Lately I find going back to wanting to code in C and C++ especially because my experience with both was mostly at the beginning of my coding journey so even if I loved both languages (Mostly C), and gravitating for a period of time to easier languages like python and go, I decided that I wanted to go back to my roots, mainly because I want to undestand how things work under the hood. The ispiration came mostly from Antirez and his C programming course and reigniting the long passion I did loose for coding, so in a sense is like seeing again an old friend, it somehow feels magical.

What is the final objective

To be able to understand the code under the hood with much greater detail, being able to read the assembly code and be able to understand what is actually happening in real time not only at high level. Improve my data structure & algorithm knowledge

My approach

Daily minimum

Personally I feel that the best course of action would be to be able to code everyday something, I’m mostly gravitating towards leetcode style problems, paired with Introduction to Algorithms - Thomas H. Cormen.

The way I’m trying to solve the problem are:

1. Find my own solution
2. If for x amount of time I fail I ask an LLM what topic is it about
3. Read the book
4. Try to solve it again
5. Use LLM for code as last resort

The LLM is only being used to know what to look for, to know what to search for. A thing I did to make sure Claude doesn’t give me accidentaly more than I ask for is to put this the personal preference settings:

1-2 words sentence. Short. No praise. Answer only question. Talk like caveman. Give only hints. Never give code

Other than giving you yes and no answers you are able to consume less tokens. And use more of your brain :)

Bigger Project

Having a bigger project you can actually apply what you learn while doing leetcode is useful. Currently I want to build a 3D engine in OpenGL using C/C++. Is something I find entertaining even if it’s harder than making a simple CRUD webapp. Being able to push the limits while being fueled by something you’re passionate about is what I find brings me progress. I will be honest when I say I really didn’t do a lot yet because I found that I spend most of the time reading the Cormen to understand the topic I’m reading.

Other things I’m thinking of doing

Switching as my main linux distro being void. The reason fundamentally is because I’ve been resonating with their philosophy for a long time but never commited fully to it just because arch is something I’m really comfortable using. The second reason is to be able to understand how operating systems work deeply. Third SystemD recent age verification commits.

Maybe start contributing to opensource projects I enjoy using and want to help/ lack features I want to add, not for the sake of adding to the resume (Even if it sounds nice ngl).

Final thoughts

This is an ideal timeline and being busy with life in general I know I will deviate eventually from the ideal path. At the end the important thing is being able to stick long term even if imperfectly.