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Have you ever gone blank, seeing a DSA question?
Hehe, yes you have.
Open LeetCode, stare at the problem, and… blank.
That has happened to me so many times I swear.
While I was in college (when there were no LLMs, no hints, just bare comments to even get some idea), all the time, but even now, sometimes.
This time while I was preparing to switch companies,
I discovered a surprisingly powerful pair: LLM(ChatGPT) + Python.
I didn’t plan it, honestly.
One evening, while trying to debug a “binary search on a rotated sorted array” problem, I casually asked ChatGPT to give me hints. And man did it explain the hint visually.
The answer I got made me rethink how I was preparing.
Instead of just showing code, it walked me through the hint step by step, helping me actually understand why each condition existed.
That night, something clicked.
I realized I’d been solving problems to reach a solution. Not to learn.
So, I changed my approach.
Whenever I got stuck, I didn’t just paste the code.
I’d type:
“Explain why my two-pointer approach fails on this edge case.”
And it would point out something subtle. Like a missing = or an off-by-one logic error. But more importantly, it explained why it mattered.
Over time, I started seeing patterns in problems.
I could sense when a problem hinted toward a binary search or when a hash map would simplify things.
ChatGPT wasn’t giving answers; it was training me to think in patterns.
Python made experimentation effortless
I’ve tried C++ and Java, but Python felt… peaceful.
No boilerplate -just pure logic.
When I wanted to test an idea, I’d open a notebook, write five lines, and see the output instantly.
That fast feedback loop made a huge difference.
I could prototype, break things, and learn from the output without worrying about syntax.
In short:
Python made me faster; ChatGPT made me sharper.
And,
I started enjoying my daily practice.
Every day , I’d solve one problem, discuss my reasoning with my LLM(ChatGPT), and refactor my code, if needed.
It felt less like a “grind” and more like a personal mentorship, where I was both the student and the teacher.
After a few weeks, I noticed real progress.
Problems that once took me an hour were now solvable in fifteen-twenty minutes.
And the best part?
No judgements.
It was freeing. [The learning with AI]
Like, you could ask “dumb” questions, explore random what-ifs, or rewrite your code three times — no eye rolls, no pressure.
And, that psychological safety helped me learn faster than any paid bootcamp ever did.
If you’re preparing for interviews, try this combo:
Use Python to implement ideas quickly. Use ChatGPT to sharpen your understanding.
And do not forget to fall in love with problem-solving :)
Have you read this -How a Single Line of Python Code Broke Production?
In case we are meeting for the first time, come over here, it’ll be worth the roller coaster of articles that are gonna come up in the next few weeks. Enjoyed the read? You can support my writing journey here — Buy me a coffee?
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