Guide to Becoming an Awesome Problem Solver in Programming!

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Programming is a field that requires not only technical knowledge but also the ability to solve problems and think critically. Here is a guide to help you become an awesome problem solver in programming.

  1. Practice, practice, practice: The more you practice solving problems, the better you will become at it. Set aside time each day to work on coding challenges or practice solving problems. Websites like LeetCode and HackerRank are great places to start.
    • Break down the problem: Start by understanding the problem and breaking it down into smaller, more manageable pieces. Ask yourself questions such as, “What do I need to do first?” and “What do I need to accomplish in order to move on to the next step?”
    • Use pseudocode: Write out the steps for solving the problem in plain English, using as much detail as possible. This can help you identify the logic you need to use and also serve as a roadmap for when you start writing code.
    • Experiment with different approaches: Don’t be afraid to try out different approaches and algorithms to solve the problem. You never know what will work best until you try it.
    • Refactor your code: Once you have a working solution, look for ways to make it more efficient and easier to understand. Refactoring your code can help you identify areas for improvement and also make it easier to maintain in the future.
    • Collaborate with others: Seek out other programmers and work together on solving problems. Collaborating with others can help you learn new approaches and also give you a fresh perspective on the problem.

    Example: Let’s consider the problem of finding the first non-repeated character in a string.

    1. Break down the problem: In order to solve this problem, we need to first find all the characters in the string and then find the first character that only appears once.
    2. Use pseudocode: a. Create a dictionary to store the count of each character in the string. b. Iterate over the string and increment the count for each character in the dictionary. c. Iterate over the string again and check the count of each character in the dictionary. d. Return the first character that has a count of 1.
    3. Experiment with different approaches: One approach is to use two loops to iterate over the string and check the count of each character in the dictionary. Another approach is to use a set to store the characters that have already been seen and then return the first character that has not been seen.
    4. Refactor your code: After implementing the solution, look for ways to make it more efficient and easier to understand. For example, you could use a single loop instead of two loops to solve the problem.
    def first_non_repeated(string):
        char_count = {}
        for char in string:
            if char in char_count:
                char_count[char] += 1
            else:
                char_count[char] = 1
        for char in string:
            if char_count[char] == 1:
                return char
        return None
    
    string = "abcab"
    print(first_non_repeated(string))
    

    Explanation:

    • The function first_non_repeated takes in a string as a parameter.
    • The first loop iterates over the string and creates a dictionary char_count that stores the count of each character in the string.
    • The second loop iterates over the string again and checks the count of each character in the dictionary. If the count is 1, it returns the character.
    • If no character is found with a count of 1, the function returns None.
    • The code prints the result of the function for the string “abcab”.
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