SortedList arrives, the Learn guide shrinks

Python: sortedcontainers is in

Yesterday's post said the standard library was pre-imported for Python but sortedcontainers still was not. That is fixed. The package is installed on the judge, and SortedList, SortedDict and SortedSet are imported above your code along with everything else, so a solution can write SortedList() with no import line, the same as on LeetCode. Writing the import yourself keeps working too.

That closes the last gap between what a Python solution can reach for here and what it can reach for on LeetCode: a sorted container with logarithmic insert, remove and rank queries, where the standard library only offers bisect.insort on a plain list.

The Learn guide, in seven lines

The guide at the top of the Learn page was a grid of eight icon cards with a paragraph each, open by default and collapsible. That was more than a first-time visitor would read, and anyone who collapsed it lost the advice for good.

It is now a plain numbered list of seven points, one line each, always visible:

1. In the beginning, learn one category at a time.
2. Hold off on random problems until you are comfortable with Tier I, Fundamentals.
3. You do not have to finish a category before moving on, but do at least half of it.
4. Once you have solved a problem, read how other people solved it in the Activity tab.
5. Studying DSA takes months, sometimes years. Set a schedule you will stick to: 10-15 hours a week for long-term learning, 30-40 if you are between jobs or in a rush.
6. Solving is only part of the interview. You also have to communicate well and be likeable. Rehearse that by streaming your practice on Twitch; put AlgoBlazer in the title and your stream shows up on our dashboard.
7. Use the global chat to find people to study with, or to ask for help.

The collapse toggle is gone along with the stored preference behind it. The page intro above the guide is down to two sentences, since it used to repeat the first and fifth points.