This semester I had a course on analysis of algorithms, so i decided to try out a few algorithm based programming contests and sites..specifically www.topcoder.com. The problem is that though i get the logic and generally the method to solve the problems, i usually end up missing some corner case or there is an overflow somewhere, or sometimes i simply misinterpret the problem statement..i havent trained for algorithmics as such, just participated in the topcoder competitions and the local ACM ICPC competition and the like. Could you tell me how important is algorithmics when one goes in for a a job interview or after that..i'd like to know this especially from people here who handle interviews of freshers in their companies and those who have gone through interviews Is it worth spending time developing my algorithm based skills or should i go about learning different languages and get involved in projects for designing softwares and all ?