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Advent of Code 2020

adventofcode.com

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Re: Advent of Code 2020

#41

Post by baron816 »

xyzzy_plugh wrote: post #2

I've always found AoC to be added stress during a time of the year I'm not really running a stress-deficit. I find the competitive aspect a pretty big turn off. I usually get a few puzzles in and then burn out, because I can't keep up with the people who do it every day (I don't even use my computer every day). I wish the scoring didn't prioritize timeliness. This is really the sort of thing I'd enjoy cranking out on…

I’ve never done it, but I’m willing to bet that stress is a motivator for others who would otherwise lose interest.

Re: Advent of Code 2020

#42

Post by a_imho »

Why Advent of Code, how is it different to the million other coding challenges online? I never participated, only looked at some of the puzzles.

Re: Advent of Code 2020

#43

Post by djaychela »

a_imho wrote: post #42

Why Advent of Code, how is it different to the million other coding challenges online? I never participated, only looked at some of the puzzles.

It's themed and timely. I'm not a great coder and don't have a CS background, but have found it very useful to stretch my abilities to the limit. Its much more friendly than any code competition site I've been on, abs also it's useful being able to go to reddit to get tips or occasionally help others (very occasionally in my case!).

I look forward to it each year.

Re: Advent of Code 2020

#44

Post by will_pseudonym »

Jtsummers wrote: post #23
jsmeaton wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just began a shared slack channel with my co-workers, and put the call out for any other interested hobbyists from other departments. We'll collaborate and discuss there, and ignore the public boards. I found in previous years I gave up a few puzzles in, so I need some community to keep the interest up. But I have zero interest in the competitive aspect.

Not Slack, but this is what I did with colleagues last year (I first participated in 2018, got a group in 2019). It was fun, moderately competitive (between myself and one other guy, the rest were just solving problems but he is always competitive, and I like to goad him), and we got to teach some of the young guys at the office things they should've learned in their CS education (but somehow didn't).

> and we got to teach some of the young guys at the office things they should've learned in their CS education (but somehow didn't)

What specific things had they not learned in their CS education/which puzzles utilized them?

Re: Advent of Code 2020

#45

Post by makach »

baron816 wrote: post #41
xyzzy_plugh wrote: post #2

I've always found AoC to be added stress during a time of the year I'm not really running a stress-deficit. I find the competitive aspect a pretty big turn off. I usually get a few puzzles in and then burn out, because I can't keep up with the people who do it every day (I don't even use my computer every day). I wish the scoring didn't prioritize timeliness. This is really the sort of thing I'd enjoy cranking out on…

I’ve never done it, but I’m willing to bet that stress is a motivator for others who would otherwise lose interest.

It is extremely competitive. Stress is indeed motivational , and it is part of what makes it fun. Once the difficulty starts to increase I can spend an insane amount of time on a simple task. I stay away from these competitions, simply because I don't have time to dig into the material and it makes me feel terrible when I have to abandon a task because of real life, or xyz.

I do have tremendous amount of respect of the developers who completes these on the back of their hands.

Re: Advent of Code 2020

#47

Post by Barrin92 »

that damn intcode computer from last year is still giving me PTSD. Had a bug in it that somehow didn't show up in the first three challenges, took me forever to find.

Re: Advent of Code 2020

#48

Post by speedgoose »

Waterluvian wrote: post #36
xyzzy_plugh wrote: post #2

I've always found AoC to be added stress during a time of the year I'm not really running a stress-deficit. I find the competitive aspect a pretty big turn off. I usually get a few puzzles in and then burn out, because I can't keep up with the people who do it every day (I don't even use my computer every day). I wish the scoring didn't prioritize timeliness. This is really the sort of thing I'd enjoy cranking out on…

I really enjoy it until like day 7 where the difficulty just ramps up. I need a casual difficulty because I really do enjoy cozy simple short puzzles.

Same. The beginning is fun but then it get too hard for my taste. I don't have enough time nor motivation. It looks like many people appreciate the difficulty though.

Re: Advent of Code 2020

#49

Post by thetrustworthy »

a_imho wrote: post #42

Why Advent of Code, how is it different to the million other coding challenges online? I never participated, only looked at some of the puzzles.

The factor that makes it stand out for me is the community. The r/adventofcode subreddit is very active every year and not only can you learn programming tips and tricks from others but you can also see people doing crazy things like solving problems in tools like Excel, Git, etc. and cool visualizations of their solutions.

Re: Advent of Code 2020

#50

Post by polytely »

xyzzy_plugh wrote: post #2

I've always found AoC to be added stress during a time of the year I'm not really running a stress-deficit. I find the competitive aspect a pretty big turn off. I usually get a few puzzles in and then burn out, because I can't keep up with the people who do it every day (I don't even use my computer every day). I wish the scoring didn't prioritize timeliness. This is really the sort of thing I'd enjoy cranking out on…

I always like to do some puzzles but it takes me quite long to solve them, so far I've burned out after a couple of days every year I've tried it.

This year I'm going to try to use Elixir, a language I've started learning the past year, hoping I can at least get past day 5 this year.

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