Project Euler

I've personally found the opposite. In order to advance you need to know the specific techniques or mathematics and there are no hints or information on how to approach the problem. So it boils down to how much of that mathematics you know. If you don't then the brute force approaches take a long time to find the solution.

Re: Project Euler

#5

Post by leosanchez » Wed, Nov 12, 2025, 6:47 PM UTC

rhdunn wrote: post #4

ssalmon74 wrote: post #2

[flagged]

I've personally found the opposite. In order to advance you need to know the specific techniques or mathematics and there are no hints or information on how to approach the problem. So it boils down to how much of that mathematics you know. If you don't then the brute force approaches take a long time to find the solution.

I think with a few math tricks you can solve around 25-50, It gets very tough after that without maths background.

Re: Project Euler

#6

Post by josh-stylo » Wed, Nov 12, 2025, 6:48 PM UTC

ssalmon74 wrote: post #2

[flagged]

Completely agree! Google + Project Euler was how I learned to code

Re: Project Euler

#7

Post by thornewolf » Wed, Nov 12, 2025, 6:48 PM UTC

I have done Project Euler very sporadically since high school. To date I've only done problems 1-54. Despite this, I think the website was a big contributor to my love of programming. I found it before knowing about leetcode and I think it prepared me well. I think I owe Project Euler a decent %-age of my eventual entry into Software Engineering as a field.

Re: Project Euler

#8

Post by Gormisdomai » Wed, Nov 12, 2025, 6:49 PM UTC

This website was a part of my education as a computer scientist and seeing it here again I'm curious for the full story of how this site was made. Who made it, what do they do now, is it part of a broader project they have?

There is only very basic info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Euler

Re: Project Euler

#9

Post by btilly » Wed, Nov 12, 2025, 6:56 PM UTC

rhdunn wrote: post #4

ssalmon74 wrote: post #2

[flagged]

I've personally found the opposite. In order to advance you need to know the specific techniques or mathematics and there are no hints or information on how to approach the problem. So it boils down to how much of that mathematics you know. If you don't then the brute force approaches take a long time to find the solution.

I disagree.

Often the techniques that you need for a harder problem, are discussed in a forum for an easier problem. Even more often the techniques that you need for a given problem are possible to work out from scratch. And the more you work out, the easier they get.

This can be very frustrating for people who are used to being spoon fed techniques, then given problems which use what they have just been taught. But it is a lot of fun for people who enjoy puzzles. If it isn't your cup of tea, that's fine. But don't dismiss it for people who enjoy it.

Disclaimer. I haven't personally engaged in the last few years, but I've spent a lot of time on it. I solved 598 and contributed a couple of puzzles as well. One of which they immediately saw a way to do that I hadn't, and put it out there with a difficulty level that I didn't know how to do! That was https://projecteuler.net/problem=240.

Re: Project Euler

#10

Post by observationist » Wed, Nov 12, 2025, 6:57 PM UTC

Gormisdomai wrote: post #8

This website was a part of my education as a computer scientist and seeing it here again I'm curious for the full story of how this site was made. Who made it, what do they do now, is it part of a broader project they have? There is only very basic info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Euler

https://archive.is/iEQxy

This article is excellent. It mentions the creator, Colin Hughes, and the story behind the project, but it boils down to a passion project for him.