I've always struggled with AoC in the past due to work and family commitments, but this year is different. I now have a work from home, flexitime job and thus so much more time to devote to it. Hope to make it beyond day 2 at least!
Advent of Code 2020
61–70 of 86 posts
Re: Advent of Code 2020
#62I'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…
It is a big turn-off that puzzles are always relased at a time that is convenient for Americans instead of moving across the globe or some other scheme.
Re: Advent of Code 2020
#63I'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 agree with this. I've participated since 2016, but haven't yet completed all 25 puzzles, I usually burn out after about day 8-10 (partly due to the curve in difficulty).
I'm based in the UK, so the puzzles get unlocked at ~6AM which gives an hour or two before work if I wake up earlier than usual.
I think I'll still take part this year, but at a more relaxed pace.
Re: Advent of Code 2020
#64I'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 agree with this. I've participated since 2016, but haven't yet completed all 25 puzzles, I usually burn out after about day 8-10 (partly due to the curve in difficulty). I'm based in the UK, so the puzzles get unlocked at ~6AM which gives an hour or two before work if I wake up earlier than usual. I think I'll still take part this year, but at a more relaxed pace.
Midnight EST (UTC-5) would be 5 am in the UK for the unlock time.
Re: Advent of Code 2020
#65I'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…
The midnight release in the Eastern timezone doesn't help either. I'd assume this is convenient for West coasters. And probably excludes Europeans altogether. I'm making mass general assumptions here...
They unlock at 6 in central european time (5 in UK).
This is the only month of the year when I will consistently get out of bed at 5:55, give the puzzles up to 2.5 hours, then have breakfast and get ready for work.
Personally I find it super convenient since I and many of my close colleagues begin work so late, but I also know a lot of people who would be on their commute to work at that time.
Re: Advent of Code 2020
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
Even though I enjoy competing for the leaderboard, the creator is pretty up-front about the leaderboard being Not The Point and advises you to ignore it, and from that perspective the midnight release time makes more sense. (And the reason is that it's the time that the creator can be readily available: https://adventofcode.com/2020/about )
You can't make a leaderboard and then say it's not important. Especially when you don't even opt into it, you just...get on the leaderboard. If the creator was genuine about it not being important they'd explicitly limit the leaderboard with an opt in process. You shouldn't even be able to see the leaderboard unless you have opted into it. It shouldn't be visible or clickable.
Did you know HN has one? https://news.ycombinator.com/leaders .. It used to be a top link across the site but they got rid of it for similar "not the point" reasons.
Admittedly I did used to spend a lot more time commenting and posting here when it existed, and have since slipped way down :-)
Re: Advent of Code 2020
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree with this. I've participated since 2016, but haven't yet completed all 25 puzzles, I usually burn out after about day 8-10 (partly due to the curve in difficulty). I'm based in the UK, so the puzzles get unlocked at ~6AM which gives an hour or two before work if I wake up earlier than usual. I think I'll still take part this year, but at a more relaxed pace.
Midnight EST (UTC-5) would be 5 am in the UK for the unlock time.
This is correct. I am a PhD student and I know several undergraduates who get up at 5am (or stay up until 5am) to get started on the AoC problems ASAP.
It's very unhealthy.
Re: Advent of Code 2020
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
Midnight EST (UTC-5) would be 5 am in the UK for the unlock time.
This is correct. I am a PhD student and I know several undergraduates who get up at 5am (or stay up until 5am) to get started on the AoC problems ASAP. It's very unhealthy.
I'm in central Europe and so puzzles unlock at 6 here. I've often thought that this time is nearly ideal for me. But at the same time, had I lived in the UK, it would have been absolute hell to try and be competitive. So an hour can make a huge difference.
I have had days where I've just caved in to the lack of sleep and decided to sleep in the next day, sliding on leaderboards in the process.
Re: Advent of Code 2020
#69Why Advent of Code, how is it different to the million other coding challenges online? I never participated, only looked at some of the puzzles.
Nothing fundamentally different. Just a well done one.
Re: Advent of Code 2020
#70I look forward to Advent of Code every year. So far, I've used it as a way to learn new languages - I've done it in D, C#, Swift so far. I don't bother with the competition aspect, but I do have a few people that I bounce solutions off of. This year I'm taking a different approach though, I'm going to use it to re-learn an old language - UniVerse[0] Basic[1]. In my first IT job, I supported an in-house system that ra…
I do the same thing! One year, it gave me a reason to really understand Javascript. Another time I learned Go. Last year, it was the 50th anniversary of the release of the first PDP-11, so I'm still going through and writing the solutions in bare-metal PDP-11 assembly.