Competitive Programming

Competitive programming is about solving algorithmic problems under time limits, and it rewards steady practice more than reading. Antti Laaksonen's Competitive Programmer's Handbook covers the standard techniques compactly, and USACO.guide organizes topics into a learning path with practice problems. The CSES Problem Set pairs well with the Handbook.

For contests, Codeforces and AtCoder run regular rated rounds, and the AtCoder DP Contest is a focused set on dynamic programming. Steven Halim's Competitive Programming books go deeper into problem categories, and Algorithms for Competitive Programming is a large reference of explained algorithms. Read editorials after every contest, especially for problems you could not solve.