Competitive programming is a sport in which aspiring programmers compete with participants from around the world or from a local area to try to solve complex algorithmic problems according to a specified set of rules. It has gained a lot of attention over the years, and today, competitive programming is hosted and supported by the magnates of the IT industry such as Apple, Google, and Facebook.
There are many benefits of competitive programming. Developers across the globe unanimously agree that competitive programming helps you become a better developer and provides you with an edge over your competitors. Let’s look at the benefits of competitive programming.
- Helps You Stay Focused To Find Solutions Faster
In a competition, you have to compete against several participants, and hence, there remains a significant amount of pressure on you. As you actively take part in such contests, you gradually tend to improve your performance under stressful conditions by learning how to stay focused and concentrated on your tasks. You become more disciplined, and ultimately you can find faster and accurate solutions.
- Developing Bug-Free Codes
As you participate in competitive programming contests, over time, you become familiar with specific bugs that hinder the efficacy of your codes. For instance, issues like array indices growing out of bounds, floating point precision, and so on. The more you solve, the better you become at overcoming these obstacles. Since you are faced with complex algorithmic problems in these competitions, you learn how to optimize your code for the best outcomes.
- Prepares You For A Career In Coding
Participating in coding contests introduces you to a whole new world of programming, complex problems, and puts your programming skills to test. These competitions are an excellent way of upskilling. When you participate in contests, you get to know your key strengths and weaknesses. So, you get a chance to work on your weaknesses and come back with confidence the next time. Eventually, you’ll realize that you’ve already mastered the things that are essential for building a successful career in coding.
- Inculcates The Virtue Of Teamwork
In competitive programming, you are required to collaborate with your team members to solve the tasks handed to you. When working as a team, you learn how to open up to the ideas of your teammates, you learn new approaches to solve problems, and most importantly, you learn how to function as one unit by compensating for one another’s weaknesses. As a team, you learn to divide the responsibilities among yourselves and help find the most efficient way to complete your task. Companies today highly value the virtue of team spirit. Thus, if you know how to function efficiently within a team, chances are that you’ll land a good job at a reputed company.
- You Become A Desirable Candidate
Our world is increasingly becoming a technology-driven world where the demand for skilled programmers and software developers is ever on the rise. Competitive programming is the perfect hunting ground for large software MNCs to find talented and versatile coders. As we’ve mentioned before, companies like IBM, Apple, Facebook, and Google actively follow these contests. So, participating in them will bring you under their radar. And if you emerge as a winner, your chances of being hired by a good company increases manifold. (Alprazolam)
Other than the benefits discussed above, competitive programming also gives you an edge over your competitors in any coding interview you can think of. Being quick to come up with the most efficient solution is something that will set you apart from your peers and it can be mastered through thorough competitive programming!
So, how about giving competitive programming a try? If you find yourself struggling, hop right in at Coding Ninjas where our specialized online course on Competitive Programming will get you up and running!
