Dear reader,
I hope you’re well.
This week has been a very interesting week for me. The primary reason for this is that I’ve started actively learning data structure and algorithms (DSA), a crucial step for getting a good job in tech.
Note: Even if you are not a tech person, this will all make sense in a bit.
I understand that some of my readers are Computer Scientists themselves and would be like, “Yeah, that is a very basic and important step.” And your reaction to it would be justified.
But as an outsider, as someone who is just beginning, I never felt ready. I always thought that I would first master a programming language and only then begin learning DSA.
But that day never came. I don’t think I will ever be able to know everything that there is to know about a programming language. And because of this, I had never started DSA.
This week, however, something clicked in me. I thought I should just try learning DSA. Even if I didn’t understand, it’d be okay. And the interesting part was that I have been able to understand most of the things so far. I have also been practicing LeetCode (a collection of popular DSA questions of all difficulty levels).
This has been an amazing experience. I’m just starting, and I’m sure things will soon get harder, but I realized that if I had started trying to learn DSA when I had started learning programming, I could’ve been very far ahead in my career. I now know that I could, and I can learn things along the way.
I might even argue that learning things along the way is a better approach to learning unless it might harm someone.
Maybe you can also at least try to do something you think you’re not ready for yet. Regardless of whether you succeed or not, you will learn from it.
I hope you will think of how this could be relevant to your own life.
Take the leap of faith. Try. Learn.
This is it for this week. See you next week!
Warmly,
Suraj
