# Milestone: 1 year of leetcode ### 1 Year on LeetCode: Lessons, Struggles, and Growth Exactly one year ago, I made a commitment — to open LeetCode *daily*, without excuses, and start solving problems that once made me uncomfortable. What started as a casual attempt to improve my DSA skills has become one of the most consistent habits I’ve developed. Today marks **365 days of learning, struggling, failing, debugging, and growing**. Here's what the journey has looked like, what I learned, and what I wish I knew when I started. --- ## Why I Started Like many developers, I was familiar with the basics of data structures and algorithms — arrays, trees, hash maps, dynamic programming. But interviews at top companies are a different game. I needed consistency, confidence, and clarity. LeetCode offered a structured and measurable way to build those skills. It felt like the gym for my brain — and I wanted to show up *every day*. --- ## Lessons Learned ### 1\. **Consistency Beats Intensity** You don't need to solve 5 problems a day. Solve *one* — but understand it deeply. The compound effect of daily effort is real. ### 2\. **Hard Problems Are Teachers in Disguise** Some problems took me hours. But those were the ones that taught me *why* an approach worked (or failed). If you’re struggling, it means you’re learning. ### 3\. **Patterns Are Everything** After 100+ problems, patterns start to emerge: * Sliding window for subarrays * Two pointers for sorted arrays * Recursion with memoization for DP * Hashing for fast lookups Once you recognize the pattern, the problem becomes familiar, not frightening. ### 4\. **Editorials and Discussions Are Gold** Reading others' approaches changed my thinking. It made me write cleaner, more optimized code — and sometimes, taught me simpler solutions I overlooked. ### 5\. **Debugging is a Superpower** LeetCode helped me *trust* my code. I became faster at finding bugs and understanding edge cases. It’s an underrated benefit of daily practice. --- ## What I Wish I Knew Earlier * **You don’t have to do everything in order**. Jump around. Try new tags. Challenge yourself. * **Read problem statements carefully**. Most WA (wrong answers) come from misreading the constraints. * **Don’t avoid hard problems**. Attempt them — even if it means failing. That failure is part of the growth curve. * **Use a notebook or Obsidian/Notion** to record insights. Rewriting the logic in your own words helps retention immensely. --- ## My Toolkit * **Language:** Java * Visualization/Dry run: Physical notebook, Excalidraw * **Platform:** LeetCode + some occasional practice on Codeforces & GeeksforGeeks * **Tracking:** Google Sheets + LeetCode Stats + Obsidian Notes --- ## Final Thoughts One year on LeetCode didn’t just make me better at solving problems. It: * Sharpened my thinking * Improved my coding speed * Boosted my confidence in interviews * Made me a more thoughtful developer To anyone thinking of starting — start today. You don’t need to go fast. Just don’t stop. Here’s to another year of curiosity, code, and continuous learning.