u/One-Block2651

A little about me: I previously did ML research work at Massachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT), have worked as a software engineer at PBC, and have spent years deeply involved in competitive programming/DSA (LeetCode, etc). I also have a national rank of 11 in International Olympiad of Informatics(IOI). Over time I realized that strong fundamentals matter far more than just knowing frameworks or memorizing patterns.

Lately I’ve been spending some time mentoring a few professionals in Python, DSA, System Design, ML, and Data Science. The idea is to mostly focus on deep understanding instead of interview cramming.

One thing I’ve consistently noticed is that many people can “use” tools/frameworks, but struggle with the concepts underneath. So I’ve been trying to teach things from first principles such as - memory models, internals, tradeoffs, scaling decisions, reasoning, and how systems actually behave under the hood.

It’s honestly been a pretty rewarding experience so far. Teaching forces you to understand things at a completely different level yourself.

Curious if others here also mentor juniors/peers informally, and what topics people struggle with the most these days.

Hi everyone, I have done my Machine Learning research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), achieved National Rank 11 in the International Olympiad of Informatics, and have also worked as a Software Engineer at a product-based company.

Now, I am open to helping/mentoring students. Please feel free to comment what you want help in.

Edit 1: I'll answer the question of every one. I might take some time, maybe a day because of my schedule.

Edit 2: Please ask questions related to my domain. Please don't ask general questions, like "What's your opinion?". My opinion doesn't matter on the global scale. I would appreciate direct, to the point questions. Someone asked me about which laptop to buy. For real? 🙄

Edit 3: I am not taking any more questions. And, unfortunately, any questions after this won't be replied. It was nice talking to everyone.

Hi, I am open to mentoring.

My background:

• ML research experience at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Academic Gold Medalist
• International Olympiad of Informatics (National rank 11)
• Top 0.2% globally on LeetCode (1300+ problems solved)
• Former Full Stack Engineer at an US based Investment-Firm

Over the years, I’ve realized that a large number of developers in the industry are operating with an incomplete mental model of how systems actually work underneath.

For example:

• Many developers still think Python variables “store values”, whereas at a precise memory and runtime level, names bind to object references and the entire concept of a “variable container” starts eroding.
• Most people know Python dictionaries are hash tables, but very few can explain why Python maintains a ~66% load factor while JavaScript engines typically operate closer to ~75%.
• If asked to append 1000 elements efficiently in a list, many engineers will allocate size 1000 instead of understanding why something closer to ~675 may actually be the correct engineering decision depending on preallocation strategy and resize thresholds.

And this is not about trivia.

These gaps compound into weaker system intuition, weaker debugging ability, weaker performance reasoning, and ultimately weaker engineering judgment.

I’ve mentored Senior Software Engineers, Data Engineers with 10+YOE. Now, I’m opening up mentorship on Reddit, for anyone who genuinely want to deepen their understanding of:

• Python internals
• DSA beyond rote LeetCode patterns
• System Design
• Machine Learning
• Data Science
• Runtime & memory models
• Engineering-first problem solving

What I care about most is changing how developers think.

Not shortcut interview prep.
Not “10 DP patterns in 2 hours.”
Not surface-level tutorials.

I focus heavily on first principles, mental models, runtime behavior, memory, tradeoffs, and engineering depth.

The mentorship is best suited for:

• Developers already working in the industry
• Engineers preparing for strong product companies
• People who feel they know tools/frameworks but lack deeper foundations
• Developers wanting long-term engineering growth, not temporary interview hacks

If this resonates with you, feel free to comment here or in my Reddit chat:

• Your current experience level
• What you feel you’re lacking technically
• What areas you want to improve in

Happy to guide serious learners.

Hi, let’s come to the point.

My background:

• ML research experience at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Academic Gold Medalist
• International Olympiad of Informatics (National rank 11)
• Top 0.2% globally on LeetCode (1300+ problems solved)
• Former Full Stack Engineer at an US based Investment-Firm

Over the years, I’ve realized that a large number of developers in the industry are operating with an incomplete mental model of how systems actually work underneath.

For example:

• Many developers still think Python variables “store values”, whereas at a precise memory and runtime level, names bind to object references and the entire concept of a “variable container” starts eroding.
• Most people know Python dictionaries are hash tables, but very few can explain why Python maintains a ~66% load factor while JavaScript engines typically operate closer to ~75%.
• If asked to append 1000 elements efficiently in a list, many engineers will allocate size 1000 instead of understanding why something closer to ~675 may actually be the correct engineering decision depending on preallocation strategy and resize thresholds.

And this is not about trivia.

These gaps compound into weaker system intuition, weaker debugging ability, weaker performance reasoning, and ultimately weaker engineering judgment.

I’ve mentored Senior Software Engineers, Data Engineers with 10+YOE. Now, I’m opening up mentorship on Reddit, for anyone who genuinely want to deepen their understanding of:

• Python internals
• DSA beyond rote LeetCode patterns
• System Design
• Machine Learning
• Data Science
• Runtime & memory models
• Engineering-first problem solving

What I care about most is changing how developers think.

Not shortcut interview prep.
Not “10 DP patterns in 2 hours.”
Not surface-level tutorials.

I focus heavily on first principles, mental models, runtime behavior, memory, tradeoffs, and engineering depth.

The mentorship is best suited for:

• Developers already working in the industry
• Engineers preparing for strong product companies
• People who feel they know tools/frameworks but lack deeper foundations
• Developers wanting long-term engineering growth, not temporary interview hacks

If this resonates with you, feel free to comment here or in my Reddit chat:

• Your current experience level
• What you feel you’re lacking technically
• What areas you want to improve in

Happy to guide serious learners.