5 ms·

Heh, thanks for the nerd-sniping. I’m down to 25 unsolved problems (currently working on #522, for way more than 30 hours), but #453 is one I haven’t done anyt

Heh, thanks for the nerd-sniping. I’m down to 25 unsolved problems (currently working on #522, for way more than 30 hours), but #453 is one I haven’t done anything with yet. So of course I took a look, had some thoughts, and will probably have to force myself to look away in an hour or two. But, ooh, maybe that one’s next. I’m retired, and PE is my main intellectual stimulation for the past 5 years. I thought I might be done by now, but everything left is at least 80% difficulty, and I’ve given up estimating how long those will take, if ever. I started PE to practice Python for fun, but it’s turned into so much more than that.

hedgehog 5y ago
Out of curiosity how many hours have you put into it to get this far?
- philiplu 5y ago
  Whew, probably 5 to 10 thousand, at a wild guess? I ran through the first 106 problems (plus #243) in 23 days in April/May 2016, then dropped it for a year. Since then, I've plugged away pretty steadily, about 150 problems a year. That's tailed off as I'm getting close to the end. New problems show up once a week (except in summer), and I mostly keep up with those, but my success on the backlog is slowing down as what's remaining gets increasingly difficult. I'll probably solve around 80 this year, and it's that high just because of the new problems. Each old problem typically takes a week to a month, if I manage to get it at all. Some I let rest for a while, hoping inspiration will strike months later. I've stuck with it mostly because I really enjoy learning math. I had plans to pursue a PhD in math back in college, 40+ years ago. But that's when I discovered computer programming, which was way easier, and paid much better. Now that I'm retired, I've got time to devote to Project Euler, which is satisfying that itch to keep learning.
  - alfiedotwtf 5y ago
    > Whew, probably 5 to 10 thousand Impressive. Curious if you think it improved your programming or thought process when it comes to problem solving overall? I've been thinking of spending some time on Project Euler when I have a few spare cycles.
    - philiplu 5y ago
      It probably didn't improve my programming - I started it as a fun way to learn Python, but I'm retired after 30 years in the business writing compilers and other programming tools/library code. Learning and programming data structures and algorithms is second nature by now. But I'd say it did improve my thought process, specifically the ability to dwell deeply on something, and wait for inspiration to strike. For the really hard problems, I often will hit that "Eureka!" moment when everything is suddenly obvious, and I think I'm getting better at that. A part of that, too, is my Google-fu has improved. As I delve into deeper parts of math, I seem able to come up with the key search phrase more quickly. It helps that I did my BSc in Math, 40 years ago, so reading academic papers wasn't foreign to me.
      - alfiedotwtf 5y ago
        > But I'd say it did improve my thought process, specifically the ability to dwell deeply on something, and wait for inspiration to strike Excellent, that's what I was hoping to get out of it. Hope you're enjoying retirement. All that free time now to do more programming :)
weatherlight 5y ago
Nice!
thealig 5y ago
impressive, the tenacity to stick to project euler since it becomes very difficult and mathy. I have solved a few here and there, plan to come there some time in the future.

hedgehog 5y ago

Out of curiosity how many hours have you put into it to get this far?

philiplu 5y ago
Whew, probably 5 to 10 thousand, at a wild guess? I ran through the first 106 problems (plus #243) in 23 days in April/May 2016, then dropped it for a year. Since then, I've plugged away pretty steadily, about 150 problems a year. That's tailed off as I'm getting close to the end. New problems show up once a week (except in summer), and I mostly keep up with those, but my success on the backlog is slowing down as what's remaining gets increasingly difficult. I'll probably solve around 80 this year, and it's that high just because of the new problems. Each old problem typically takes a week to a month, if I manage to get it at all. Some I let rest for a while, hoping inspiration will strike months later. I've stuck with it mostly because I really enjoy learning math. I had plans to pursue a PhD in math back in college, 40+ years ago. But that's when I discovered computer programming, which was way easier, and paid much better. Now that I'm retired, I've got time to devote to Project Euler, which is satisfying that itch to keep learning.
- alfiedotwtf 5y ago
  > Whew, probably 5 to 10 thousand Impressive. Curious if you think it improved your programming or thought process when it comes to problem solving overall? I've been thinking of spending some time on Project Euler when I have a few spare cycles.
  - philiplu 5y ago
    It probably didn't improve my programming - I started it as a fun way to learn Python, but I'm retired after 30 years in the business writing compilers and other programming tools/library code. Learning and programming data structures and algorithms is second nature by now. But I'd say it did improve my thought process, specifically the ability to dwell deeply on something, and wait for inspiration to strike. For the really hard problems, I often will hit that "Eureka!" moment when everything is suddenly obvious, and I think I'm getting better at that. A part of that, too, is my Google-fu has improved. As I delve into deeper parts of math, I seem able to come up with the key search phrase more quickly. It helps that I did my BSc in Math, 40 years ago, so reading academic papers wasn't foreign to me.
    - alfiedotwtf 5y ago
      > But I'd say it did improve my thought process, specifically the ability to dwell deeply on something, and wait for inspiration to strike Excellent, that's what I was hoping to get out of it. Hope you're enjoying retirement. All that free time now to do more programming :)

weatherlight 5y ago

Nice!

thealig 5y ago

impressive, the tenacity to stick to project euler since it becomes very difficult and mathy. I have solved a few here and there, plan to come there some time in the future.