Built By Sid
Grinding LeetCode never stuck for me. The patterns only clicked when I built something real around them. So that's what this is. 12 products, 12 patterns, one rule: do the thinking yourself. AI can help with everything else.
The Why
I failed the last stage of a 6-stage interview because my algorithms weren't sharp enough. That stung. But more than the failure, it made me realise that grinding LeetCode problems in isolation wasn't going to fix it. The patterns weren't sticking.
There's also a bigger thing going on. AI is genuinely useful. But it's a force multiplier and it can only multiply something. If you stop doing the thinking yourself, there's nothing left to multiply. You need to keep that muscle working.
So this project solves both. Build something real around every pattern and the pattern sticks. Do the hard part yourself and the muscle stays sharp. Write about it and the thinking gets clearer. Every product is doing three things at once.
Build something real around every pattern
Abstract problems don't stick. An org chart explorer that runs BFS on The Office characters does.
One honest constraint
The core algorithm gets written in a blank file. No AI. Everything else is fair game. That one constraint is where the learning actually lives.
Write about it
Every product gets a dev log. Writing forces you to understand what you actually built. Shipping forces you to finish it.
Learning Go along the way
Go doesn't give you much for free. No built-in reverse, no built-in min. You write the primitives. That friction is part of the point.
The Catalogue
The Format
The Technique
What the algorithm is and why it's hard. No hand-waving.
Algorithm Ladder
V1, V2, V3. Complexity grows with the product. Ship early, improve often.
The Constraint
The rule you honour to make the learning stick. No AI on the core algorithm.
The Self-Test
How you know your implementation is actually correct. Every product has one.
Follow Along
Every product gets a dev log. The thinking, the wrong turns, the bugs, the algorithm. Honest documentation of what it actually took to build it.
Read on Substack ↗