Hi Codeforces! I'm Ahnaf, a passionate beginner in competitive programming, currently rated as a newbie, and I'm working hard to reach pupil within the next month. I've been solving around five problems a day, focusing mostly on 800–900 rated problems, and trying to build strong problem-solving habits.↵
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My current approach is pretty straightforward: I pick a problem, try to solve it by thinking on my own for about 30 minutes, and if I get stuck, I move on to the editorial. But I don’t just read and forget—I make sure I fully understand the solution and then implement it by myself to learn better. I use C++ as my main language and I’m somewhat comfortable with basic STL, including vector, map, set, and common functions like sort() and uniqe()↵
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Now, I want to ask the helpful Codeforces community for some guidance. Is this practice strategy good enough to improve and climb out of the newbie zone? Should I keep following this "think, read editorial, implement" routine? Also, I’d really appreciate it if someone could suggest a list of important beginner-level topics I should focus on now to solve more problems and improve faster. My goal is not just to increase my rating, but also to become more confident in logical thinking and fundamental algorithms.↵
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So far, I know the basics of C++, and I’ve practiced simple math, brute-force, and implementation problems. But I want to level up smartly. If you’ve been through this stage or have advice for someone like me, I’d love to hear your suggestions. Whether it’s a roadmap of topics or a recommended practice schedule, your input will mean a lot to me and many other newbies.↵
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Thanks in advance!
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My current approach is pretty straightforward: I pick a problem, try to solve it by thinking on my own for about 30 minutes, and if I get stuck, I move on to the editorial. But I don’t just read and forget—I make sure I fully understand the solution and then implement it by myself to learn better. I use C++ as my main language and I’m somewhat comfortable with basic STL, including vector, map, set, and common functions like sort() and uniqe()↵
↵
Now, I want to ask the helpful Codeforces community for some guidance. Is this practice strategy good enough to improve and climb out of the newbie zone? Should I keep following this "think, read editorial, implement" routine? Also, I’d really appreciate it if someone could suggest a list of important beginner-level topics I should focus on now to solve more problems and improve faster. My goal is not just to increase my rating, but also to become more confident in logical thinking and fundamental algorithms.↵
↵
So far, I know the basics of C++, and I’ve practiced simple math, brute-force, and implementation problems. But I want to level up smartly. If you’ve been through this stage or have advice for someone like me, I’d love to hear your suggestions. Whether it’s a roadmap of topics or a recommended practice schedule, your input will mean a lot to me and many other newbies.↵
↵
Thanks in advance!
