13 Algorithm Questions and an ₹80 Charger

Friday was a little different from my usual office routine. Since it was Ganesh Visarjan, I decided to work from home instead of going to the office. That also gave me a decent opportunity to squeeze in some GATE preparation between work.

The only problem was that I had made one tiny logistical error.

I had forgotten my laptop charger at the office.

I realised this only a few minutes before I was supposed to leave. Since I was already planning to work from home, there wasn't much I could do except hope that the laptop battery would survive the day.

Naturally, it didn't.

I had a meeting scheduled later, and I was worried that the laptop might die either before or during the meeting. So I called a friend who lives nearby and asked if I could borrow his laptop charger. I then spent around ₹80 on a Rapido parcel to get the charger delivered to me.

And then came the best part.

The meeting didn't happen.

So, essentially, I spent ₹80 solving a problem that technically never existed. Human planning at its finest. 😭

What I Studied

Despite the charger drama, I did manage to get some GATE preparation done.

I completed one lecture of Computer Networks from the chapter I'm currently studying. My original goal was to complete two lectures, so I didn't finish the entire target, but at least I moved the chapter forward.

I also spent some time doing question practice for Algorithms, which is the fourth subject I've touched for question practice this week alongside C Programming, Digital Logic, and Data Structures.

I solved 13 Algorithm questions and got 10 correct. That's roughly 77% accuracy, which gives me something concrete to work with as I continue practising the subject.

Revising Older Topics

I also went back to Operating Systems and revised System Calls and Context Switching.

For Computer Networks, I made notes on TCP Flow Control, which should make the topic easier to revise later rather than forcing myself to dig through the lecture again.

Digital Logic also got some attention. I made notes on K-map-related concepts, and I finally completed notes for Encoder, Decoder, and Priority Decoder.

Those encoder and decoder notes had been pending for quite a while since I had already completed Digital Logic. So getting them off the pending list felt surprisingly satisfying.

The Test I Didn't Take

I had also planned to take a Digital Logic test on Sequential Circuits.

I didn't take it.

The reason was pretty simple: I hadn't revised Sequential Circuits properly yet. Instead of forcing myself to take the test just because it was on the schedule, I decided to revise the topic first and take the test in the upcoming week.

I think that was the better decision for today's situation. A test should tell me something useful about my preparation. Taking it without properly revising the topic would mostly tell me that I hadn't revised the topic.

Looking Back at Day 12

Overall, the day was manageable.

I didn't complete everything I had originally planned, especially the second CN lecture and the Digital Logic test. But I still managed to move forward in several areas: one CN lecture, 13 Algorithm questions, OS revision, TCP Flow Control notes, and several Digital Logic notes.

More importantly, my question practice is becoming a little broader. This week, I've now practised C, Digital Logic, Data Structures, and Algorithms rather than repeatedly sticking to just one or two comfortable subjects.

And somewhere in the middle of all that, I managed to spend ₹80 transporting a charger across town for a meeting that never happened.

So that's Day 12 of my GATE CSE 2027 preparation: some studying, some revision, some question practice, a postponed test, and one unnecessarily expensive reminder to check my laptop bag before leaving home. 😭

Tomorrow

The focus is to continue with Computer Networks and keep moving towards completing the syllabus by the end of October. I also need to revise Sequential Circuits so that I can finally take the postponed Digital Logic test next week.