My Coding Journey From Beginner to Confident Coder

Hey Everyone. Hope you are doing well. Today I am going to share my coding journey. It is very useful to those who are in 2nd year or 3rd year of college and have not much done coding or preparation for internship or placement preparations. So have a look at my article which will give you motivation to not lose hope.

I am a pre-final year B.Tech student at NIT Patna in the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering. Most of our branch students get placed in Software Engineering Background. From the beginning, it was clear to me that I had to prepare for placement in the field of Software Engineering but I was not aware of the preparation strategy.

I have not done coding till my 3rd semester but many of my friends studied Web Development and DSA to a good extent. In the 4th semester, I decided to work hard. First of all, I have cleared all the basics of C language and started giving contests on CodeChef. I was able to solve just 2 questions in Division 4. In the summer vacation after 4tn semester, I learnt C++ and I switched to C++ in place of C language.

Till then I just learnt the basics of Programming. The first site on which I had done problem-solving was CodeChef. I started solving easy-level questions and continuously started increasing the difficulty rating of questions. After that, I started learning Data Structures and Algorithms. Then I start solving DSA questions on GFG and Leetcode. Day by day I am getting confident in DSA. Currently, I have a streak of about 300 days on CodeChef and about 150 days on Leetcode and GFG. I also started learning Web Development and started making small projects.

As I started late so I was below below-average student in coding during my 5th semester. Now companies are coming for Internships. I have given OA(Online Assessment) for a few companies like Texas Instruments, Visa, Goldman Sachs, and PlaceWit but was unable to crack any of them. I regret starting coding late but now I am preparing for my campus placements very hard and hope for a better future.

Here are some tips for those who are in 2nd year or 3rd year and want to get placed in the Software Engineering Field but are not prepared much for placements:-

1. Must learn the basics of any language and don’t try to switch it. (C++ and Java are suggested).
2. Try to spend equal time on learning new concepts as well as Question Solving.
3. Try to participate in the contest as much as you can and give it honestly. (GFG, Leetcode and CodeChef platforms are suggested)
4. Utilize your vacations.
5. Never lose hope. Hard Time always comes in life but it always passes and If you are honest and hard-working then you must get good results.
6. Always be consistent.

Don’t forget it is never too late for starting something but if you start early then you are half done.