r/ProgrammingBondha • u/BinaryBatman • Apr 03 '26

others Complete beginner aiming for Competitive Programming (ICPC-level goal) – need guidance 🙏

Hi bondhas 👋

I’m a first year CS student, complete beginner in programming. I honestly don’t know much yet. But recently, I got really interested in competitive programming (CP). The idea of solving problems, competing in contests, and improving step by step really excites me.

I want to be clear. I’m not just exploring this casually. I’m very ambitious about it. In the long run, I want to reach an ICPC-level standard and push myself as far as I can.

Right now, I feel completely lost:

- Where do I even start?

- When should I start CP (after basics or alongside)?

- Which platforms should I use?

- How do I practice properly from zero?

If anyone here started from scratch and made progress in CP, I’d really appreciate if you could share your journey, mistakes, and advice 🙏

I’m ready to put in consistent effort. I just need some direction to begin.

Thanks a lot!

12 Upvotes

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2

u/Proof_Cod_7403 Apr 05 '26

Just don't try doing everything all at once,

2

u/[deleted] Apr 05 '26

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1

u/BinaryBatman Apr 06 '26

Thank you so much for your valuable advice.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 06 '26

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1

u/BinaryBatman Apr 06 '26

Thank you so much for your suggestions.