How Can I Improve My Programming Thinking Skills?

Don't sweat it about being perfect right away. Programming is a skill that gets better with practice, just like any other craft. If you keep working on your coding skills, you'll find your way of thinking will naturally evolve.

It's important to remember that LeetCode doesn't represent real-world programming. Those problems are designed to filter candidates during interviews, similar to how standardized tests work. In real life, it's much more about communication, collaboration, and understanding the characteristics of various data structures. Focus on building those skills too!

Thinking like a programmer develops over time. It's all about breaking down problems into smaller parts, similar to following a recipe when baking a cake. The more problems you encounter, the better your skills will become in recognizing how to approach new challenges.

You don't need to have an extraordinary IQ for programming; what's important is writing clean code that works effectively. Have fun, practice regularly, and remember that feeling like an imposter is common in our field. Enjoy the learning process!

There's nothing wrong with you! Just keep solving different problems and you'll start to see improvements. The more challenges you tackle, the better you'll understand how to approach them efficiently. Consistently coding can lead to noticeable improvement in just a few weeks. Each problem you solve adds to your experience and helps you recognize patterns for future challenges.