I haven’t touched LeetCode in over a year. My GitHub’s alive, my job’s solid, and I write better code than I did at the peak of my “3 problems a day” grind.
Here’s why quitting LeetCode made me a sharper, more valuable developer.
The LeetCode Mirage
LeetCode sells a clean story: solve enough puzzles, unlock elite dev skills.
But what it really builds is reflexes for a narrow game. It’s algorithm trivia with a dopamine drip, dressed up as “preparation.” You get better at LeetCode — not at engineering.
It won’t teach you systems thinking. It won’t grow your architectural instincts. It won’t sharpen judgment.
You will, however, get very good at spotting when a TreeMap beats a PriorityQueue.
That’s useful — in some contexts. But if your goal is to be a great developer, it’s the wrong hill to die on.
Coding ≠ Competitive Puzzles
Real software work happens in context: tradeoffs, constraints, deadlines, legacy code, human chaos.
LeetCode problems are tidy. Bounded. Abstract. Solved in 50 lines or less. The APIs are imaginary. The edge cases are clean. And the “best” answer is a function of runtime and memory stats.
In the real world? The “optimal” solution is usually:
- The thing that unblocks your team
- The fix that doesn’t break prod
- The change that aligns with business goals
LeetCode doesn’t teach that. If anything, it un-teaches it.
What I Did Instead
When I quit LeetCode, I didn’t stop growing. I just changed my inputs.
Here’s what actually moved the needle:
- Built side projects — Nothing teaches systems thinking like owning the full stack.
- Read code, not just wrote it — Especially messy open source. Real-world coding styles are an underrated teacher.
- Refactored my own messes — Revisiting old code forces better design instincts.
- Wrote design docs — Explaining architecture in plain English is a superpower.
- Read books with staying power — Like Designing Data-Intensive Applications and Refactoring.
None of these gave instant gratification. But they changed how I think. And that’s more valuable than memorizing how to reverse a linked list in-place — again.
When LeetCode Makes Sense
Let’s be fair. LeetCode has a place:
- Practicing specific data structures or algorithms
- Passing interviews where it’s explicitly expected
- Filling structured learning gaps — if you apply it, not just grind it
But it’s flashcards, not fluency. It’s not a substitute for context, depth, or craft.
The Bigger Problem
The real issue isn’t LeetCode. It’s what it represents.
The industrialization of developer skill. The fantasy that you can “grind” your way into being good. The belief that more reps = more value.
That’s factory-floor thinking in a creative profession.
Coding is a craft. You get better by building things that matter — not by chasing a high score on the algorithm treadmill.
Close With This
If LeetCode helps you, use it. But don’t confuse it with the job. And definitely don’t confuse it with the work.
The best developers I know think in systems, not solutions — and they’d bomb a timed DP question with zero regrets.
You don’t need more reps.
You need more context.