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It ate my life for a few years in a row, I even managed to finish on Christmas eve twice. Now I don't even look, it turns from fun to stress rather quickly.

moomin 2y ago
Only year I ever completed it it took eight months. I’m not seeing my name on a leaderboard any time soon.
- SketchySeaBeast 2y ago
  Oh yeah, me neither. The competition is far too intense. What takes me hours takes the competitors minutes.
  - codr7 2y ago
    I actually made somewhat of an effort this time, made sure I was awake in good coding shape when the problem was released. Had a scaffold set up for running the code based on previous years. And I'm a pretty decent all-round coder, should be by now. Ended up at around spot 6500. Boggles my mind to even imagine what it would take.
    - jodrellblank 2y ago
      You can see videos of what it takes; Jonathan Paulson makes the leaderboard often with Python and puts videos of him doing it on YouTube; he made positions 25 and 40 on day 1 this year and here is his video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ym1ae-vBy6g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ym1ae-vBy6g
      - codr7 2y ago
        Nice. I can move that fast, faster even, when I know exactly where I'm going. I imagine if I was doing this kind of problem solving all day every day it would be possible.
ljm 2y ago
I re-read the intro and the fact it mentions leetcode and the like was enough for me to decide that it's an ultimately pointless endeavour for me. I have no interest at all in competitive programming or maths; I spend 40+ hours a week doing programming for work, I want games and challenges that pull me away from that so I continue to have a life outside of my job.
- ipdashc 2y ago
  For what it's worth, I hate leetcode with a burning passion, have no real interest in math, and yet I personally find Advent of Code quite fun and enjoyable.
  - dunham 2y ago
    I have found AoC fun, but on some of the later days time constraints make it a little stressful (full time job + kids constrain my time). I've done it (and completed it) the last five years. I used it to try out a few languages (Haskell, Idris, Lean) and did it in python one year I was feeling lazy. I've got a project going now, and I probably should do that instead. However, that project is a programming language, so this is a way to test practicality. But solving problems and fixing shortcomings in the underlying language at the same time may be a bit too much. (It's a dependent typed language, so there is a lot of subtlety to deal with.)
    - pxx 2y ago
      this strat won advent of code in 2022. https://blog.vero.site/post/noulith https://blog.vero.site/post/noulith
  - codr7 2y ago
    Same, I've been coding for 40 years and I still learn plenty every year.
- ehsankia 2y ago
  I find it useful for trying new languages. The first 10 days usually start very easily and progress quite gradually. The 2nd half definitely gets more brutal, but if you do have the self-control, you can stop whenever it stops being productive.
alach11 2y ago
I just do the puzzles until it stops being fun. For me that's usually around day 14.
- codr7 2y ago
  Goes up and down for me, some I enjoy a lot, some are mostly painful details to get right.

moomin 2y ago

Only year I ever completed it it took eight months. I’m not seeing my name on a leaderboard any time soon.

SketchySeaBeast 2y ago
Oh yeah, me neither. The competition is far too intense. What takes me hours takes the competitors minutes.
- codr7 2y ago
  I actually made somewhat of an effort this time, made sure I was awake in good coding shape when the problem was released. Had a scaffold set up for running the code based on previous years. And I'm a pretty decent all-round coder, should be by now. Ended up at around spot 6500. Boggles my mind to even imagine what it would take.
  - jodrellblank 2y ago
    You can see videos of what it takes; Jonathan Paulson makes the leaderboard often with Python and puts videos of him doing it on YouTube; he made positions 25 and 40 on day 1 this year and here is his video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ym1ae-vBy6g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ym1ae-vBy6g
    - codr7 2y ago
      Nice. I can move that fast, faster even, when I know exactly where I'm going. I imagine if I was doing this kind of problem solving all day every day it would be possible.

ljm 2y ago

I re-read the intro and the fact it mentions leetcode and the like was enough for me to decide that it's an ultimately pointless endeavour for me. I have no interest at all in competitive programming or maths; I spend 40+ hours a week doing programming for work, I want games and challenges that pull me away from that so I continue to have a life outside of my job.

ipdashc 2y ago
For what it's worth, I hate leetcode with a burning passion, have no real interest in math, and yet I personally find Advent of Code quite fun and enjoyable.
- dunham 2y ago
  I have found AoC fun, but on some of the later days time constraints make it a little stressful (full time job + kids constrain my time). I've done it (and completed it) the last five years. I used it to try out a few languages (Haskell, Idris, Lean) and did it in python one year I was feeling lazy. I've got a project going now, and I probably should do that instead. However, that project is a programming language, so this is a way to test practicality. But solving problems and fixing shortcomings in the underlying language at the same time may be a bit too much. (It's a dependent typed language, so there is a lot of subtlety to deal with.)
  - pxx 2y ago
    this strat won advent of code in 2022. https://blog.vero.site/post/noulith https://blog.vero.site/post/noulith
- codr7 2y ago
  Same, I've been coding for 40 years and I still learn plenty every year.
ehsankia 2y ago
I find it useful for trying new languages. The first 10 days usually start very easily and progress quite gradually. The 2nd half definitely gets more brutal, but if you do have the self-control, you can stop whenever it stops being productive.

alach11 2y ago

I just do the puzzles until it stops being fun. For me that's usually around day 14.

codr7 2y ago
Goes up and down for me, some I enjoy a lot, some are mostly painful details to get right.