115 LeetCode problems in, but I feel completely stuck on Arrays/Linked Lists and progress feels fake
Posted by sidhu_uparwala@reddit | learnprogramming | View on Reddit | 4 comments
Been doing DSA consistently since March and solved 115 LeetCode problems following Striver A2Z.
But I feel stuck.
- Arrays (especially hard) feel impossible without hints
- Started Linked Lists
- Skipped Strings completely
- Only around 50% done with Binary Search
- Keep revising instead of moving ahead
My cycle is usually:
Try → get stuck → watch Striver → understand → next day forget the optimal approach.
I also find watching solution videos boring but feel forced to watch to learn patterns and algorithms.
A few questions:
- Should I redo solved questions or keep moving forward?
- Is it okay to skip topics and return later or does that hurt progress?
- How do you actually learn patterns instead of memorizing?
- Did linked lists / arrays eventually click for you or did you deliberately practice them?
- Should i continue with Striver A2Z?
Intelligent-Pay-9377@reddit
If it's really bugging you but otherwise you progress quickly I would finish the other problems and then circle back to it because they're really important topics.
ffrkAnonymous@reddit
Yeah, that's the catch.
Most of the questions require non-dsa knowledge to get a not-slow solution.
Longjumping_Echo486@reddit
Brother u are stuck in a cycle in an undirected graph ,use an algo(ur brain) to detect it and now remove an edge to get out of it
VersionOk1872@reddit
you need to break this pattern because right now youre just running in circles. i was exactly same position maybe 8 months ago doing leetcode grind and feeling like complete fraud every day
what helped me was changing approach completely - instead of trying to solve everything perfect first time i started treating problems like learning tools not tests. when i get stuck after 15-20 minutes i look at solution immediately and try to understand why that approach works instead of banging my head for hours
for patterns thing - i keep simple notes in text file with bullet points about when to use each pattern. like "two pointers when you need to find pair that sums to target" or "sliding window for subarray problems with constraints". writing it down in your own words makes huge difference compared to just watching videos
arrays and linked lists did click eventually but took way longer than i expected. probably around 200 problems before i felt comfortable with most medium level stuff. the key was doing same type of problems multiple times with weeks gap between attempts - this way you actually learn pattern instead of remembering specific solution
dont skip topics completely but also dont get obsessed with finishing everything before moving forward. mix it up - do few array problems then some binary search then back to arrays. keeps brain fresh and you start seeing connections between different topics