    I think we should stop and talk for a
  • 00:08:23
    second why well I actually filmed this
  • 00:08:25
    part in the video and unfortunately its
  • 00:08:27
    audio was completely wiped for some
  • 00:08:29
    reason thank you OBS you see at this
  • 00:08:31
    point in the challenge I was starting to
  • 00:08:33
    get really frustrated with myself I mean
  • 00:08:35
    it's quite understandable I did spend 2
  • 00:08:36
    hours on one lesson and the next day I
  • 00:08:39
    felt so ill that I was not able to sit
  • 00:08:41
    on my computer without wanting
  • 00:08:43
    to vomit all the time and so I was
  • 00:08:46
    beginning to think that there was no way
  • 00:08:47
    I was going to finish the rest of the
  • 00:08:49
    lessons in the time that I had left and
  • 00:08:51
    that made me really upset in fact I was
  • 00:08:53
    just thinking of ditching the entire
  • 00:08:54
    project itself and just doing the
  • 00:08:56
    lessons however long it took me to do
  • 00:08:57
    them and then posting the video that
  • 00:08:59
    then but like that didn't feel right I
  • 00:09:01
    had already mentally committed to the
  • 00:09:02
    challenge and I didn't want to go back
  • 00:09:04
    on my word and so I thought and I
  • 00:09:06
    thought and decided to change up my
  • 00:09:08
    strategy once
  • 00:09:11
    again so here's the thing do I really
  • 00:09:13
    need to do all of the leode problems I
  • 00:09:15
    mean it's a good way of showing that I
  • 00:09:16
    completed the lesson of course but do I
  • 00:09:18
    do I really need to be doing all of them
  • 00:09:21
    I mean I'm literally treating this like
  • 00:09:22
    I signed a Blood Oath to solve all of
  • 00:09:24
    the problems before moving on to the
  • 00:09:25
    next I mean it sounds so obvious but I
  • 00:09:27
    feel like I've just been focusing on the
  • 00:09:28
    wrong thing this entire time I mean I'm
  • 00:09:30
    still learning but I think I'm just not
  • 00:09:32
    learning as efficiently and so I decided
  • 00:09:35
    that instead of focusing all of my time
  • 00:09:36
    on solving every goddamn Le Cod problem
  • 00:09:38
    that probably is not going to serve me
  • 00:09:40
    any purpose at the moment I'm rather
  • 00:09:42
    going to be focusing on the lesson
  • 00:09:43
    material and what I mean by that is I
  • 00:09:45
    want to understand the data structure
  • 00:09:46
    and its applications and use that
  • 00:09:48
    knowledge to solve like one or two Le
  • 00:09:50
    code problems and then call it a [ __ ]
  • 00:09:53
    day cuz to be honest at this point I
  • 00:09:55
    just want to get this over with and done
  • 00:09:57
    with so I could put it behind me and
  • 00:09:59
    finally move on to other things like a
  • 00:10:01
    project I said I would finish this
  • 00:10:03
    course and I am so now with an improved
  • 00:10:05
    strategy here we go again I woke up the
  • 00:10:08
    next day and immediately got to work
  • 00:10:10
    feeling quite pumped even though you
  • 00:10:12
    can't really tell I was born with his
  • 00:10:14
    face okay and let me tell you not having
  • 00:10:16
    to force myself to do all of the Le code
  • 00:10:18
    problems did something to my brain that
  • 00:10:20
    I can't fully comprehend I was flying
  • 00:10:23
    through the lessons at record-breaking
  • 00:10:25
    speed and maybe it was because I had
  • 00:10:27
    chugged two cups of coffee but my head
  • 00:10:29
    felt clear I took my time understanding
  • 00:10:31
    the material was able to get through the
  • 00:10:33
    leako problems in a breeze and even dare
  • 00:10:35
    I say have fun even though there isn't
  • 00:10:38
    any audio thanks OBS I wasn't talking
  • 00:10:41
    much to begin with which allowed me to
  • 00:10:43
    really focus on what I was doing and so
  • 00:10:45
    in the span of about 3 hours without
  • 00:10:47
    breaks I was able to get through the
  • 00:10:49
    goal of completing the three chapters
  • 00:10:51
    from the previous day but wait I wasn't
  • 00:10:54
    done yet because after a bit of a break
  • 00:10:56
    and another two coffees I came right
  • 00:10:58
    back to my computer computer and I
  • 00:10:59
    finished the entire graph section who is
  • 00:11:02
    this this can't be me am I really having
  • 00:11:04
    fun right now and with that I only had
  • 00:11:07
    one more lesson to
  • 00:11:09
    complete okay it is the final push the
  • 00:11:14
    final I just need to finish this section
  • 00:11:18
    now I want to see how much I get done
  • 00:11:20
    before I have to go um play
  • 00:11:22
    volleyball I'm going to set the bar
  • 00:11:24
    pretty low and just just say I want to
  • 00:11:27
    finish this cuz if there's anything I've
  • 00:11:30
    learned is um I keep jinxing myself and
  • 00:11:33
    I need to stop saying things in order
  • 00:11:37
    for them to actually come
  • 00:11:41
    true inner
  • 00:11:45
    peace inner peace we're so close to the
  • 00:11:48
    Finish Line I can
  • 00:11:50
    taste victory with the finish line so
  • 00:11:53
    close in sight I wasted no time in going
  • 00:11:55
    through the rest of the course which to
  • 00:11:57
    be honest was not as hard as the prev
  • 00:11:59
    previous courses nothing can beat graphs
  • 00:12:02
    every single algorithm was very similar
  • 00:12:03
    to one another so it was very easy to
  • 00:12:05
    remember and so I went through my
  • 00:12:06
    pattern of watching coding and then
  • 00:12:08
    solving and after playing a bit of
  • 00:12:10
    volleyball I came back to my computer
  • 00:12:12
    and had a bit of an epiphany I do sense
  • 00:12:14
    a bit of these like changes in my
  • 00:12:17
    mindset because I'm looking at this and
  • 00:12:19
    before I remember having absolutely no
  • 00:12:21
    idea what was going on like why are we
  • 00:12:24
    doing recursion here why are we adding
  • 00:12:25
    to like what what is this and now even
  • 00:12:28
    though it's still like I need a little
  • 00:12:31
    bit of time but it makes so much more
  • 00:12:34
    sense than it did back then I still have
  • 00:12:36
    a long way to go I'm going to go back
  • 00:12:39
    and work some more on these topics when
  • 00:12:42
    I have the time of course but I feel
  • 00:12:44
    like just going through the entire
  • 00:12:46
    Course once really understanding all of
  • 00:12:49
    this material and then doing like one
  • 00:12:51
    lead code problem to just to really
  • 00:12:53
    solidify what you know is such a good
  • 00:12:56
    way to start yeah I know people like
  • 00:12:58
    will argue and say like leode is so
  • 00:13:00
    useless we shouldn't do it it's not
  • 00:13:01
    going to teach you any real program but
  • 00:13:03
    like it's a good start you can't hate
  • 00:13:05
    people for wanting to start somewhere
  • 00:13:06
    and leod just provides a really easy
  • 00:13:08
    start it still is a pain in the ass
  • 00:13:10
    though like I I I still have two more to
  • 00:13:13
    do I'm just I decided to procrastinate
  • 00:13:15
    by making a motivational speech but you
  • 00:13:17
    know what we're going to continue forth
  • 00:13:19
    okay where am I at right here after my
  • 00:13:21
    motivational speech I got back to work
  • 00:13:23
    and in only a couple of minutes had
  • 00:13:25
    reached the final
  • 00:13:27
    lesson okay okay literally have one left
  • 00:13:31
    I need to check this box and check this
  • 00:13:35
    box and I am officially done with
  • 00:13:38
    absolutely no days left till the
  • 00:13:40
    deadline it was literally now or never
  • 00:13:43
    and I actually accidentally took a nap
  • 00:13:45
    and now it's Sunday so I'm just kidding
  • 00:13:48
    I'm just kidding on the same day I
  • 00:13:51
    submitted my final Le code problem
  • 00:13:53
    waited to make sure that it was correct
  • 00:13:55
    and finally I was free at least until I
  • 00:13:58
    go back and finish the rest of the
  • 00:14:00
    problems
  • 00:14:10
    yes don't don't even look at any of
  • 00:14:12
    these don't don't don't look at them I'm
  • 00:14:14
    doing them on my own time I'm I'm done
  • 00:14:16
    with this I've had my fun this was fun
  • 00:14:20
    are you sure about that but it is done I
  • 00:14:23
    have completed it I definitely need to
  • 00:14:26
    go back and work on it some more but
  • 00:14:27
    that's the beauty of it I'm just I'm so
  • 00:14:30
    I'm done now I get to find out whether
  • 00:14:33
    like any of it's actually useful on
  • 00:14:39
    projects I think I already know the
  • 00:14:43
    answer thank you so much for watching
  • 00:14:46
    and I wanted to take a bit of time at
  • 00:14:47
    the end of this video for those of you
  • 00:14:49
    that are still here hi I just wanted to
  • 00:14:51
    say thank you thank you to those who
  • 00:14:53
    have subscribed to me and thank you so
  • 00:14:55
    much for all of the Care and support
  • 00:14:56
    that you guys have been showing me it
  • 00:14:58
    just feels so so strange it just doesn't
  • 00:15:00
    feel like this is supposed to be
  • 00:15:01
    happening I feel so grateful to be in
  • 00:15:03
    this position and you guys are certainly
  • 00:15:05
    motivating me to keep on making more
  • 00:15:07
    videos which I definitely plan on doing
  • 00:15:09
    I'm still getting used to the whole
  • 00:15:11
    YouTuber thing so yes once again thank
  • 00:15:14
    you so much for watching thank you to
  • 00:15:15
    those who subscribed to me and I'll see
  • 00:15:16
    you in my next video
Tags
  • Programming
  • Technical Interview
  • Data Structures
  • Algorithms
  • Learning Strategy
  • Coding Challenges
  • Programming Course
  • Problem Solving
  • Career Preparation
  • Study Techniques