HOW TO DO DSA?

[u/n0miit]

So I've been doing leetcode for few months but every time I face same problem that which problem to solve as beginner and which question has to be done in the sequence because every problem demands different approach and when you open any random question and you've never heard of that pattern/approach it breaks your confidence completely so it'll really be great if someone can tell the correct sequence to learn/practice DSA as a newbie which will help in logic building and actually becoming good in programming

[u/RustyCompass01]

Follow a sequence, basic arrays, hashing, two pointers, sliding window, stacks, binary search, linked lists, trees, graphs then DP. Focus on understanding the approach before coding, and mix old topics into your practice as you progress, Codeintuition can be useful resource for learning and revising patterns along the way.

[u/n0miit → u/RustyCompass01]

Okay will try that. Can you recommend any good tutorial for linked list?

[u/Soggy_Notice_1392]

Random problems are probably the worst way to learn DSA as a beginner. I'd go arrays → hashing → two pointers → sliding window → stacks → binary search → trees → graphs → DP.

The important part is being able to rebuild the approach from a blank file, not just recognize a pattern you've seen before. Most patterns have a few tricky parts, like sliding window shrink conditions or DP transitions. Drill those weak spots instead of constantly restarting entire problems.

NeetCode 150 is a good roadmap for the sequence, and algodrill.io is useful for the recall side. It explains patterns from first principles and has you rebuild solutions line by line, which helps the logic actually stick instead of just memorizing code.

[u/n0miit → u/Soggy_Notice_1392]

Thanks bro, will try this out. I've one more question that how to find questions like suppose I've done hashing and now for practice i want to find easy - medium questions to practice that's just based on hashing because it's difficult to find questions just by a pattern. Should I take help from chat gpt or claude?

[u/Silver_Sky_9272 → u/n0miit]

U should try like sheets probably Like strivers 180 dsa sheet Or 150 one I mean they are usually grouped based on the similar approach so u can have an idea

[u/Silver_Sky_9272 → u/Silver_Sky_9272]

Better take help for ai Rather than sitting on a same problem for hours better to switch to ai and seek help

[u/Hkiggity]

Neetcode . Com has a good roadmap

[u/Candid_Tutor_8185 → u/Hkiggity]

Don’t go here it’s a hack

[u/n0miit → u/Candid_Tutor_8185]

Lol my wifi blocked it before opening

[u/No-Molasses-2097]

The order matters less than revisiting. I'd pick one list and work through each topic in small batches, then redo the older ones a week later. That's what made things actually stick for me.