I continued my Data Structures and Algorithms study track today. I continued reading through the “Arrays and Strings” chapter of the book, “Cracking the Coding Interview” (CTCI) by Gayle Laakmann McDowell.
I finished going through the sample questions for the chapter. The questions were very short and generic but highlighted the types of questions that can be asked in a coding interview while working with Arrays and Strings. I need to come back to these chapters and write notes on them. For now I am just reading for exposure since that is my plan for now. I want to gain a high-level view of the forest before diving in and trying to cut a path through all of the brush.
The next chapter covers linked lists which I actually like. I have covered them before so I am hoping that I get through that material faster. I am honestly stalling pretty hard due to how busy work has gotten. I wish I could do more but I have to manage my health so that I don’t get too burnt out. Crispy edges are fine but I don’t want to become charcoal level toast LOL.
TLDR;
Okay, so here are the highlights of what I did:
- Data Structures and Algorithms (DSA) -> Continued reading through the book “Cracking the Coding Interview” by Gayle Laakmann McDowell again. Finished reading through the sample interview questions for the Arrays and Strings chapter. Now I am moving on to the next section which covers Linked Lists.
Goal For Round 8 of the #100DaysofCode Challenge
This is my eighth round of the “#100daysofcode” challenge. I will be continuing my work from round five, six, and seven into round eight. I was working through the book “Cracking the Coding Interview” by Gayle Laakmann McDowell. My goal was to become more familiar with algorithms and data structures. This goal was derived from my goal to better understand operating systems and key programs that I use in the terminal regularly e.g. Git. This goal was in turn derived from my desire to better understand the fundamental tools used for coding outside of popular GUIs. This in turn was derived from my desire to be a better back-end developer.
I am currently putting a pause on the algorithm work to build some backend/full stack projects. I primarily want to improve my skills with the back-end from an implementation perspective. I have improved tremendously in terminal and CLI skills but I lost focus due to how abstract the algorithm concepts got. I wanted to work on things that were more tangible until I can get to a position where I could directly benefit from improving my algorithm skills and theoretical knowledge. So that’s the focus right now. Build my backend skills and prove my full stack capabilities by building some dope projects.
Again, I still have no idea if my path is correct but I am walking down this road anyways. Worst case scenario I learn a whole bunch of stuff that will help me out on my own personal projects. Best case scenario I actually become one of those unicorn developers that go on to start a billion dollar company… You never know LOL.