Should I focus on LeetCode or work on projects for interviews?

Honestly, doing both is the way to go. But I would suggest spending more time on real projects, as they actually reflect what you'll be doing in a job.

I say do some LeetCode to get used to thinking about algorithms. We might not specifically ask for them, but certain algorithms can definitely come in handy for our real-world problems.

I believe most of your time should be spent on projects since that’s the practical side of what you'll do at work. Knowing how to navigate both front-end and back-end tasks and using tools like Git will make you a valuable asset to any company. You can still chip away at LeetCode for about 20% of your time to keep your algorithm skills sharp.

I’ve been in software development for over 40 years, and I’ve never used LeetCode. Some people just find it unnecessary.

LeetCode is great for practicing the tricky questions you'll find in interviews, so you should definitely hit those problems regularly. However, getting your hands dirty with projects will help you learn the full cycle of software development, from brainstorming to deployment. Plus, having projects on GitHub can really catch a recruiter's attention.

Don't forget, LeetCode problems can be quite fun! They might not be directly applicable to every job, but they can definitely sharpen your problem-solving skills.