The One Thing That Actually Got Me Through FAANG Interviews
Quick context (why you're writing this)
I remember staring at my screen at 2 a.m., third attempt at a medium‑level LeetCode problem, heart pounding because the clock was ticking and I kept thinking “I know the answer, I just can’t get it out.” I’d written a solution, run it, got a wrong answer, then spent another 20 minutes debugging a typo I could’ve spotted if I’d just slowed down. It felt like I was memorizing solutions instead of learning how to think. That night I realized I was missing a simple habit: I never talked through my plan before I typed a single line.
The Insight
Explain‑then‑code.
