Competitive programming Vs Development

 

In a world driven by problem solvers, software engineering and development jobs seem to constitute a very big chunk as compared to other jobs in the sector of engineering. From around 15 lakh engineering students graduating every year, only about 40,000 students land a high paying job offer. About 82% of those offers are programming jobs. Needless to say, almost every engineering student wants to pursue software engineering after graduation.

 

Starting from the “Hello World!” program, a programmer has to learn, practice, and grind a lot to refine his skill in the language. But every programmer goes through a phase when he has to make a choice. The dilemma of having to choose  between problem-solving or the application of problem-solving (i.e. between Competitive programming and Development), always intrigues a budding learner.

First things first, to be a master of anything in the field of Computer Science, one needs to excel in the basic concepts, one of the most important being Data Structures and Algorithms(DSA). Regardless of what you choose (CP or you choose development), your concepts of DSA must be crystal clear. Whether you are solving problems in C++ or creating a website using Django, DSA would always come in handy.

 

But, can one pursue both of them? All of the experienced programmers tend to suggest that choosing any one of the two is very important as choosing both can be abysmal. Choosing one of the two can be a very important decision for an undergraduate, and hence leads us to another question. Which of the two fields is better? To provide some clarity about this, let us look at the benefits of the two, competitive programming and development.

 

Competitive programming is a sport, so for the people who enjoy it (as a sport), there is no better reason for them to keep pursuing it. Moreover, for people who are good at competitive programming, it is easier for them to crack interviews because they are very good problem solvers. This comes in very handy at the time of placements and sport-programmers generally tend to do good in programming interviews. Also, being a competitive programmer makes you think of the shortest (not always the cleanest) way possible to solve a problem, which increases your aptitude as well as your programming skills. Again, being good at DSA is directly proportional to being good at competitive programming and getting a good job. Being good at competitive programming directly opens a path for you to become a software developer in the future and it always comes in handy if you want to switch sides. 

 

Software developers are expected to know how to solve real-life problems, and it comes in very handy if someone wants to start-up on his own or make a project of his choice. Also, software development increases one’s creativity, soft skills, and teaches him the way to write clean and readable codes. Choosing to be a frontend, backend or a full stack developer opens many pathways for the pursuer and lets him have elasticity in his future options. Moreover, with the increasing number of freelancing opportunities in the field of development, software development works as an excellent secondary source of income, especially for college-going students.

 

In the end, it all zeroes down to one’s persistence, hard work, and tenacity towards learning and implementing the skills, and either of the two fields of computer science would not harm anyone in any way, if correctly followed.