Leetcode Will Make You A Worse Software Engineer
I landed my first internship at Airbus, with no Leetcode experience.
A few weeks in I was already building features, refactoring code and Explaining solutions to devs far ahead of me.
For someone who had never even touched a Leetcode problem to that point you'd be thinking
๐๐ค๐ฌ?
๐๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ก๐.
I focused on ๐๐ช๐๐ก๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐จ๐ค๐๐ฉ๐ฌ๐๐ง๐, ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฉ ๐จ๐ค๐ก๐ซ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ก๐๐จ.
โ I worked on real projects
โ I learned to read messy codebases
โ I collaborated, asked questions, and shipped things that mattered
That internship taught me more about software engineering than 100 Leetcode problems ever could.
๐๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐๐ ๐๐ค๐๐จ ๐๐๐ก๐ฅ.
It builds your ability to:
โ Spot patterns
โ Optimise algorithms
โ Work fast under pressure
Great for interviews.
๐๐ค๐ฉ ๐จ๐ค ๐๐ค๐ค๐ ๐๐ค๐ง ๐๐ช๐๐ก๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ง๐๐๐ก ๐จ๐ค๐๐ฉ๐ฌ๐๐ง๐.
Because real-world engineering requires so much more:
โ Picking the right ๐ฉ๐๐๐ ๐จ๐ฉ๐๐๐ for the job
โ A strong understanding of what the software should do
โ ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ก๐ค๐ฃ๐-๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ข, not just solving in <30 minutes
And so much more...
Leetcode makes you a worse Software Engineer because:
โ It teaches you to always optimise for ๐จ๐ฅ๐๐๐ not ๐ฆ๐ช๐๐ก๐๐ฉ๐ฎ.
โ It rewards ๐ฃ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ง๐๐๐ ๐จ, instead of ๐๐ก๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐ง๐๐๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ง๐
โ And it trains you to work individually, instead of a team.
๐๐๐๐ก ๐จ๐ค๐๐ฉ๐ฌ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ฃ'๐ฉ ๐๐ช๐๐ก๐ฉ ๐๐ฃ 30 ๐ข๐๐ฃ๐ช๐ฉ๐๐จ.
It's built through thoughtful iteration, user feedback, clear systems, and teamwork.
๐๐ค ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฉ ๐จ๐๐ค๐ช๐ก๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐ค?
1๏ธโฃ ๐ฝ๐ช๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐ง๐ค๐๐๐๐ฉ๐จ Not youtube tutorials. Not to do apps. Real tools, apps and systems.
A project that solves a real pain point for people (including yourself)
2๏ธโฃ ๐๐ค๐ง๐ ๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ข๐จ If you can, build these project with other people.
As a SWE you don't just write code You:
โ ๐พ๐ค๐ข๐ข๐ช๐ฃ๐๐๐๐ฉ๐ ๐๐ฉ
โ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ง๐ค๐ซ๐ ๐๐ฉ
โ ๐ฝ๐ช๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ค๐๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ง
+ (Building is a whole lot more fun together)
3๏ธโฃ ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ก๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐ง๐ค๐๐ช๐๐ฉ ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐จ๐ค๐ฃ
What is your project actually trying to do? (Overall goal)
Why does each feature matter and is it important?
What would make your software 10๐ญ better?
Leetcode has its place.
No doubt.
But real world impact?
This comes from building real things that work and last.
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