4 ms·

Thank you. Do you have any suggestions? I bought a book that was recommended to me, CLRS intro to algorithms. I've tried going through the book, but maybe I'm t

Thank you. Do you have any suggestions? I bought a book that was recommended to me, CLRS intro to algorithms. I've tried going through the book, but maybe I'm too dumb (I didn't go to college for engineering) and I find a lot of the math concepts in there confusing.

caslon 4y ago
I very strongly recommend an actual course. As a senior dev, you should be able to afford a bit of travel, and most universities allow walk-ins at no cost. Georgia Tech also has a critically-acclaimed online MS program, which might be worth looking into. That said, if you're not wanting to do an actual course, I'd recommend Sedgewick's book. The trick when reading an algorithms book if you're not presently at its mathematical level is to skip all of the math you can't currently understand. You'll eventually pick up on it, but in the meantime, you'll also get a lot from just reimplementing the algorithms from the book in whatever your favorite language is, and doing whatever exercises you're capable of handling with a bit of effort.
popularonion 4y ago
As an alternative, you could pick up “Algorithms Illuminated” by Tim Roughgarden. Get the Part 1 book, read it casually a few times to get a sense of what’s in there, then go back to the beginning and start slogging through the exercises. Don’t hesitate to look for stuff on Google and YouTube when you’re stuck, but keep reviewing as much as necessary until you’ve legit learned the material. This is the approach I’m taking. Too soon to say if it’s working out yet. I’m thinking long term rather than getting a job offer at X company in Y months. There might be other books that work better for you than the one I recommended. I’m also in my 30s and have a job I’m more or less satisfied with currently.
- jamra 4y ago
  I have this book. I found it to be very unnecessary in my leetcode journey. What worked for me is repetition. It’s mostly just pattern matching. I got into three faangs recently so my strategy worked for me.
  - technological 4y ago
    which book do you recommend ? and can you describe preparation process
    - jamra 4y ago
      Sure. I don’t recommend books or courses because they go deep into theory whereas this is a different endeavor. I recommend coming up with templates for the finite amount of problems. Recursive Graph/Tree Linked List Array The array problems can be the most unique, which means a template isn’t always possible. Practice timing yourself. This is harder than it looks. Stop problems that take you too long or they’ll wear you out. Come back and solve them again.
zem 4y ago
CLRS is definitely not a good self study book. it is a great textbook if you have a professor teaching from it, because it is pretty thorough and covers a lot, but I would not feel bad if you couldn't reach yourself algorithms from it.

caslon 4y ago

I very strongly recommend an actual course. As a senior dev, you should be able to afford a bit of travel, and most universities allow walk-ins at no cost. Georgia Tech also has a critically-acclaimed online MS program, which might be worth looking into. That said, if you're not wanting to do an actual course, I'd recommend Sedgewick's book. The trick when reading an algorithms book if you're not presently at its mathematical level is to skip all of the math you can't currently understand. You'll eventually pick up on it, but in the meantime, you'll also get a lot from just reimplementing the algorithms from the book in whatever your favorite language is, and doing whatever exercises you're capable of handling with a bit of effort.

popularonion 4y ago

As an alternative, you could pick up “Algorithms Illuminated” by Tim Roughgarden. Get the Part 1 book, read it casually a few times to get a sense of what’s in there, then go back to the beginning and start slogging through the exercises. Don’t hesitate to look for stuff on Google and YouTube when you’re stuck, but keep reviewing as much as necessary until you’ve legit learned the material. This is the approach I’m taking. Too soon to say if it’s working out yet. I’m thinking long term rather than getting a job offer at X company in Y months. There might be other books that work better for you than the one I recommended. I’m also in my 30s and have a job I’m more or less satisfied with currently.

jamra 4y ago
I have this book. I found it to be very unnecessary in my leetcode journey. What worked for me is repetition. It’s mostly just pattern matching. I got into three faangs recently so my strategy worked for me.
- technological 4y ago
  which book do you recommend ? and can you describe preparation process
  - jamra 4y ago
    Sure. I don’t recommend books or courses because they go deep into theory whereas this is a different endeavor. I recommend coming up with templates for the finite amount of problems. Recursive Graph/Tree Linked List Array The array problems can be the most unique, which means a template isn’t always possible. Practice timing yourself. This is harder than it looks. Stop problems that take you too long or they’ll wear you out. Come back and solve them again.

zem 4y ago

CLRS is definitely not a good self study book. it is a great textbook if you have a professor teaching from it, because it is pretty thorough and covers a lot, but I would not feel bad if you couldn't reach yourself algorithms from it.