Do Just 75 LeetCode problems. — Tanishq Chaudhary
Is Blind 75 good to do for LeetCode beginners? And what they won’t tell you about Blind 75.
So, you want to grind LeetCode, get that dream job in MAANG.
But, there are more than two thousand problems.
You don’t have the time to go through each and every single one.
Is there an optimal way to cover all the important data structures and algorithms?
Is there a good answer to which LeetCode problems one should do?
1. Why Blind 75 is the best list of LeetCode problems.
The solution to all your problems:
Blind 75 is a curated list of 75 problems created by a staff engineer at Meta.
It has been distilled from 500 questions, down to just 75.
It covers all the important topics to prepare you for coding interviews @MAANG and other Tier-1 companies.
It should take a total of 64 hours of consistent effort (8 hours for 8 weeks) to complete it.
Now, that might sound like a lot, but remember!
By doing this list, you will be at a pretty good level of preparation.
You have covered all the frequently asked data structures and algorithms, in the least number of problems possible.
So, what’s the catch?
2. Where Blind 75 won’t help you.
Isn’t this too good to be true?
Let’s break it down.
This is what they won’t tell you about Blind 75.
2.1. It is 8 weeks of consistent effort
The problems are supposed to take not more than 15 minutes for easy and 30–40 minutes for the hard ones.
But, this assumes that you know the relevant data structures and algorithms.
It will take 15 minutes to 30 minutes to understand the problem and apply the DSA.
Debugging and all, the good stuff.
But, if you are a beginner at LeetCode, be prepared to spend hours on a single problem trying to understand it.
I am not trying to scare you.
It is important to understand what is going on, at the fundamental level.
So, take your time.
It will be 64 hours for you if you have some prior knowledge, experience in DSA or math.
Definitely not 64 hours for a complete beginner.
2.2. It is not enough
With the big claim of just 75 questions, you should be asking …
“Really? Is it this easy for beginners too?”
And the truth it, it depends.
Again.
Do you have a math undergrad degree?
Have you done some competetive programming before?
Do you know these data structures and algorithms beforehand?
If your answer “yes” to any of these questions, you are sorted!
Otherwise … your journey has not ended.
To build your intuitions, to be able to solve unseen LeetCode mediums and hards, require a lot of grinding.
A LOT of grinding.
2.3. My personal experience
I myself spent a year — not 8 weeks (2 months), but an entire year, slowly working my way up the difficulty ladder.
I had solved over 420 problems along the way, before I got an internship.
You can check out my YouTube journey on my channel, or get a summary in this and this LinkedIn post.
My journey of solving 350+ LeetCode questions
Take you time.
Solve as many problems as you need, to become comfortable.
3. Final Verdict
So, is it really worth doing the list?
3.1. For LeetCode Beginners
Yes.
If you are a complete beginner, this list of problems will give you a taste of what to expect.
The disappointments,
the random search through YouTube videos trying to understand an algorithm,
trying to figure out ways to optimize the solution (when there looks to be none),
and hours and hours of debugging.
But, at the end, you should have solved more than 75 problems; in trying to do these 75.
You should have spent more than 64 hours; in trying to complete this as optimally as possible.
3.2. For LeetCode Experienced
Yes.
If you are somewhat experienced, I would recommend doing this list as a revision.
It will test your speed of solving,
the ability to understand and implement the questions,
the ability to modify the DSA to suit the problem needs,
and coding up the optimal solution within time.
4. Bonus
So, me and my friends tried speedrunning the entire list in 10 hours.
Here is the result:
Originally published at https://tanishqchaudhary.com on October 24, 2022.
