2026-09-04 — Heap Day 1 (restart)

Today's Edge

Sep 2–3 produced zero. You don't repay dead days — you restart. One thing today: Heap + 1 real commit. Kth Largest and Top K from scratch, then kaggle-automation Dockerfile that passes docker build . Everything else is bonus.

Type A
LeetCode — protected tests

Type B
AI code — spot subtle bugs

Type C
Portfolio — why this stack?

Type D
ML from scratch

Classify each JD (A/B/C/D) before applying, then copy-paste to recruiter:

“I want to come as prepared as I possibly can. Since there are so many focus areas right now, I'd really appreciate any guidance on what to prioritize for this role — DSA, system design, or portfolio deep-dive?”

Be T-shaped

Product thinking: write 1 user story for kaggle (“As a user I want to shard 10GB”)
Calm in chaos: 25-min struggle cap then read editorial, no spiral
Communication: flag blockers before deadlines — say the Type C answer aloud once

Brutal truth for today

Graduated 4 months ago, 2 LeetCode solves logged, Sep 2–3 went to zero. Collecting advice is not progress. Today: 2 heap problems + 1 commit + 3 tailored apps — nothing else counts.

If you only do 3 things

Kth Largest + Top K Frequent without looking
Ship the Dockerfile — docker build . passes + push
Send 1 DM with the recruiter line + GitHub link

Verified resources: yt-ssf · aman.ai-search · archive Bandit/SQL/X-Y-Z notes. Sep 2 file stays as history — today is the restart.