Yichun to Shanghai train trip

Oct. 22, 2017

Introduction

It is less than 5 hours trip from Yichun to Shanghai. I gave myself an assignment while I experienced the travel by taking the high speed train with over 200KM/ hour. The assignment is to evaluate an algorithm lecture note: 2.2 MergeSort by Robert Sedgewick | Kevin Wayne, 5 hours is long enough for me to work on something involving some reading and also not so stressful.

Of course, I like to write a blog to document my review and then help myself to master the algorithm and also it is fun to challenge the best lecture note in the world.

Ticket Study

One thing I noticed on the ticket is the advertisement information. How good it is for the business to thrive in current date. The advertisement is specific for me or for all the customers, interesting to read.

Before the travel back to China, I spent over one hour to study on youtube.com how to travel safely with tips, how to pack clothes and how to organize the trips.

Also based on my last year experience, I sponsored one of sisters to travel to Beijing and toured the city with me. Bible verse I used to guide me for the planning is Ecclesiasters 4:10 For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. but woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up.

Here is the ticket snapshot:

I am learning design principles and art of design, so it is one of my hobby to evaluate how the ticket is organized with so many information. I like to check the layout, and the fonts and then other things later. 

Algorithm lecture note review

It was so much fun to go over lecture notes while I was travelling on the train. But now it is Oct. 22, 2017, 11:44 PM, I need to write down some review notes to help me to master the algorithm.

Page 1 lecture note review

Page 1, five topics for merge sort, can I name all five topics:

1. mergesort
2. bottom-up mergesort
3. sorting complexity
4. comparators
5. stability

Review note: Google "bottom-up mergesort" and see if there is anything interesting on the topic.

Watch 3 minutes video here. Lecture video 23 minutes is here. Stackoverflow question is here. Quora answer is here.

Vocabulary to master:

1. Proposition
2. Proof sketch
3. Recurrence

Subway to Shanghai pudong airport

Oct. 21, 2017

Introduction

It is a good idea to document things I did in the city of Shanghai, I have to take time to allow myself experience various public transit. One thing I did is to take public transit to Shanghai PuDong airport costing $8 Chinese Yuan compared to take a taxi over $200. From my hotel in west area of city to east side of city, it takes more 20 KM and over 100 minutes to take the subway.

User experience 

A few years ago, my college classmate of Shanghai Jiaotong university class 70141 shared the tip to me. It is better to travel to China in October, usually the summer is the time for parents to take their kids to travel to China for summer break. My classmate is a Ph.D. of university of California, and a principal scientist of broadcom. I took her advice and started to travel every year October starting from 2015. 

I downloaded a map from baidu.com map to show how to transfer from subway line 9 to line 2 and then continue to transfer two times to Pudong airport.

Here is the offline route for the travel. I like to highlight a few things very good for first time user to use this guide, and see how good the design is.

Actionable Item

Evaluate how good badiu.com make a map and direction. Highlight three things I like and the information are helpful for me to travel.

Plan to show the selfie I took when taking the subway. It was so comfortable and I was so relax.

Instagram - new playground for the weekend

Oct. 21, 2017

Introduction

It is the long recovery process to go over the jet lag. I had tough time to adjust the time and then I played so many videos this morning from 3:00 am to 7:00 am, one of my favorites is to go over tennis WTA/ ATP player instagram account.

It is hard for me to work with privacy of friends, family and relatives. The vacation I took from Oct. 5 to Oct. 20, I met so many people and those people help me to shape my view of Beijing, Yichun, Shanghai, and help me to relax and enjoy the vacation. I may break some privacy and post the photos I do not have permissions to share.

I will try and see who are those people to read Instagram and what to post in order to show my appreciation to those hard working people I met, and the country I love and great experience I had.

My playground 

Plan to go over those Instagram account  I follows, 99% are WTA/ ATP players. I will study how they share and write for their post first, and then accordingly, I will write 20 - 30 posts for my vacation from Oct. 5 - Oct. 20, 2017.

My instagram is here.

Leetcode: Edit Distance - 30 minutes talk

Oct. 20, 2017

Introduction

It is very interesting to spend time with my relative, a 22 year old in the city of Yichun. He is a computer science graduate from top universities in 2016, and he plans to take graduate admission test for a computer science master degree at the end of 2017.

30 minutes talk 

I am very open to the new idea. What I have to do is to continue to support my nephew for Canada sponsor application and then also help him to build a career in computer science field. 

It is very good for my nephew to get some skills to help his parents to manage a restaurant. I also prefer to encourage him to get more education instead of working in industry to work for some one else. 

I did spent 30 minutes to test his coding skills, and practiced my lecturing skills during my vacation, this is the second chat. He was getting better, I still had no idea how he learns and what is his learning style.  

Here are my notes I wrote on a piece of paper about the algorithm. The algorithm is documented in detail here. 

Highlights of talk 

I spent a few minutes to explain the possible deletion distance between two words "heat" and "hit". The minimum deletion distance is 3, including deletion of two chars ('e' and 'a') in the word "heat" and one deletion of chars ('i') in the word "hit".

The naive deletion distance 5 can be implemented by deletion of 3 chars in "heat" from second char to last char, and deletion of chars in "hit" from second char to last char.

I used two words "abc" and "defg" and explained the deletion distance of two words. The possible choice to delete a char each time is 2, and there are 7 choices, so it is 2⁷.

Actionable Item

Teaching was fun even though my nephew is a rookie in algorithm and data structure, he did not ask any question and surfed wechat while I was talking. He told me to continue and I was not sure if he understood the algorithm or not.

Research about Yichun city

Oct. 20, 2017

Introduction

It is very interesting to spend time to do research on my home town, the city of Yichun during my vacation from Oct. 5 to Oct. 20, 2017. I just like to document my learning here and see if I can make some progress later on.

I have four siblings living there, 3 sisters and one brother. One of my elder sisters is a physician working for a hospital called The Third People's Hospital of Yichun, she also teaches in the university of Yichun part time, and last few years she is also a partner for a retirement living facility in the neighborhood cities and a provider of medical advise. My young sister is the lecturer of biochemistry over 20 years in the university of Yichun; My young brother and sister-in-law invested some money, and decided to take over a small business and manage to make it profitable last 24 months, a small restaurant called 宜春陆记馄饨店 starting from 2 years ago, manage to hire a few employees last 12 months.

Vacation Experinence 

One favorite thing I did in vacation is to visit the restaurant and asked help for my daily activities. For example, I do not have china phone number, so I have to ask my sister-in-law to get me a rental car using 滴滴快车. Also I learn how people work hard in restaurant and experience so many things including talking to customers, ordering food, and catering friends in the restaurant.

China Open 2017 Quarter Final - Jelena Ostapenko

Oct. 20, 2017

Introduction

I went back to China and spent whole day on Oct. 6 to watch China open, one match I watched is for Jelena Ostapenko to play against Sorana Cirstea, a Romania ranking 37.

My favorite memory is the picture I took in the match. The coach of Ostapenko talked to Ostapenko in the short break of the match.

Quick catch up

Now it is the first day back to Vancouver after the vacation, it is 7:45 PM Oct. 20, 2017. I quickly looked up Ostapenko's coach and catch up more about the coach.

Here is one minute coaching video to show how the coach talked to Ostapenko. I like the coaching style.

One minute video is here called Ostapenko and Anabel Medina Garrigues. 

Here is the highlight of match - a quaterfinal match in China, I saw myself in the video to watch the game, video 4:18 - 4:20/ 5:06.

Jelena Ostapenko vs Sorana Cirstea Highlights China Open 2017

Actionable Items

I set a new wall paper for my cellular phone starting this Oct. 6, 2017. The picture of China open and the player Ostapenko. Actually it is the picture above I took to show the coach talking to Ostapenko in China Open. It just reminds me everyday no matter how good you are, you are always better to have a coach and get some insights.

Julia, it is better to write down 1 minute coaching from the above video:

Ostapenko and Anabel Medina Garrigues

"The problem is that you are not serving good, 35%; You are making a lot of unforced errors, so we have to, we have to miss (?) less, try to serve better.  0:20/ 0:55, you can play, of course, 6 to 1, do not say that. Do not say that. 0:24/ 0:55 When you are running, try to close the court. Do not open to her. 0:32/ 0:55 What I am doing here, you call me.  Try to complain or try to win the match. Because of that, you call me. Keep fighting, keep fighting. She is no. 6 in the world. She is not giving you the match. She will fight, you fight soon (?). And try to learn, this is good for you. "

Unsleep night in the city of Vancouver

Oct. 3, 2017

Introduction

I will take a flight Oct. 4 2017, in order to get rid of jet lag, I am planning sleep a few hours and then enjoy the adventure to surf the internet.

My best companion is 40 minutes video of Maria Sharapova, now it 8:27 PM. I just started second round to watch the interview, and then prepare to pack for my trip to China. The video is called Maria Sharapova on the Keys to Building Grit and Discipline.

Now it is 9:12 Pm, I am going over another 50 minutes interview with Lewis Howes, Unstoppable in Tennis. I am still packing and trying to figure out something good check list to show I am getting organized and more creative this time. The video link is here.

I have a food campaign to bring North America snacks to China, and let my relatives taste the food culture. All the snacks I bought are from Costco.

Count Down For a vacation

Oct. 3, 2017

Introduction

I like to write a short blog about how important the vacation is good for a programmer. The talk can be considered in more than 3 ways, experience the traffic tools in modern societies; second it is to catch up mobile phone app trend; third is to get to learn how to communicate face-to-face with relatives, friends, families, art or science.

Facts about living in Vancouver

I do not take any travel using airplane since last October China trip. So my experience of international travel will be fascinated. Using Canada airline and get connected to people through the travel. I am not the lady you neighbor open a bible and read very carefully, but I met one last year travel, and I also met a young lady Ph.D. just finished post doctor study in Calgary and went back to China, she explained to me how a Ph.D. these days completes 3 -5 post doctor research before she lands a permanent teaching job. Sounds fancy? Continue.

Beijing is most developed city in China, so on the plane I definitely met some parents who are helping their kids to get education in the city of Vancouver. A little bit chat about education and family etc. It seems that I am ready for vacation.

Is it a clone?

The programmer is good at copy and paste, is this a clone of vacation. Last year I went to China, took air Canada airline, watched China Open, I do exactly same thing. I like to say that the idea is the same, but I added a few modifications.

To be continued!

University code sprint #3 - Bob's Game

Oct. 1, 2017

Introduction

It is the busy day, a Sunday. I got a flat tire yesterday, I felt lucky to get flat tire when I walked out my home around 6 PM and I saw the flat tire. The worst thing is that I get a flat tire when I am driving on the road, or I walk to the car after one day work. I should work on the tire to get it replaced since more than 3 weeks ago a young man stopped at traffic night inside the car told me that I have a tire almost flat and I need to take care of it.

I joined CAA last night and had to work on fixing the tire.

The contest I played yesterday I did not score anything, I started around 2:00 PM, and then I tried to prepare China trip next Wednesday, and then I went over the documents I had. In the evening I worked on the third medium algorithm but I spent around 2 hours, but I did not make it. It is a medium algorithm with maximum score 50. I did work on a test case: ["...",".K.","..K"], I found out that I need to handle intermediate position of K each step.

Here is the C# code I submitted a few times and only passed test case 1.

Love the failure

I always know that I am not very competitive programmer, I have to work on medium algorithm very carefully. Otherwise, I may spend time but score 0.

I plan to work on those algorithm in university codesprint #3 after the contest one by one. I like to show that I am working hard and also learning things. Plan to ask questions on code review website as well.

Piece of puzzle to learn NIM game

It is like playing chess to figure out NIM game, I put down some drawing to work on the algorithm. I figured out I failed the test case, and then I like to show my drawings. I am the engineer who was trying to figure out NIM game by myself, around 8:00 PM - 10:00 PM Sept. 30, 2017 Saturday night.

Mark the night as a hardworking Vancouver programmer Julia Chen chose to work on, let us call it NIM game night. Here is the drawing to figure out a test case for the game:

University codesprint #3: The Snake vs the Wind

Sept. 30, 2017

Introduction

It is 2:40 PM. I plan to spend 20 minutes to read the algorithm problem statement.

Algorithm practice 

University codesprint 3: Erupting Volcanoes

Sept. 30, 2017

Introduction

It is 2:31 PM. I plan to work on the university codesprint next 10 hours. The erupting volcanoes is the algorithm to calculate the maximum value in the range of rectangle.

Anastasija Sevastova - tennis professional player

Sept. 30, 2017

Introduction

It is challenge to do some research about the player, I knew her since she beat Sharapova in fourth of U.S. Open 2017 fourth round. Today China open Sharapova revenged and beat her to play first round against her.

Study hard

The player information can be found here, and the author is tennis writer, I started to follow Steve Tignor on twitter.

Thanksgiving campaign No. 1

Sept. 28, 2017

Introduction

I plan to do some campaign for Canada thanksgiving holiday, to express my great holiday spirit. First activity is to ask a question on code review website. I miss those people who helped me from Nov. 2016 to March 2017, I like to go back to be one member of community.

It is so nice to experience the code review again tonight. I just posted the algorithm in less than 10 minutes ago around 10:30 PM, the best programmer already edited my post to fix style issues, grammar errors, clarify the problem statement by going over the content. The user profile is 200 Success, who is the moderator.

I miss the people to review my code, help me to become a better competitive programmer starting from Nov. 2016. After 6 months break, I finally decide to go back to routine to ask questions on code review website.

Thanksgiving activities

This past year is the tough for me physically, first time in my life I feel the uncomfortable on my right knee. I experience some short memory loss compared to strong memory before, for instance, I forget a friend's name if I have not met him last 6 months. I feel different specially I have to handle a deep pocket of my big tooth left side jaw, and I feel that aging is a university and I have to work hard to catch up learning how to deal with those new challenges.

I like to ask myself what I should do to stay connected to those people helping me grow as a software programmer. Those people help me, touch my heart to make my algorithm practice so interesting and also so rewarding. One of them is JS1 who shared the great advice for my coding solution.

Here is the snapshot to show how good the work is, I learn to improve my English writing so efficiently:

Here is my code review algorithm Find the smallest substring that contains some given subset of characters. Twitter link is here. 

Follow up

Oct. 25, 2017

code review C# code is here.

Code review "LINQ and string.Split do it yourself practice"

Sept. 28, 2017

Introduction

It is time to review the algorithm again. I posted the question more than 5 month ago, the link is here.

Algorithm Practice

I had a mock interview and the peer chose to use C++ language. I did some research how to translate those four lines of C# code to C++ language.


I just could not believe that one day I can write a product using C# advanced feature like LINQ, write regular expression and groupby clause and where clause. I am so excited to set a small goal for my next project.

Time complexity analysis

Sept. 28, 2017

Introduction

It was busy day on Sept. 27, and I had a mock interview at 10:00 pm on recursive function. My issue is how to analyze the time complexity.

Algorithm Practice

C# practice is here.

If all keys in the dictionary are put into a tree, and all the nodes will be visited once using depth first search. So the time complexity should be the size of the tree. Recursive function is used, so no need to extra space to store all the nodes.

Canada thanksgiving day - Oct. 9 , 2017

Sept. 27, 2017

Introduction

Thanksgiving day is coming very soon. I used to spend thanksgiving in November since I stayed in United States from 1996 to 2010. This thanksgiving day I will spend time in China and have vacation in the city of Beijing, and a trip to one of mountains called Yellow Mountain, a trip to my home town - city of Yichun, and visit of the city of Shenzhen and Shanghai.

Am I ready for thanksgiving?

This month I attended the techfest in the city of Vancouver, I spent 20 dollars and got a drink, and met a few tech companies and learned a few things. So many thanks to the hard working people in Vancouver area, I learned so many things through the generosity of those employers.

Give thanks to those companies help me grow my talent? Stackoverflow, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Vision Critical, Global Relay, Copperleaf, Viser Inc., Pramp, Refdash, Hackerrank, MP Lighting.  

Give thanks to friends all over the world, visit me in the city of Vancouver.

C# tutorial (II)

Introduction

I start from the first page of A tour of C# today. I spent one hour to study the book again, and then I did some research on the argument in the page 1. Here is the statement:

To ensure that C# programs and libraries can evolve over time in a compatible manner, much emphasis has been placed on versioning in C#’s design. Many programming languages pay little attention to this issue, and, as a result, programs written in those languages break more often than necessary when newer versions of dependent libraries are introduced. Aspects of C#’s design that were directly influenced by versioning considerations include the separate virtual and overridemodifiers, the rules for method overload resolution, and support for explicit interface member declarations.

C# tutorial 

I google using keyword "versioning in C#'s design", and I read a few articles. 

Stackoverflow link is here by Eric Lipert, and read one blog called Not every IEnumerable is Object. 

Next, I like to google what language lacks of versioning in C#'s design, Java? Or C++? I am very interested to find out.

Will come back with more. 

My best friend knee pain

Sept. 26, 2017

Introduction

It is the first time in my life I start to feel something uncomfortable with my right knee. I have enjoyed hundreds of hours tennis sports, but I have to spend time to study "tennis knee".

Life is my best teacher, and my knee pain is becoming my best friend. Come and go, I never know. I try to put something between with hiking, tennis sports, long hours walk.

I need the wisdom and I miss the fun to run around the tennis court. Every time I like to go outside and enjoy the outdoor, my knee pain may let me down in past few months.

Do not count wrong doings (II)

Sept. 26, 2017

Introduction

I wrote my first blog called "Do not count wrong doings" a few months ago. The link is here. And today I like to spend 10 minutes to write how I learn to make a dough after 150 lb wheat flour experience.

Hundreds of baking

Today it is the first time I was so patient to allow myself to learn how to make a dough using two cups wheat flour. I spent 20 minutes to read, and one of my research topic tonight is "how long the rise dough should last", I watched some videos and also read some articles as well.

I started to prepare a dough around 8:00 PM, I checked after 45 minutes, it is not ready, and then I did research to compare wheat flour with bleached flour. Before I started mock interview around 10:00 PM, it was not fully rise.  After I finished my mock interview around 11:47 PM, almost  three hours the dough was fully rise.

I baked great bread like a commercial wheat flour break first time, and tasted so good.

I bake so many times and so often. But it is my knee pain recently to teach me how I should do a fully research before I make a dough, be super patient and give myself learning opportunity, read more and get better understanding.

I learn and enjoy the teaching from the video and the article, the links will be added later.

Tennis champ Sloane Stephen study

Sept. 26, 2017

Introduction

It is fun to study the tennis champion of US open 2017 Sloane Stephan. I have 30 minutes to dedicate the study of the tennis player, now it is 9:17 PM, and I will have to work on mock interview starting from 9:55 PM. Let me have a good time to get educated and also entertained.

Sloane Stephen tennis star

First, let me catch a video lasting 4 minutes, called "Tennis Champ Sloane Stephens on Winning US Open". The video link is here.

Second and always, I like to watch one of her practice videos. So I can learn more her as a player, how hard she works in the practice. 14 minutes video called "Teenage Sloane Stephens on Trans World Sport" in 2013 when she was 20 years old.

Plan to study The Legacy Agency (TLA) sports marketing John Tobias. The video link is here.

Leetcode 76: Find smallest substring

Sept. 25, 2017

Introduction

It is the classical algorithm similar to Leetcode 76. I already practiced more than two times, and I stumbled on the algorithm again. The mock interview started from 10:00 PM, and I started first to work on the algorithm, first 12 minutes I spent the time to explain the idea to solve the problem, and then I spent 18 minutes to write the code and thought out loud.

I found a secret. When I am too busy at work, I need somehow to remind myself, what is most important thing to work on.

It is true that most important is to train myself with basics, and learn how to work with the peer in more efficient way.

By going over mock interview, I have chance to educate myself, get more advice, and then I can start to apply to my current job. One mock interview a time, I figure out my weakness every time.

Last mock interview I found the issue of my understanding C# Array, and I spent 4 hours to work on Csharp 2000 things. I wrote a blog and then found "Csharp 2000 things" website, and I really enjoy learning from the short snippet.

Algorithm Practice 

C# code is here. I did not finish code in 30 minutes. I need to work on the left pointer while loop.

After Mock practice

C# code is here, with unique array "xyz" and string "xxxyz", the maximum substring is "xyz".  But failed on several issues.

Line 75, 76, if the visit char is not in the hashmap, the code will have run-time exception.
Line 89, the while loop condition to check if left pointer should move should be changed, one case is that the char is not in the hashmap, or if it is in the hashmap and also its value is negative.

Continue to update C# code, next version is here. The fix is on line 106,
   map[str[left]] ++;  // once the substring is found, and then left pointer should be moved to right, increment the hashmap on the char's count.

Continue to update C# code, the fourth version is here. The run time exception bug is fixed.

Continue to update C# code, the fifth version is here. The feature is added to remove the char not in the array when left pointer is handled.

Last two practices

Review last two practices, the link is here.

Actionable Item

It is so interesting to learn from my experience. It takes me over 3 years to learn the string search algorithm using sliding window. I still remembered that in January 2015, I spent a week every day after the work, wrote a lot of code on papers and tried to figure out the algorithm. At the end of the week, I decide to become a blogger to write blogs every day to track my progress.

I failed in 30 minutes to solve the problem, and failed in a week, and then failed after a few months, I wrote a blog in June 2015, the link is here.

Plan to study the algorithm "Length of the longest substring without repeating characters" on geeksforgeeks.org.

Train my eye to catch common bugs

Those three bugs in my first writing are common ones. The first one is related to hashmap, the dictionary to store unique characters. We need to check if the key is existing in the dictionary first. The second one is to discuss two options for the character, either in the dictionary or not in the dictionary. The third one is to maintain the dictionary value by checking increment and decrement correctly.

Nothing is new in terms of bug type. All I have to do is to review the code while I am doing whiteboard testing, think out loud, and ask myself what possible bugs are in the code.

Unstoppable: My Life So Far - Maria Sharapova With Charlie Rose

Sept. 25, 2017

I watched the video to sacrifice my sleep time. Now it is 12:12 Am, I am in the middle of 20 minutes interview video. I could not believe that the conversation is so intense about how Sharapova shares her success and her great insights. 

Unstoppable: My Life So Far - Maria Sharapova With Charlie Rose. 21 minutes video is here.

Quora research a weekend

Sept. 24, 2017

Introduction

I spent the weekend to work on quora.com and try to figure out how to work with Quora better. So I asked a few questions, and also wrote a few answers. I like to show my work and show some statistics for one weekend work.

I did sacrifice and chose not to work on mock interview, not to take pluralsight courses, not play any contest. What I did is to play with quora, and see if I can reach out more people in short time to produce something and meet new people through the internet world.

Progress report 

First, I like to show the graph with some statistics.

I got 6.3k answer views. I got those in less than 3 days. People are spending more time on Quora and get more connected. I am kind of thinking to do more research and then I just do it, with so many blogs I wrote it is not time consuming to put together something to share with people.

I tried to answer a most popular question first, I got 620 views.

How can I improve my programming skills?
Here is my answer.

Next I answered one of question about Hackerrank.

Most surprising one is this one, I got 3K views.

How often should a programmer practice mock interviews, I asked the question and also gave out the answer. My answer link is here.

Everything starts from one email last Thursday from refdash.com invitation email to share my experience, answer one question called "What is your review of Refdash.com".

Unstoppable Sharapova

Sept. 24, 2017

Interview with BBC

Plan to watch 22 minutes video interview of Sharapova called: "Unstoppable Sharapova". The link is here. Now it is 11:07 PM, I will spend 20 minutes to go over the interview.

Now it is 11:26 PM. I am planning to watch the second time, and take a few lines of notes.

21:41/ 22:31
Question: Before your suspension, you think about retiring at 30 of birthday.
Answer: I think that understanding of motivation I still have, and really the discipline I can give. ? All myself I have. (12:56) And also it is understanding of body of 30 years old woman can do. The tennis sports is ... (22:04) But if you treat it ..  (22:08) training, so many ways to train, avoid long distance running and weight lifting.

Interview with USA famous journalist

Unstoppable: My Life So Far - Maria Sharapova With Charlie Rose. 21 minutes video is here.

Think Like a Fox

Sept. 24, 2017

Introduction

It is Sunday light and I was busy working with vacation planning in the city of Beijing. I like to do some research. Think like a fox, I have three things to work on. Now it is 10:43 PM, I like to relax and have some research.

One is Chinese version, the Chinese article posted on the faccebook. Here is the link.

The 22 minutes video of commencement talk of Yale by the psychology professor, the link is here.

The speeches English transcript is here.

The professor profile is here, wiki page is here.

More research:

The one hour speech "Emotional intelligence and daily practice" on youtube more than 302K views, plan to watch this video and get some good ideas. The link is here.

University Codesprint #3

Sept. 24, 2017

Introduction

It is getting busy at work and also prepare to have a 2-weeks vacation starting from Oct. 4, 2017. I have to do some research on Asp.net framework, and also need to catch up C# programming, prepare to do some analysis of sales. So I do not have time to practice more algorithm for next contest.

It is coming. My next contest is university codesprint this coming Saturday. I like to prepare and play the contest.

It is easy to set a goal to work hard on hackerrank contest. After I won my first gold medal, I find that it takes a lot of sacrifice to attend the contest. I need to focus on the contest, spend enough hours to work on the contest.

Preparation talk

How to prepare for my next contest? I like to do some research and get prepared early.

.Net framework study

Sept. 23, 2017

Plan to take some courses related to .NET on pluralsight.com.  I need to work on migration of Asp.net web server and database server.

Binary search practice

Sept. 22, 2017

Introduction

I had a mocking at 10:00 pm and then I was told to write the program to find a number using binary search. I failed 5 out of 6 test cases, index out of range, and then I was told to comment out the code of binary search function, and then nail down the bug related to implicit typing "var" on line 47.

Algorithm practice 

My binary search practice is here.

Coding with style 

I spent almost 40 minutes to chat with the peer about coding. I really like the conversation between two programmers. I advised the peer to write self-documented code, in other words, do not write variable name l, h which l stands for low and h stands for high. Express the intent, define a meaningful explanation variable. And also I advised the peer to do whiteboard testing, and showed him an example, run the code line by line and execute the code with the result calculated by myself.

Write simple and clean code

The peer asked me how I can have so much time to play hackerrank contest, ask code review algorithm questions, and then write blogs.

I shared a few things:

1. The blog I did code review for myself, the triangle algorithm.

2. Edit distance dynamic programming post on quora.com. The link is here.

Thoughts after mocking

I think that writing coding blog is easier compared to write code at work. To ask a question on code review website is also easy compared to solve problems at work. I think that the experience of writing blogs is very rewarding experience, my blog is becoming my best reading library.

Recurrence practice

Sept. 21, 2017

Introduction

It was good practice to go over the algorithm using recurrence formula. The basic algebra is applied to solve the problem, but there is something missing and I need to clarify it later on.

Algorithm practice 

Here is my C# practice.

I still remembered that more than 3 months ago the first time I worked on the algorithm, I was kind of nervous for a few hours. The first 30 minutes to interview the peer using the algorithm also brought the stress for me.

Strangely, the feeling of stress is gone. Now I am getting used to work on the recurrence, simple algebra. I understand that it is important to keep training and practice daily, therefore I can build muscle for great thinking and analysis one day.

Actionable Item

Go over lecture notes by Jessica Su, the link is here.

Mathematics proof

Sept. 21, 2017

Introduction

Life is much easy as a programmer once I learn how to write clean code for humans, learn simple things like TED principle, how to break giant expression to write simple code. One thing I have to learn is to make algorithm as simple as possible, go back to my favorite topic - reasoning and analysis, my favorite exercise is to prove something based on axioms.

Today 10:00 pm I had chance to share my proof to the peer how to argue the array is still not descending after the change. The reasoning was very well welcomed by the peer, I got 5 as a reward, top points as an interviewer.

I learned the lesson first time in my life through my real experience. I was told to prove that binary search is most efficient way to solve the search algorithm from 1 to n. I learned the lesson so today I asked the peer the question how to prove his assumption. He could not do it, I showed him in quick 5 minutes talk.

I know that one day I will need some advanced mathematics skills to handle some task. Today it is the first time I showed the proof to a peer. I miss the fun to prove so many mathematics when I was young.

Algorithm practice proof 

Supposing that there is an sorted array with distinct integer, denoted as array, how to prove that new array based on array[i] - i is not descending.

My argument is simple, since the array is sorted in ascending order, we have array[i + 1] > array[i] for any i >= 0. Based on the fact that array has distinct integer, it is not possible that array[i + 1] == arr[i]. So my next argument is that the increment is at least 1, in other words, array[i + 1] - array[i] >= 1 for any i >=0. Next step, ascending distinct array {0, 1, 2, ..., n-1} has increment 1. So array[i] - i >= 0.

I was challenged by the peer what kind of interview I prepare for. I just laughed and answered his question. I learned from the real life lesson, I have to give out mathematics proof to show my real interest and talent.

Counter example

Two ascending sorted array, the difference can not be assumed to be non-descending order. The first ascending array is Array[i] = i, second ascending array is secondArray[i] = 2 * i, the new array Array[i] - secondArray[i] = - i, which is descending.

Actionable Item 

Write down my proof that binary search O(logn) is most efficient solution.

My second answer on quora.com - dynamic programming

Sept. 21, 2017

Introduction

I am nervous to post the answer on quora.com, because people can vote down/ up and it is most popular website among programmers. Sometimes I need a safe sandbox to practice my thinking and come back later to make frequent visits, and make the content more readable and have some value.

But I answered one of questions, my favorite topic "Dynamic programming".

Here is the answer: How can I get good at dynamic programming?

Quora is my new school

Sept. 21, 2017

Introduction

Surprisingly today I got an email to share my experience from refdash.com on quora.com. I understood that it is very important for me to show appreciation to all the people to help me grow my career. I did post an answer, and also set up a blog on quora.com and wrote a first post based on my previous blog. The fact is that my blog called "Mocking interview facts and tips" only has 130 views since August 2017, I like to find out if there are more readers on quora.com.

My new school 

The post is titled as "Secret to the advancement is to do your current job well". 

Leetcode 171: Missing Ranges

Sept. 20, 2017

Plan to work on the algorithm called "Missing Ranges". The leetcode discussion link is here.

Problem statement:

Given a sorted integer array where the range of elements are [lower, upper] inclusive, return its missing ranges.

For example, given [0, 1, 3, 50, 75], lower = 0 and upper = 99, return ["2", "4->49", "51->74", "76->99"].




Understanding C# Array class

Sept. 20, 2017

Introduction

I had a mocking interview at 10:00 pm, and I like to write Array.IndexOf but I need to search Google for the help. I asked myself why it is not array.IndexOf() instead of calling an abstract class Array.IndexOf assuming that array is an object of Array class.

Here is my C# practice. I has a few issues to use Array.IndexOf instead of using hashmap to save the index.

Understanding C# Array

I like to read a few articles to get more educated on C# Array.

Read c# Array -
Read 10 minutes - C# Arrays Tutorial
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa288453(v=vs.71).aspx

20 minutes reading:
http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/article/working-with-arrays-in-C-Sharp/

Study stackoverflow posts related to C# Array -

More reading:
https://www.codeproject.com/Articles/6118/All-about-abstract-classes

Csharp 2000 things

Work on C# 2000 things, the following image is highlighted by search keyword: Array

Plan to spend 10 minutes for each item related to Array, some of them are Julia's favorites.

#136, Sorting an Array of Values Based on an Array

Julia's ranking: 10 out of 10

#135, Implementing IComparable to Allow Sorting a Custom Type

9 out 10

#137, Sorting an Array Using an Independent Comparer method

9 out 10

Actionable Items

Plan to work on medium level algorithm called "Non-overlapping intervals". The link is here.

Follow up 

June 8, 2018

I spent over 20 minutes to look into more carefully about C# Array abstract class. It is true that Array.IndexOf is a static method, so that the call of the function should look like Array.IndexOf, instead of str.IndexOf. Compared to API SetValue as public  function, it will be called differently.

My second question is why IndexOf API is static but SetValue is non-static. Maybe we can read Array C# class source and then figure out why.

Leetcode 57: Insert Interval

Sept. 20, 2017

Introduction

It is definitely a good learning process to help the peer work out the optimal solution to solve intervals. I had a mock interview 10:00 PM, and I had to spend over 30 minutes to help the peer to work on an interval algorithm. The difficult part is to explain the idea to use linear algorithm to solve the problem. Also, I gave the hint to show how to get the overlap quickly using Math.Max of beginning of two intervals and Math.Min of ending of two intervals, and then I gave the hint to move to next interval if the ending value is the smaller one.

I gave out the code review about a double for loop, and explained to the peer, in order to get linear time complexity, the while loop should be used instead of using double for loop.

So after the mocking interview, I like to review interval algorithms in Leetcode.

Plan to work on hard level algorithm called Insert Interval. The link is here.

To be a good tester

Sept. 19, 2017

Introduction

Thing happened so quickly and I could not figure out what was going on. This past Monday I installed a few apps on my new refurbished Samsung phone, somehow, the mobile got hot the whole day and I could not get the mobile charged to full the whole day. I went home and charged the Samsung 6S to 80% battery, and left the phone on the table. Next Morning I tried to open the mobile phone around 8:00 am, the phone had 0% percent battery.

Samsung phone battery issue  

To be a software programmer and try to be a good tester, I like the challenge to figure out what the issue is. Is Samsung phone's battery bad? Or I just picked up some bad behavior to download apps not good for the phone. 

A lot of area I carefully go over. Now it is 11:53 PM, the Samsung 6S phone has 24% battery, I will let it sit until tomorrow morning and see what percentage is left. I uninstalled all apps related to maps. 

Case study of getting better on driving

Sept. 17, 2017

Introduction

I like to drive highway and enjoy high speed driving. Today I should drive to Road 3 in Richmond from my home to meet friend visiting from Seattle, friends long back from Florida, I ended up driving 91 to Nelson exit, and then turned back to drive local highway and spent extra 20 minutes to get to the restaurant.

Here is my route in a diagram:

Analysis of Driving skills

It is the important to build a good habit, stay intelligent. I drove over 22 times to go to USA cross board last 7 years, but last 2 - 3 years I stopped driving on shopping trip instead of working more on coding blogs.

I need to do some research how to build skills smart on driving. The mistake to take wrong route on the highway reminds me how gentle I should take it, and then later I need to study the reasons, I need to catch up with some learning.

Figure out things to help me to be a good driver.

A few ideas to work on:
1. Read highway 91 or 99 wiki pages.

2. Figure out how Samsung Google map driving direction on my Samsung mobile phone came out ads when I need to get detail route while driving from road 7 to road 8.

3. Understanding Road vs Ave vs St. Directions of Road is north to south.

4. Learn to read map and thing to help to memorize the map and figure out easy mistakes to work with Google directions. Start from basics, reading some articles:

Five tips and tricks to help you better navigate google maps, here is the article.

Facts to Review 

9/18/2017

What I did is to purchase $1.00 dollar internet service, and then start to use Google map drive directions on Sept. 17, 2017. The phone was connected to the charger all the time, and then the phone got hot.

What I should do is to download the map of Vancouver area, with size around 160 MB. And then open the download map, use offline map to help drive direction. No need to connect the phone charger. Keep the phone cool as normal standby status does.

Have my idea of route first, only use the drive direction from Google map as an alternative. Understand the basics to exit early, go to No. 3 road first.

tennis coach Annacone study

Sept. 17, 2017

Introduction

I am looking for great advice for my career. I certainly have got a lot of good advice from last 6 month through over 90 mocking interview peers. But I am still looking for the tennis coaching, and observe best coach teaching. Today I will study Roger Federer's coach Annacone. I decided to study tennis player Madison, and then spent 5 minutes to study Madison twitter account, and then I came cross the book twitter of Annacone.

Study of 30 minutes

Now it is 10:19 pm. I will search google and find 3 of very good study material to entertain myself next 30 minutes.

It is 10:51 pm. I am watching 3 minutes teaching video from the coach Annacone, great teaching. The video is here called "Playsight tennis tips with Paul Annacone: Approach Shots".

It is 11:06 pm, I am in the middle of 22 minutes of teaching video called "Tennis Channel Academy - Paul Annocone (former coach of Sampras & Federer). The video link is here.

Action Items

I miss those long hours to play doubles in the city of Burnaby central park last few years. But this year I do not play so much matches. I really enjoy the learning of double tennis through the favorite video teaching. It is 11:43 pm, I am watching second time the video of following teaching, and catch up some research for my Google map and directions common mistakes.

Here it is. Tennis channel academy Tim Blenkiron, here is the link.

Madison Keys tennis player study

Sept. 17, 2017

Introduction

I was advised a few times on Burnaby city tennis courts to study woman professional tennis players, and see how they plays. Tennis sports is such a quick pace sports, I have to catch up a lot of study in order to learn and know players. Today I like to spend 20 minutes to study a player Madison keys, basically my study is to focus on how the player thinks and how to solve problems.

Study of a tennis player

The most favorite study is to watch the interview of Madison Key after Rolan-Carros 2016. Eight minutes video is here. She is a young player, only 22 years old, prize money is around 7 million dollars.

9/19/2017 8:30 PM
Madison Keys press conference (SF) - Australian Open 2015, 20 years old Madison shared her thinking about success, motivation to work hard and showed her great manner to handle the tough questions. The video of 11 minutes is here.

Most of my favorite time is to watch her practice. The four minutes is here.

9:07 PM
2017 US open: Madison keys QFs Press Conference, 9 minutes interview is here.
Nervous and how to handle it? 1:00 - 1:27, 27 seconds
Coach helped her - an example, 1:30 - 2:00, 30 seconds
Low moments, dark moments, 3:00 - 3:30, 30 seconds
Americans in QF? talked about opposite first, then go to the topic. Starting from 5:20
Talk about fear. Start from 6:06 PM.
It is not you make people happy, you win matches. It is because you are truly like to be out there. 6:50 - 6:57.
Opportunity as an individual? Take this tournament one match a time, one game a time. I am definitely not getting  ahead myself that way. I am really proud of myself to get here the first place. Starting from 8:00 - 8: 30

10:11 PM
Madison took the interview when she was 16 years old.

US Open Wild Card Exclusive Video: Womens Champion Madison Keys Press Conference. 10 minutes interview is here.

3:16 - go in and prepare like any other match. Do not make it a big deal, otherwise you come in and completely nervous. You will be over thinking, so (3:24) I have to go in and treat it as any other match.

How to Make Your Business Even Better While You're on Vacation

Sept. 17, 2017

Introduction

It is a good research topic for me to do some research called "How to make your business even better while you's on vacation". I read the Chinese version from here first, now it is 9:00 pm. I like to read English version of the article, and bring up 2 or 3 things to look into.

Leetcode 33: Search in Rotated Sorted Array

Sept. 16, 2017

Introduction

It is the wonderful learning opportunity for me to practice the algorithm again last night at 10:00 pm. I chose to write the idea I thought about and read about, but I had not written it before. The experience told me that binary search basically is also like a depth first search, the most important is to work on base case.

The more detail is like this, I spent first 15 minutes to exchange ideas with the peer, and then only 13 minutes left, I need to write some code, and I chose to write a binary search combining normal binary search in sorted array and shift array binary search. My argument is that the normal one is just special case of shifted array binary search. The iterative solution is hard to avoid duplicate logic and coding. I just could not believe that I made it the first writing without any bug or grammar error.


Leetcode 33 is a medium algorithm, I wrote down the algorithm in less than 13 minutes, and most important thing I did is to move base case "middle value" (line 29 - 32) to the first thing inside the while loop, moved those 4 lines out of if block from line 36 to 46.

Tip to share 

I got the complaint about my practice of binary search tree. The peer told me that the most important part is to work on middle value in the binary search tree. Focus on middle value, do not consider start value at all.

Algorithm practice 

C# code practice is here. 

July 18, 2017 algorithm review

Sept. 14, 2017

Introduction

It is two months ago, I did spend 3 to 4 hours to review my own practice before 8:00 pm. I went over around 30 algorithms, print one by one on the paper, and then read one by one. I really learned from the preparation, and I like to open a folder on my own github, and list all those algorithms I chose to study on July 18, 2017.

It is so interested to know that once I am busy with the study, the nervousness is kind of going away. I did very good one on preparation, and I had great performance later on the evening to complete code in limited time.

Algorithms

Algorithm 1. In order successor
Algorithm 2. Flatten the dictionary
Algorithm 3: HTree
Algorithm 4: Reverse words
Algorithm 5. Find distance binary tree
Algorithm 6. Leetcode 23 Merge K Sorted List
Algorithm 7: Leetcode 37 Sudoku
Algorithm 8: Leetcode 49 Group anagrams
Algorithm 9: Leetcode54 SpiralMatrix
Algorithm 10: Leetcode 72 Edit distance
Algorithm 11: Leetcode 114 Flatten Binary Tee to Linked List
Algorithm 12: Leetcode 212 Word Search II
Algorithm 13: Leetcode 295 Find median for path stream
Algorithm 14: Leetcode 295 median of stream
Algorithm 15. Leetcode 300 Longest Increasing Subsequence
Algorithm 16. Leetcode 416 Partition equal subset sum
Algorithm 17: Leetcode 516 Longest palindrome subsequence
Algorithm 18: Leetcode 605 Can place flowers
Algorithm 19: Binary tree two path same value
Algorithm 20: Leetcode 239 Sliding window maximum
Algorithm 21: Leetcode 57   Insert interval
Algorithm 22: Leetcode 10   Regular expression matching
Algorithm 23: Leetcode 547 Find Circle
Algorithm 24: Leetcode 130 Surrouned region
Algorithm 25: Maze Project
Algorithm 26: Short Job First using Icomparer
Algorithm 27: Leetcode 554 Brick wall

Mathematics for computer science

Sept. 14, 2017

Introduction

I reviewed a lot of computer science books and then found an excellent book to read. I am very good at reading mathematics and also like to learn how to think about more using mathematics, help me to be a competitive programmer.

Actually the revised version is over 1000 pages. But it is still my favorite book. I have to find time to read the book. The book is available on mit.edu website, the link is https://courses.csail.mit.edu/6.042/spring17/mcs.pdf. I also save it on my github and here is the link.

Apps for language tests

Sept. 12, 2017

Introduction

Plan to do some research how to improve my English. I did some research and downloaded some android apps today. Here is my favorite article called "15 Android Apps For IELTS, TOEFL & GRE Preparation".

It is a good idea to continue to work on my English, specially work on the vocabulary. It is important to add some pressure to daily life, such as memorizing 20 new words a day, difficult level of GRE/ GMAT words.

In order to be a top performance player in C# programmer, I start to try new ideas how to improve my performance.

Catalan number (II)

Sept. 12, 2017

Introduction

It is the classical algorithm to calculate the catalan number. My last practice is documented here. It is very challenge to work with the peer and I ran into the index out of range error in my first writing, and then I modified the code, and argued that first row and first column should exclude from the double for loop, and discuss first row and first column separately.

I need to work on the algorithm problem solving, need to look into the feedback.

Algorithm practice 

C# practice code is here which passes all test cases. 

From the above feedback, I did not communicate very well this time. Need to figure out how to clarify of my answers and line of reasoning. 

Follow up 

January 17, 2018

It is the first time I know how to review my own past practice. Missing the analysis of the algorithm writing is a big issue for me now, production ready code should be written with some analysis and time complexity and space complexity. I have to write down the algorithm, and constraints, and the requirement, what problem to solve. And also my analysis of the problem, solve it on a simple example, go over the example to explain to the peer first. And make sure that the peer understands the problem.

From the transcript of the practice, I did not write any analysis of the algorithm. That is not good practice at all.

The peer did complain and I should have let peer know the algorithm and how to solve it first using a simple example. 

2,000 things you should know about C#

Sept. 12, 2017


2,000 things you should know about C#, the link is https://csharp.2000things.com. Plan to work on 2,000 things as quick as possible. 

I did some reading on C# tutorial, and then I came cross this blog and it should be very helpful for me to learn C# in quick pace. I like to read the code and learn  a concept in the same time.

Leetcode 72: Edit Distance

Sept. 11, 2017

Introduction

It is one of classical algorithms related to recursive function and also memoization. I have practiced a few times and I am still learning the algorithm. My last practice is documented here, and all past practices are available through the search by Leetcode 72.

It was such great experience to be interviewed using the algorithm again. This is my third algorithm practice, my last practice was more than one month ago. I still remembered the mistake I had and the advice I got from the peer.

Algorithm practice 

Here is my C# code written in 30 minutes. I had a mocking experience starting from 10:00 pm.

I knew that I have to work hard to be an interviewer in order to get unlimited credit. I just started my new round of mocking practice. I could not memorize the algorithms, there are a lot of new issues coming out on this algorithm. I failed to do analysis of brute force solution, it should be 2^{(max(str1.Length, str2.Length))}, because every time there is at most 2 choices. I was given the hint and then I took the hint to go from n * m to power of 2 analysis. In other words, the time complexity is lowered from polynomial time to quadratic time.

Assume that the worst case happens. In other words, the comparison of two chars are not equal, so one of them has to be deleted. There are two choices to do deletion, the minimum value of two choices will be recorded. For example, two strings are "abc" and "edfg". The total choices are at most 2⁷. In mathematical term, the upper bound is 2⁷ = 512. The dynamic programming using memoization will lower time complexity using jagged array memo[3][4], time complexity 3 * 4 = 12.

I also was told to make correction on the first line of the function, line 8. The checking is for the case of both strings are null or empty. Not at least one of them. I wrote || by the mistake.

Related to a simple life choice

9/12/2016

It is always good idea to write down the practice experience, what did I actually learn from the mocking? This time, 30 minutes coding passes all test cases, with one of corrections from the peer. But I was surprised to know that I need to grasp the basic algorithm analysis, as I shared my knowledge of Monte Carlo algorithm to a young graduate from a linguistic major, I have to explain the algorithm to myself. The most important is to know how to analyze instead of guessing.


If I have two choices to calculate distance, how should I make a decision? I have to go for the minimum one from the two choices. If I have a series of choices to make, then the combinations of choices will be 2ⁿ. To summarize, Leetcode 72 is the algorithm for me to teach myself how to understand the brute force solution with polynomial time complexity, know how to solve the problem first, and then apply dynamic programming, lower the time complexity to m * n using memoization, dynamic programming using bottom up solution.

It is interesting to know the memoization design, the best choice I know is to use jagged array, memo[][], the size of jagged array is str1.Length * str2.Length, that is how many intermediate result we have to hold. Assume that each of them is calculated to use a few simple steps which are O(1) time complexity. 

Course study - Advanced Software Development in Full-Stack JavaScript

Sept. 10, 2017

Introduction

It is very challenge for me to get out of my comfortable zone and start to learn new technologies, I was so busy last 2 - 3 months to review the code I wrote at work, and then I like to plan to develop something more complicated.

I started to work on algorithm and data structure foundation from 2015, and I made some progress and tried to get better through mocking interviews.

Course study 

The course is listed on codefellows.org, the outline of the course is clearly documented in the following link.

Learn to be a mentor to help young girls get involved in STEM

Sept. 20, 2017

Introduction

It is the great time to spend 20 minutes to read the article titled "Meet Three Awesome woman helping young girls get involved in STEM". The article link is here.

Be a mentor 

Plan to study the linkedin profile: Nicole Kelner and go over the article "A young woman's etiquette guide to coding".

Plan to study the codeFollows institute, the link is here. 

What if I am the product manager of Samsung 6S mobile phone?

Sept. 9, 2017

Introduction

It takes hours to study how Samsung S6 are designed to fit so big population. I spent time to watch Netflix TV shows called "Quantico", meanwhile I plan to go over the features of my new cellular phone, since I hiked 8 hours labor day long weekend in Golden ear canyon loop with other ten people, I soaked my old phone in the water.

Need to go over the articles one by one. What if I am the product manager of Samsung S6? What are those features I need to explore this time?

I plan to try some apps for Samsung S6 phone.

One feature a time 

9/9/2017 10:35 pm - Gboard - the Google Keyboard. The article is here to read.

I really like the Gboard, search is most important feature when I write on wechat to get connected to my friends. Good job, Julia! Well done!

9/9/2017 11:09 pm - Go over those apps and try one more. The link is here.
11:17 pm camera apps - the link is here.

9/19/2017 8:00 am - the phone has zero battery, last night the phone was charged to 80% battery near 8:00 pm. The phone was sitting on the table and no usage at all.

Need to look into possible issues.

Battery issue - the article is here.

A short research - ping identity

Sept. 9, 2017

Introduction

It is not easy to consider carefully what to adopt with so many technologies. It was the first time in last seven years I started to experience github.com personal developer version starting this August 2017.

I had a strong belief last 2 years that the work I can do is strongly tied to how strong I can be in data structure and algorithm foundation. Every other challenge is to depend on how quickly I can google and pick up the skill set if I need, learn through pluralsight.com courses and ask help on codereview.stackexchange.com.

I like to study a local company called ping identity instead of taking another mocking interview. I was busy with the financial work and work on the property safety issue related to rental property in the city of palm beach, the hurricane Erma. Last seven years, I enjoyed the living in the city of Vancouver, but I used to stay in Florida near Atlantic ocean.

30 minutes research 

I did security wireless network research over two years back from 2001 to 2006 my dissertation research. I am kind of remembering taking "Introduction to Cryptography" and exchanged ideas with the classmate how she likes to get the job later.

I need to figure out how to conduct a short research and enough help to understand the industry and people with skills.

Leetcode 532 K-diff pairs in an array (III)

Sept. 8, 2017

It is so big surprise to watch how the peer performed the algorithm, I had a mocking interview on 10:00 pm. So, here is the C++ code to study. The peer is top 30% ranking on codeforces.com,  Contest rating: 2023 (max. candidate master, 2123). 

Leetcode 532 K-diff pairs in an array (II)

Sept. 8, 2017

Based on the mocking practice, I spent around 20 - 30 minutes to work out the solution to pass Leetcode online judge.

Here is the C# code.

Leetcode 532 K-diff pairs (I)

Sept. 7, 2017

It is the easy algorithm but it is very interesting to solve the problem through mocking practice.

Here is C# code I wrote.

Through the mocking practice, I did work on a test case and then demonstrated that the solution is working fine.

Past practice

Here is the practice on April 29, 2017.

C# courses on pluralsight.com

Sept. 6, 2017

Plan to take courses related to C# on pluralsight.com. It is always better to spend time to learn first, and then figure out how to shorten time to develop the software. Believe that a more educated C# programmer knows how to write quality code with less bug and more readable code.

C# courses' link is here.

What great .NET developer ought to know

Sept. 6, 2017

Plan to read the article "What great .NET developer ought to know".