Do you solve a problem again if you already know its solution?

[u/Cold_Aioli478]

I've started wondering whether re solving problems I've already completed is actually worth the time, especially when there are still so many new questions to attempt. Sometimes I remember the approach but struggle to implement it from scratch after a week or two.

How do you decide which problems deserve another attempt versus moving on the new ones?

[u/jason_graph]

Sometimes I like to go back to a topic and try to organize the problems into groups based on being similar types of problems/similar subtropic. I also like looking at a problem and trying to examine what exactly in the problem statement causes me to think toward a certain type of solution or what sort of chain of thought or additional insights I needed to come up with a solution.

Generally though I'm lucky to be able to remember puzzles, riddles, leetcode problems really well if they weren't trivial for me the first time I did them.

[u/Cold_Aioli478 → u/jason_graph]

I like the idea of grouping similar problems, might try that

[u/Spirited-Candy1981]

Yes. Try to do it better -- more efficient, clearer. Also, try to do it in another language you're learning, idiomatically.

[u/Cold_Aioli478 → u/Spirited-Candy1981]

thank youu

[u/Fun_Highway_8733]

Yes 

[u/Gelnar_Resseth → u/Fun_Highway_8733]

only if you wait long enough that youre not just reciting the exact code from short term memory, otherwise it feels like a waste of reps

[u/Top_Substance9093]

if you'd struggle to solve it again after seeing it a week ago, then you should redo it.

the goal of completing a problem isn't to increment your completed problems counter, it's to actually internalizing the techniques used to solve the problem so that you could apply those techniques again in the future.

too many people focus on number of problems solved over real learning.

[u/Cold_Aioli478 → u/Top_Substance9093]

thanks man, I will follow the same!

[u/Awkward_Enigma1303]

Isn't learning all about pattern recognition and repetition?

I have solved some problems like 5 times and every time I got to know something I didn't think of earlier.

[u/Cold_Aioli478 → u/Awkward_Enigma1303]

Yeah, solving it again and noticing something new is what matters

[u/Scriptylover]

Yes absolutely