Advent Of Code 2022
It's almost time for Advent of Code again this year. If you haven't joined the leaderboard, and the Discord, what are you waiting for?
It soon going to be time for Advent of Code. What is Advent of Code? It is an Advent Calendar for Coders. Every day you get a little treat, but instead of chocolate, you get a code puzzle to solve. Here is more of an explanation from the guy who created it:
Why?
Why participate? Well, obviously being engineers most of us find problem-solving fun and challenging. It's also a great way to practice and build good habits. It's great for experimenting and practicing new techniques because there's no pressure. It's also a great chance to practice TDD because the puzzles give you sets of inputs and expected outputs, so it is very easy to write tests.
Join the Leaderboard and Discord
Stefan, who I interviewed recently on my podcast, has started a leaderboard and a Discord server to share solutions. See details below. The leaderboard is kind of a friendly competition. It keeps track of who has solved what puzzles and how quickly and it ranks everyone. Take that with a grain of salt, because a lot depends on what time zone you are in. The Discord server is a great place to chat about the puzzles and learn from everyone else's solutions.
Downsides
As Stefan alludes to in his slide, it can be addictive, and solving some of the puzzles can be time-consuming. Do use with care and like all things, do it in moderation. Also, some people can take the leaderboard a little too seriously. It's meant to be friendly competition.
