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Puzzle Websites to Sharpen Your Programming Skills

121 points by edw519 17y ago

noodle 17y ago
i also like http://codegolf.com http://codegolf.com
amichail 17y ago
The assumption here is that programming is about clever problem solving. Whether this is so depends on the situation. The challenge of inventing a new kind of app may be far greater than anything associated with its implementation. Btw, I think that some people want to use difficult languages at work to make their job more challenging.
- req2 17y ago
  Does working on your serve improve your tennis game?
- eru 17y ago
  > Btw, I think that some people want to use difficult languages at work to make their job more challenging. Like Java or C++? I'd rather stick with the easy stuff like Haskell, the problems at hand are challenging enough.
- j_baker 17y ago
  If you're at work, no, it's not about clever problem solving. In my spare time though, I prefer to solve bigger problems than parsing CSV files into databases.
- robin2 17y ago
  I remember doing some of Dave Thomas' code katas when he first posted them, and thinking that they were fun but a bit pointless, and generally rather too easy to learn much from. The other month at work I did a presentation at work on Andy Hunt's theories of programmer skill development where I mentioned katas, saying that I didn't really see they had much value. However, Ron Jeffries' celebrated failure to write a sudoko solver puts a slightly different perspective on this. If your daily work involves doing algorithmic stuff, even if it's only moderately demanding, then I don't see that you will get much benefit from doing the same sort of thing at a more noddyish level. However, if your daily work isn't like that, if perhaps it is in the vicinity of what used to called Data Processing (e.g. implementing payroll systems), then I can easily imagine that your coding chops might get rusty. In which case, taking deliberate steps to avoid that would be sensible. [This argument only applies to the question of puzzles improving ones work, rather than being fun.]
tetha 17y ago
and they dont mention uva.onlinejudge.org, the acm problem contests and such?
- d_c 17y ago
  I like the uva onlinejudge, spoj is pretty good too: http://www.spoj.pl/ http://www.spoj.pl/
- Dilpil 17y ago
  Indeed, this is the one my University's CS club uses. It has really interesting puzzles, and you can submit code to it.
igorgue 17y ago
I don't like Facebook's puzzles some of them are impossible to solve without using C.
- tudorachim 17y ago
  Interesting. Which ones?
- weaksauce 17y ago
  Can't you call C functions from pretty much any language worth it's salt nowadays? What are the problems that are intractable in other languages?
arthurk 17y ago
The topcoder headline reminds me of Mythical Man-Month. "What could you accomplish with a team of 222,375?" Nothing?
- j_baker 17y ago
  Can 222,375 women deliver a child in 0.000040472 months?
  - a-priori 17y ago
    Properly staggered and with a lead time of 9 months, yes, 222,375 women could deliver a child every 0.000040472 months on average. I'm sorry, was that not the question? :)
jlees 17y ago
I like to go through past puzzles from the Informatics Olympiad (http://www.olympiad.org.uk/ http://www.olympiad.org.uk/) for a more theoretical less programmy type of challenge.
- klipt 17y ago
  For algorithms training[1], the USA Computer Olympiad training program is also excellent: http://train.usaco.org/usacogate http://train.usaco.org/usacogate [1] basically from scratch; it's suitable for smart highschoolers with some programming experience. That website has been responsible for more than a few IOI medals.
MaysonL 17y ago
Another interesting site is Sphere online: http://www.spoj.pl/ http://www.spoj.pl/

121 points by edw519 17y ago

i also like http://codegolf.com http://codegolf.com

The assumption here is that programming is about clever problem solving. Whether this is so depends on the situation. The challenge of inventing a new kind of app may be far greater than anything associated with its implementation. Btw, I think that some people want to use difficult languages at work to make their job more challenging.

req2 17y ago
Does working on your serve improve your tennis game?
eru 17y ago
> Btw, I think that some people want to use difficult languages at work to make their job more challenging. Like Java or C++? I'd rather stick with the easy stuff like Haskell, the problems at hand are challenging enough.
j_baker 17y ago
If you're at work, no, it's not about clever problem solving. In my spare time though, I prefer to solve bigger problems than parsing CSV files into databases.
robin2 17y ago
I remember doing some of Dave Thomas' code katas when he first posted them, and thinking that they were fun but a bit pointless, and generally rather too easy to learn much from. The other month at work I did a presentation at work on Andy Hunt's theories of programmer skill development where I mentioned katas, saying that I didn't really see they had much value. However, Ron Jeffries' celebrated failure to write a sudoko solver puts a slightly different perspective on this. If your daily work involves doing algorithmic stuff, even if it's only moderately demanding, then I don't see that you will get much benefit from doing the same sort of thing at a more noddyish level. However, if your daily work isn't like that, if perhaps it is in the vicinity of what used to called Data Processing (e.g. implementing payroll systems), then I can easily imagine that your coding chops might get rusty. In which case, taking deliberate steps to avoid that would be sensible. [This argument only applies to the question of puzzles improving ones work, rather than being fun.]

tetha 17y ago

and they dont mention uva.onlinejudge.org, the acm problem contests and such?

d_c 17y ago
I like the uva onlinejudge, spoj is pretty good too: http://www.spoj.pl/ http://www.spoj.pl/
Dilpil 17y ago
Indeed, this is the one my University's CS club uses. It has really interesting puzzles, and you can submit code to it.

igorgue 17y ago

I don't like Facebook's puzzles some of them are impossible to solve without using C.

tudorachim 17y ago
Interesting. Which ones?
weaksauce 17y ago
Can't you call C functions from pretty much any language worth it's salt nowadays? What are the problems that are intractable in other languages?

arthurk 17y ago

The topcoder headline reminds me of Mythical Man-Month. "What could you accomplish with a team of 222,375?" Nothing?

j_baker 17y ago
Can 222,375 women deliver a child in 0.000040472 months?
- a-priori 17y ago
  Properly staggered and with a lead time of 9 months, yes, 222,375 women could deliver a child every 0.000040472 months on average. I'm sorry, was that not the question? :)

jlees 17y ago

I like to go through past puzzles from the Informatics Olympiad (http://www.olympiad.org.uk/ http://www.olympiad.org.uk/) for a more theoretical less programmy type of challenge.

klipt 17y ago
For algorithms training[1], the USA Computer Olympiad training program is also excellent: http://train.usaco.org/usacogate http://train.usaco.org/usacogate [1] basically from scratch; it's suitable for smart highschoolers with some programming experience. That website has been responsible for more than a few IOI medals.

MaysonL 17y ago

Another interesting site is Sphere online: http://www.spoj.pl/ http://www.spoj.pl/