67 Stories To Learn About Problem Solving

16 Sept 2023

Let's learn about Problem Solving via these 67 free stories. They are ordered by most time reading created on HackerNoon. Visit the /Learn Repo to find the most read stories about any technology.

1. Scrum Teams Thinking Like Millennials is the Way Ahead

By Professional Scrum Trainer, John Gillespie, Scrum.org

2. Flexbox vs CSS Grid is Not A Thing

That’s right. There is NO flexbox vs CSS Grid. It’s just flexbox and CSS grid.

3. Why Learning PyTorch Can Make you a Better Engineer

Pytorch is a powerful open-source deep-learning framework that is quickly gaining popularity among researchers and developers

4. Will Robots Take Your Job: Reality or a Misconception?

There has been a lot of fear regarding human beings being made redundant due to artificial intelligence and automation taking away their jobs. The recruitment industry is one of the many sectors AI has enhanced in recent years. AI and robots are used to optimize the workflow through machine learning and problem-solving. Automation with AI helps to dig the best resource out of many available candidates. The ability of robots and AI to provide efficient outcomes swiftly is the reason for the massive adoption of these technologies. There is no divided opinion about the fact that digital workers known as robots are performing more of the work traditionally done by humans so saying that these AI-based robots are taking away human jobs is nothing more than a dystopian claim.

5. 5 Repeatable Steps I Follow to Solve Almost Any Coding Problem

Every programming problem involves some kind of algorithm. An algorithm, in this sense, is a process or set of steps to accomplish a certain tasks; or simply a step-by-step way to solve a problem. There are about 700 programming languages. (Seriously: Here's a list.) So, what to learn and why to learn it - that's what most people are stuck on. From my perspective, you can (and should) choose learn any language. Learning the basics of one on-demand programming language will do you no harm. But: you must select ONE language that becomes your magic spell, and you should always be ready to create something out of it. Learning varieties of languages and not being able to do anything really well is like a curse.

6. 53% of People Think We Buy New Tech, Not Progress. They're Wrong.

I did a Twitter poll to see what people think is the best approach to developing new products/services. The poll has been featured among people with startup or entrepreneurial interests. After looking at the results, I was surprised.

7. You Cannot Learn Coding without Problem-Solving Skills

In a sea of options available to learn computer science, Learnly might be the right fit for you.

8. How Product Manager Solve Complex Problems

Excellent problem-solving skill is very essential for a Product Manager, because in the real day to day as a Product Manager will face a lot of complex problems that require deeply thinking for finding the root cause of problems, not only user’s problems but also internal problems such as slow development process, increase growth rate, increase retention rate, etc.

9. Problem Solving Questions During PM Interview

Problem-solving question is the most frequent and recurring question asked PM interview. Here's a way on how shall one approach it.

10. My Approach To Not Understanding

When creating any software, it is almost inevitable to spend a big part of your development time researching, and many times this involves looking for syntax you don't remember, or for finding out how other people have approached the same problem you are trying to solve.

11. Why Solo Developers Should Never Take the Easy Route

This story is my own take on why working solo shouldn't mean you take the easy route as a developer. Sometimes you've got to force yourself to do things to become better at what you do.

12. How I Solve Problems as a Developer

There is no programmer in the world who knows how to solve every coding problem. That person simply doesn’t exist, because the programming field is so big that to a normal person, it would take two lives to learn all of that, but we only have one life.

13. 7 Most Valuable Soft Skills Of Exceptional Software Engineers

When we think about software engineering, we tend to think about the technical skill set of the professional first. And this makes sense because the skill set defines the quality of work that the software engineer can perform-and make no mistake, quality comes above everything in software development.

14. Automation: Figuring It Out is Just Like Doing a Puzzle

When you're wondering if something can be automated or not, a way of looking at the situation is like a puzzle.

15. Use This 7-Step McKinsey Framework to Solve Any Problem

Julia MacDonald, a Fractional Growth Executive, breaks down a 7-step framework to solve any problem.

16. Thinking Like Elon Musk Means Thinking Bigger Than Big: Huge

In simple language, First Principles Thinking involves actively questioning every assumption you believe.

17. Simple Advice on How To Complete That Never Ending Task

Faced with a mind numbing, insurmountable challenge, you stare at your screen, thinking of all the hours that are about to slip by you as you chip away at the never ending task you’ve been set.

18. 3 Sharpest Instruments for Debugging: Using the Old-School Mind Mapping Strategy

I found a bug in one of the open-source GitHub repositories and fixed it using the three sharpest instruments: pen, paper, and brain.

19. Kadane’s Algorithm Explained with Examples

Given an array, the algorithm to find the maximum subarray sum is called Kadane’s Algorithm.

20. Why Your Tech Project Can Fail and How to Avoid the Failure

Project Management Institute claims that one out of four organization’s projects failed outright. The numbers are far from being encouraging.

21. Why do you need project templates?

With the ubiquitous use of microservices, docker, k8s, and other containerization technologies, I noticed an interesting change. Microservices - although they can be written in different programming languages, use different databases, cache systems, and other backend technologies, they tend to be uniform. This is a very important and correct step since such services are easy to manage, deploy and maintain.

22. How to Get Better at Solving Programming Problems

Getting better at problem-solving requires more than just reps. It’s also how you go about it. We discuss How to Get Better at Solving Programming Problems.

23. Contains Duplicate and Missing Number

author: Sergei Golitsyn https://t.me/crack_code_interview

return true if any value appears at least twice
number in the range that is missing from arr

24. Helping My Engineering Friend Build a Text Classifier

My engineering friend, let’s address him as Mr. Wolf 🐺 (identify hidden), requested a 1:1 call to help him fix his classification model.

25. Following George Pólya’s Methods of Problem-solving. How It Might Help You In The Process of Coding.

When my coding instructor started teaching the topic ‘Approaching Solution Of A Problem’ , he introduced George Pólya’s methods of problem-solving to us.

26. How to Get the GCD Of Two Numbers in C

The greatest common divisor (GCD) is the largest positive integer that is also a common divisor of a given set of positive integers. It is also known as the highest common factor (HCF) or the greatest common factor (GCF).

27. How Do You Alternate Positive and Negative in Python?

Have you ever written a program for pairing alternate positive and negative numbers? If not, then you are missing some great opportunities.

28. How to Solve Any Machine Learning Problem [Almost]

TL, DR; When coming across an ML problem, don’t try to be a hero and dive right into solving it. Process and understand the problem, review your dataset, set a realistic goal and then go about actually solving the problem. Chances are that you will end up saving a lot of resources (most importantly time) if you plan your execution properly.

29. The Hidden Catch With Using Frameworks

Framework's ready-made functionality is great for app building, but often hides drawbacks. Find out why you need to switch to a problem-solving mindset.

30. Solving the Edit Distance Problem Using The Dynamic Programming Approach

The first question that arises when solving a problem using dynamic programming(DP) is how to figure out that DP is a way to solve it?

31. Three Amigos Teach Us a Lot About Writing Better Agile User Stories

Do you use the “Three Amigos” Agile strategy?

32. An Introduction to Design Thinking

Some of the most common approaches to solve a problem are situational or context-specific. For example, in the field of structural engineering, most of the challenges are solved by applying time tested rules in the field of civil engineering. For a problem that is considered less severe, a common approach is a trial by error. Mission-critical requirements and issues are solved by using a well-defined set of steps and strategies. The first reaction to solve any problem is to compartmentalize the problem into something which was solved earlier. The mind likes the comfort of the known after all. This is our primordial nature. These approaches have served us since time immemorial and will continue to do so. A common thread running through all these problems is they are well known, and they have been faced before plus they are well documented

33. A Better Way to Pass Technical Interviews

To LeetCode or not to LeetCode? What if you don't want to practice 100s of coding questions before your next coding interview?

34. Fixing Root Certificate Expiration Errors in cURL

Learn how to mitigate certificate expiration errors in cURL and the Android HTTP client using the AddTrust certificate.

35. Things You Need To Learn Before You Start Writing Code

I'm sure you all have read a quote like this, "First solve the problem, then write the code". At first I took it lightly. I liked to follow a different approach, "Solving the problem with code". After coding for a long time, I realized the importance of solving the problem first before jumping into writing code. In this article, I will try explain why you should slow down and how to actually save your time. Also, this will make you a better programmer.

36. Does Software Need to Solve Problems?

“What is the problem your software is solving?”

37. 6 Marketing Problems Of 2021 And How To Fix Them

The internet has changed the world. Most would say for the better, especially those of us running an online business. When it comes to business, marketing has never been so easy as it is today - with access to a plethora of digital marketing channels.

38. The Five Step Approach for Tackling Complex Problems

“The definition of genius is taking the complex and making it simple.” - Albert Einstein

39. Programmer’s Pyramid: Take Your Programming To The Next Level

Build a solid foundation of programming knowledge, develop core skills, and obtain an effective learning system with Programmer’s Pyramid.

40. Approaching Problems like a Software Engineer

During a recent, mock technical interview, I was given the following problem to solve.

41. When Everyone Corrected the World's Smartest Woman

I find the Monty Hall Problem one of the most fascinating brain teasers, because it seems deceivingly simple. When Marilyn Von Savant, the woman with the highest IQ, answered this brainteaser correctly in 1991, she was inundated with over 10,000 letters from academics and Ph.Ds criticizing her “error”, only to be proven later that she was correct.

42. The Developer’s Guide to Being a Better Leader: Solution-ing is Contagious

More often than not, developers and architects spend a large portion of their time in solving problems. The complexity involved in finding a solution varies from problem-to-problem and is directly proportionate to the individual’s or team’s ability in finding the solution. As a lead, architect or a senior architect, we need to instill the culture of solution-ing in our team.

43. House Robber

You need to solve this: given an integer array nums representing the amount of money of each house, return the maximum amount of money you can rob tonight.

44. A Step By Step Guide To Finding The Best Partner To Outsource From

In this blog, we will discuss some points you should consider to help narrow down the most suitable partner for outsourcing.

45. Imagination Split The Atom

People tend to equate an artist with a hobbyist who daubs paint on a canvas or plays around with lumps of clay of a Sunday. Or someone who really keeps at it, never gives up and maybe will make it, if he or she is lucky enough to encounter the right key person to open the doors to that art market where the big collectors reside.

46. Creativity and Problem Solving is Required at Every Level

Many times, the best problem solvers in an organization never get a chance to contribute their creativity, so a lot of potential goes undiscovered.

47. Using Data Science To Deal With RTOs

Considering how much fraudulent RTOs can cost a business, using data science to mitigate their frequency can help save an e-commerce business money over time.

48. Is the Pinterest Way to Measure Ads the Right Way?

A cutting-edge data science model can only be created if impact is measured properly. Pinterest upgraded everyone's preferred impact measurement metric, CTR.

49. Harnessing Growth Mindset to Design a Spider Killer

I was in the middle of doing a pilates class over Zoom when I noticed a big spider on the ceiling. I pointed it out to my kids who were in the room with me, but knowing that none of us could reach it, I dismissed it and went back to struggling through “the hundreds”. Around me, the kids also resumed their activity... or so I thought.

50. RCA for Tech Managers : How to approach a Product Issue

Root Cause Analysis for Managers

51. Crucial Steps Towards Effective Problem Solving In The Workplace

Every business - and everyone - encounters problems, whether it's too few customers, a product now working, or a team not functioning as it should.

52. How to Solve Engineering Problems Using Scientific Method

On every new software product, feature or project you develop you are bound to come across challenges that don’t have a clear answer at first.

53. The Case Against Upgradeable Smart Contracts

The use cases appropriate for upgradeable smart contracts may be narrower than you think.

54. Incorporating Art into Engineering by Introducing the STEAM Approach

There is a perception that science, technology, and the arts are separate vocations. The STEAM approach incorporates the arts and sciences.

55. Problem-Based Learning: David Merrill's Principles of Instruction

Merrill's First Principles of Instruction are a series of very effective problem-based teaching methodologies. The principles are based on the five core princip

56. I Really Struggled With Math Because My Teachers Were Horrible

I really struggled with Math at a point cause my teachers were horrible.

57. Succeeding at Pre-Sales and Solutions Engineering [The Prerequisites]

A lot of the people I know, have been asking me questions regarding pre-sales / Solution engineering and how to succeed in it

58. Users Who Hate Change; Not Pivoting Enough; And Other Product Challenges

59. Solving the Single Number and Climbing Stairs Coding Challenge

author: Sergei Golitsyn element appears twice except for one. Find that single one. how many distinct ways can you climb to the top?

60. MO’s Algorithm: Efficient Way to Solve Offline Range Query Problems

MO’s Algorithm aka Square Root Decomposition, a very efficient and easy technique to solve Range Query Problems (RQP). For MO’s Algorithm to work, the RQP has to be offline. In this post, we will understand about RQP, Offline RPQ, Naive Approach to solve RQP and an Efficient Approach using MO’s Algorithm.

What is Range Query Problem?

61. Field Notes from My Journey into Engineering Management

I am going through what one might call “career puberty”. I’m growing up and moving to an engineering manager role. It’s more of a recognition of a position I reached organically and a job I’ve been de facto doing for some time now, rather than an abrupt change dictated by external factors.

62. Manacher’s Algorithm Explained— Longest Palindromic Substring

Manacher’s Algorithm helps us find the longest palindromic substring in the given string. It optimizes over the brute force solution by using some insights into how palindromes work. How? Let’s see!

63. Learn The "Disagree and Commit" Exercise for Better Leadership

What can make us incredibly valuable at work - our willingness to disagree openly and commit to helping others succeed or sticking to our arguments even when others have moved forward and a decision has been made.

64. How To Swap Values In JavaScript

At some point in their career, developers need to swap values. Most of the time we use the one plain old solution of “using a temporary variable”. Ugh, if only there was a better way. But wait! There is, and there’s not just one but many. In desperate times, we scour the web for solutions, find one, and copy it without ever wondering how this little snippet of code works. Lucky for you, now is the time to learn about how to swap values easily and efficiently, putting an end to your misery.

Thank you for checking out the 67 most read stories about Problem Solving on HackerNoon.

Visit the /Learn Repo to find the most read stories about any technology.