Simplify Your Algorithms and Data Structures Revision with This Free Resource!

RisabhKedai — Thu, 26 Dec 2024 19:04:21 +0000

Introduction

During my college days, I was often advised to solve problem sheets curated by mentors and techfluencers. While helpful, they came with challenges:

How do you ensure long-term retention after completing them?
How do you manage starred problems across platforms like LeetCode or Codeforces, ensuring they don’t get lost in the shuffle?
How do you leverage tools like Google Sheets or Notion for smarter, more efficient tracking and revision?
These questions inspired me to create the ADS Revision Sheet—a resource to organize, personalize, and optimize your learning process.

The Problem

When it comes to algorithms and data structures (ADS) preparation:

Revision is often overlooked, leading to forgotten concepts.
Managing problems across multiple platforms gets chaotic.
Generic tools lack the ability to adapt to personalized preparation needs.

The Solution

The ADS Revision Sheet is more than just a problem tracker. It provides

Centralize problem management.
Provide personalized revision cycles with custom weights.
Empower you with insights to focus on high-priority areas.

If you want to try out the sheet straight up, just make a copy of the following:
SHEET
But I recommend you to go through the setup steps below.
And in case you are interested in the code, check this out :
GitHub Link

Key Features

Centralized Problem Repository
Combine problems from LeetCode, GeeksForGeeks, and more in one sheet for easy tracking.
Custom Weighting System
Assign weights to problems based on difficulty, importance, or frequency for a tailored revision strategy.
Topic-Based Organization
Tag problems by topics (e.g., Graphs, DP) to filter and focus your practice sessions.
Personalized Revision Cycles
Prioritize problems that need attention based on custom weights and intelligent sorting.
Cross-Platform Insights
Gain a clear understanding of your overall progress, no matter where you practice.

How to Set It Up

1. Create a Copy

Open the template sheet
Create a copy by going to File > Make a copy
Rename it as desired

2. Enable Apps Script

Go to Extensions > Apps Script
This will open the Apps Script editor in a new tab
You'll see multiple .gs files:
- Revision.gs
- TimeUpdatingTrigger.gs
- ScoreUpdatingTrigger.gs
- AdsShinFeats.gs

3. Set Up Triggers

You need to set up two time-based triggers:

Timer Update Trigger

In Apps Script, go to Triggers (clock icon on the left sidebar)

Click '+ Add Trigger'

Configure as follows:
- Choose function to run: updateTimers
- Choose which deployment: Head
- Select event source: Time-driven
- Select type of time: Minutes timer
- Select interval: Every minute
- Click on the Save button

You will get a popup asking for permission to run the trigger, as follows:

Click on Allow. This will allow the trigger to keep running in the background. This trigger updates the timers visible on the sheet.

Score Update Trigger

Add another trigger
Configure as follows:
- Choose function to run: updateScores
- Choose which deployment: Head
- Select event source: Time-driven
- Select type of time: Day timer
- Select time of day: 3 AM to 4 AM
- Click Save

You might not be asked for permissions now, as the project already has them.

Sheet Structure

1. Solved Problems Sheet

Main sheet for tracking all solved problems with columns for:

Problem ID
Problem Name
Platform
Difficulty
Time Taken
Last Solved
Tags (Own & Referred)
Score (automatically calculated)
Purpose: Track all solved problems.
Usage Steps:
- Enter problem details in the respective columns.
- Change the START to STOP, so that the timer can start.
- After solving the problem change STOP to START.
- The score gets updated because of the updateScore trigger previously.
- Make sure to update the tags after solving each problem.
- Also add the time complexities if you want to track the possible solutions.
- Refer to the sample entries.

2. Revision Sheet

Generated sheet for active revision sessions containing:

Selected problems for revision
Timer controls
Tag updates
Hint button to see hints if you are stuck. Hints are just notes previously added on the main sheet.
Rest of the layouts are similar to the main sheet.
Purpose: Manage active revision sessions.
Usage Steps:
- Select problems for revision.
- Use timer controls to track time spent on each problem.
- Generate Revision:
- Click the "Generate Revision" button under the Revision menu to automatically select and load problems into the Revision sheet based on configured criteria.
- Ensure the "Solved Problems" sheet has valid data and scores before generating.
- End Revision:
- Click the End Revision button to finalize the session.
- Review and update tags for each problem before syncing to the "Solved Problems" sheet.
- Confirm that all required fields (e.g., time taken, last solved date) are filled out.
- Once ended the data gets synced back to the main sheet with revisions counts and solutions updated.
- Clear Active Revision:
- Click the Clear Active Revision button to remove all data from the Revision sheet while keeping the headers intact.
- This action is useful for starting a new revision session without residual data.

3. Topics Sheet

Manages all available tags/topics with:

Topic names
Own Tags filter
Referred Tags filter
Filteting mechanism is discussed in the features below. (here)

4. Revision History Sheet

Automatically maintains revision session records including:

Revision ID
Date
Number of problems attempted
Total time
Average time
Topics covered
Difficulty distribution

5. RevisionConfig Sheet

The RevisionConfig Sheet contains configurable parameters that allow users to customize their generated revision, including:

Number of Problems per Revision: Users can set how many problems they want to tackle in each revision session, tailoring the workload to their preferences.
Scoring Weights: Users can adjust the weights assigned to different scoring factors, allowing for a personalized scoring system that reflects their learning goals.
Other Customizable Settings

Conclusion

The ADS Revision Sheet is not just another tool—it’s your personalized assistant to simplify and enhance your algorithms and data structures preparation. Whether you’re gearing up for interviews or mastering problem-solving, this sheet is here to make the process smoother and smarter.

I’d love to hear your thoughts! If this resource helps you, let me know how you’re using it to improve your preparation. Feedback is always welcome! In case you face issues please feel free to reach out

Catch me working on something interesting at:

GitHub : https://github.com/RisabhKedai
LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/risabh-kedia/
Twitter : https://x.com/risabhkedia12

DEV Community: RisabhKedai