Gain insights into competitive programming, explore C++ skills with theory, code samples, practice problems, and master faster implementation for contests like ACM ICPC, Google CodeJam, and HackerCup.

Competitive programming can be a great way to build out your programming skills, get on any major company’s radar, and earn a little extra cash along the way.

In this course, you will learn to prepare for competitive programming contests like ACM ICPC, Google CodeJam, Facebook HackerCup, and many more.

Each topic is broken down with a healthy mix of theory, code samples, step-by-step solved sample problems, illustrations, useful practice problems, and tips and tricks for faster implementation.

You will need some solid C++ foundations coming into this course, but by the end it, you will be confident enough in your C++ skills to take home the win.

Competitive Programming in C++: The Keys to Success

# Min / Max
Compare two integers and get minimum or maximum using a built-in function.


```
int a = 7;
int b = 4;
int M = max(a, b) // 7
int m = min(a, b) // 4
```


---

# Swap
Use the built-in `swap` method to swap two variables of the same type.

```
int a = 5, b = 8;
swap(a, b);
```

---

# Auto
The `auto` keyword automatically derives the data type from the initialization so you don't have to.

This is very handy at times when the data type is complex, like a vector of pair of integers


```
vector<pair<pair<int,int>,pair<int,int>>> v;
```

To iterate using a `for` loop we would do this:

```
for (pair<pair<int,int>,pair<int,int>> it : v)
```

Which can make the code unreadable and slow you down. The same happens when using the `auto` keyword.


```
for (auto it : v)
```

---

# Pair
Many times, `pair` is a handy alternative to defining `struct` or `class`.

Suppose you need a structure to define a point, meaning you need an `x` and a `y` coordinate.


Using a structure:
```
struct Point {
    int x;
    int y;
}
```

This can be simplified using `pair`. 

There are multiple ways to initialize.


```
pair<int,int> coord = {x, y} 
pair<int,int> coord = make_pair(x, y) 
```

Access members using the `first` and `second` keyword:

```
pair<int,int> coord = {x, y} 
int x = coord.first
int y = coord.second
```
You can also use different data types for the first and second member and compose a pair inside a pair. For example:


```
pair<string, pair<int, int> > var = {"abc",{4, 5} }
```

---

In the next lesson, we'll discuss how input and output works in C++.

In this lesson, we'll discuss some essential built-in C++ methods.

Introduction

Complexity Analysis

Number Theory

Arrays and Vectors

Sieve of Eratosthenes

Strings

Sorting

Linked List

Stack

Queue

Binary Tree

2 Pointers

Heap

Binary Search Tree

Balanced Binary Search Tree

Course Conclusion

C++ Built-in methods

Min / Max