
DeepSeek — User Guide
Top-tier Chinese model with strong reasoning; free tier available.
Strengths
- Completely free, no need to pay to use the strongest inference model DeepSeek-R1
- Top-notch mathematics and code reasoning capabilities, comparable to OpenAI o1
- No need to circumvent the wall, direct domestic access, fast speed
- Open source model supports local deployment and secondary development
- Balanced bilingual ability in Chinese and English, especially excellent in understanding Chinese
Best for
- Mathematics problem solving and proof (college entrance examination, competition, college mathematics)
- Code generation, debugging and algorithm problem solving
- Complex logical reasoning and multi-step analysis
- Paper reading and academic content understanding
- Daily Chinese writing, summary and translation
Basic dialogue and reasoning
DeepSeek's reasoning mode (R1) will show the complete thinking process and is very suitable for tasks that require rigorous derivation.
Use deep thinking mode to solve complex math problems
Please use deep thinking mode to answer the following questions: Prove: For any positive integer n, n³ - n is divisible by 6.
DeepSeek R1 will display the complete inference chain:
Factor n³ - n into n(n-1)(n+1)
Show that this is the product of three consecutive integers
Prove that it must contain multiples of 2 and multiples of 3
therefore divisible by 6
The thinking process is transparent and logical.
Click the "Deep Thinking" button to enable R1 mode, which is suitable for scenarios that require strict reasoning such as mathematical proofs and logical derivation.
Comparative analysis of two technical solutions
I need to choose a caching solution for a web application with 100,000 daily users. Please compare and analyze: Option A: Redis cluster Option B: Local memory cache (such as Caffeine) Analyze and give recommendations from the four dimensions of performance, cost, operation and maintenance complexity, and data consistency.
DeepSeek will provide a structured four-dimensional comparative analysis table and comprehensively consider the daily activity scale.
Recommend the Redis cluster solution and explain in which scenarios local caching is more suitable.
By providing specific business scale and constraints, DeepSeek's analysis will be more targeted.
Code development assistance
DeepSeek excels at code generation and algorithmic questions, and is particularly good at Python, JavaScript, and C++.
Solve LeetCode algorithm questions and explain the ideas
Please answer LeetCode question 146 LRU cache, requirements: 1. Give Python implementation 2. Time complexity O(1) 3. Explain in detail the reasons for choosing the data structure 4. Analyze boundary conditions
DeepSeek will provide an implementation using OrderedDict or doubly linked list + hash table.
Explain why a combination of these two data structures is needed,
And handle boundary cases such as capacity=0, with detailed code comments.
Algorithm questions plus the requirements of "explaining ideas" and "analyzing boundary situations" can provide more complete learning materials.
Generate SQL queries and optimize
There is the following table structure: - orders(id, user_id, amount, created_at, status) - users(id, name, email, created_at) Please write a SQL query: find the users whose total consumption exceeds 1,000 yuan in the past 30 days. Sorted in descending order by total consumption, display user name, email address, number of orders, and total consumption. At the same time, analyze the performance bottleneck of this query and recommend how to add indexes.
Output complete SQL with JOIN, GROUP BY, HAVING, ORDER BY,
And pointed out that a joint index needs to be built on orders(user_id, created_at, status),
Explain the reasons for index selection.
Providing a complete table structure, the SQL generated by DeepSeek is more accurate and can also give more targeted optimization suggestions.
Chinese writing and content creation
DeepSeek's Chinese writing capabilities are outstanding among domestic models and are suitable for all types of Chinese content production.
Write professional technical blog posts
Please write a technical blog with the title "Understanding Transformer Attention Mechanism from Scratch" for readers who have basic Python but no deep learning background. Requirements: - Explain the attention mechanism using metaphors from life - Contains simple explanations of mathematical formulas (just use text descriptions) - With pseudocode examples - Approximately 800 words in length - Markdown format
Output a technical blog with a clear structure, and use life metaphors such as “looking up a dictionary” to explain attention.
Contains an intuitive explanation of Q/K/V matrices and simple Python pseudocode,
Suitable for introductory technical readers.
Clarify the background knowledge level of the target readers, and DeepSeek will automatically adjust the depth of the content.
Compared with similar tools
| Tool | Strength | Best for | Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|
| DeepSeek This tool | Top-notch reasoning ability, completely free, no need to circumvent the firewall | Mathematics, coding, logical reasoning, preferred by domestic users | completely free |
| ChatGPT | The richest ecology, versatile in writing and general tasks | Users who need a rich ecosystem such as plug-ins and GPTs | Free version / Plus $20/month |
| Kimi | Super long context, strong document reading ability | Scenarios that require processing of long documents and PDF analysis | Free version / Member ¥20/month |
| Wenxinyiyan | Deep Chinese understanding, Baidu ecological integration | Requires Chinese content creation and Baidu ecosystem users | Free version/Professional version paid |
Sources & references:
- DeepSeek official website (2025-03)
- DeepSeek-R1 Technical Report (2025-01)
- DeepSeek GitHub open source repository (2025-03)