What goes through your head when you look at a problem statement ?

Question

Other than the obvious what else goes through your mind when your breaking down a problem. The steps in finding a solution to the given problem. When you see the required inputs and outputs.
How do you decide which algorithm to use to solve the given question ???
For example there is: Sorting, Dynamic programming, recursion, and brute force. There is more but wanted to name a few.

Answer 1

I try to break the problem down and figure out what it is truly asking. Then I spend time figuring out how I would find a solution and write that in pseudocode, then I am ready to write out and debug my answer. Hope this helps.