I recently saw a course that advertises, four semesters of computer science in 5 hours. This was from a reputable institution, despite it sounding a little bit like a scam, preying on those short on time and patience.

Assuming one is starting from ground zero, using the standards of college as a metric, one should study 2-3 hours outside of class for each hour spent in class. That would mean in 15-20 hours you could learn the equivalent of four semesters. That’s a bit of a lofty claim, and this kind of messaging is potentially harmful because it’s delusional. In just 5 minutes time, you can skim through an outline. Assuming you’ve previously mastered the fundamental concepts, this could be enough to prepare you for solving any problems regarding algorithms and data structures. If this is the first time you’ve seen these algorithms, most people will take many hours studying this, and many more hours revisiting these concepts and solving related problems. It’s more of a marathon than a sprint.

This kind of messaging should remind us of dubious claims for workout supplements and cleaning products on infomercials. It is technically impossible for your brain to form the kinds of neural pathways needed to make sense of advanced algorithms, and you need time for the synapses to form connections while you sleep.

Mastering algorithms and data structures could land you a role at practically any tech firm in the world, but that’s besides the point. It has to be engaging and interesting. This makes learning the material much easier. Can you learn it in 5m? Some people can. The truth is it could take you 5 hours, 5 weeks, 5 months, or much longer. There are claims all over the internet that it has taken literally weeks of time for fresh grads to pick this up. Don’t be fooled. It’s a lot to learn. Those that learn this in a short amount of time, are the exception and not the rule.

There’s one guy out there who has documented his journey, studying full-time for 8 months, before securing an offer from Amazon 11 months later. This guy worked for 15 years as a web developer/technologist/founder and was well-versed in software development. That’s an estimated 1400 hours reading, watching, coding, and whiteboarding. If you carve out a couple hours every evening, it would take you close to three years to complete these hours.

Then there are others out there, bootcamp grads, that secure roles after studying for a month or two.

What distinguishes these two groups? How can one accomplish the same thing in 1/4 of the time? How do we maximize our efficacy and what should we focus on, to increase our chances of succeeding in interviews?