5 coding exercises that improved my problem-solving skills

I used to hop from one project to another, thinking I’d get better at solving problems with code. But after three years as a freelance software engineer working on backend solutions, I learned that writing more code doesn’t make you a better developer — it requires critical thinking too. Many developers assume they have this skill, not realizing it’s what separates the average developer from solution-driven ones. Here are five exercises I do to improve.