I’ve been wondering for years how AoC was sustainable. It’s amazing that it’s been running as a labor of love for as long as it has, and to such a high degree of quality. I never get very far...
I’ve been wondering for years how AoC was sustainable. It’s amazing that it’s been running as a labor of love for as long as it has, and to such a high degree of quality. I never get very far (usually I run out of steam around day 10) but always enjoy the attempt. Hopefully the adjusted difficulty curve won’t eliminate me even faster this year.
Will the difficulty curve of the questions remain as it is today? Will day 12 be as difficult as day 25 previously? Or will the difficulty now be equal to roughly the first 12 questions in previous years?
I'm still calibrating that. My hope right now is to have a more condensed version of the 25-day complexity curve, maybe skewed a little to the simpler direction in the middle of the curve? I'd still like something there for everyone, without outpacing beginners too quickly, if I can manage it.
Hello, friends! After 10(!) years of Advent of Code, I've made some changes to preserve my sanity: there will be 12 days of puzzles each December (still starting Dec 1) and there is no longer a global leaderboard.
There's more information on the about page which I've also copied here:
Why did the number of days per event change? It takes a ton of my free time every year to run Advent of Code, and building the puzzles accounts for the majority of that time. After keeping a consistent schedule for ten years(!), I needed a change. The puzzles still start on December 1st so that the day numbers make sense (Day 1 = Dec 1), and puzzles come out every day (ending mid-December).
What happened to the global leaderboard? The global leaderboard was one of the largest sources of stress for me, for the infrastructure, and for many users. People took things too seriously, going way outside the spirit of the contest; some people even resorted to things like DDoS attacks. Many people incorrectly concluded that they were somehow worse programmers because their own times didn't compare. What started as a fun feature in 2015 became an ever-growing problem, and so, after ten years of Advent of Code, I removed the global leaderboard. (However, I've made it so you can share a read-only view of your private leaderboard. Please don't use this feature or data to create a "new" global leaderboard.)
First time seeing this, and I can't believe I haven't found about it sooner! I've always loved those "escape room" advent calendars where each door gives you a hint for which the next day's door...
First time seeing this, and I can't believe I haven't found about it sooner! I've always loved those "escape room" advent calendars where each door gives you a hint for which the next day's door is, and programming in general is super satisfying once you get it right. I've played a few programming puzzle games in the past and had lots of fun, so this seems like such a good idea. I can't wait for the first puzzle! Meanwhile, I'll be checking previous years to get an idea of how this goes.
Also, about the changes, it's my first year so it doesn't really make a difference for me, but they all sound like completely valid reasons, and I'm glad you're prioritizing your own health and still providing us with fun challenges, so thank you!
If you can't wait for December, the site has an archive of past events you can check out. My favorite were the (divisive) 2019 puzzles, since there was a big focus on gradually building a little...
If you can't wait for December, the site has an archive of past events you can check out.
My favorite were the (divisive) 2019 puzzles, since there was a big focus on gradually building a little "bytecode" interpreter to hang further puzzles off of.
I kind of like the removal of the leaderboard. If you look at how people became highly ranked, it’s not something most people would be willing to go to the trouble of setting up. I’ve never...
I kind of like the removal of the leaderboard. If you look at how people became highly ranked, it’s not something most people would be willing to go to the trouble of setting up. I’ve never completed all the puzzles, but that in itself is a huge achievement for anyone who hasn’t done the level leetcode grinding to make such things easy and maybe has other responsibilities in their life (kids/sick people to take care of/unsustainable work hours).
I usually only make it 10-ish days anyway before getting burnt out or needing to focus on other things for the holidays. I hope that harder problems come earlier now! As an aside, I’m sure the...
I usually only make it 10-ish days anyway before getting burnt out or needing to focus on other things for the holidays. I hope that harder problems come earlier now!
As an aside, I’m sure the advent of AI programming means that the global leaderboard was a lot less meaningful anyway.
I’ve been wondering for years how AoC was sustainable. It’s amazing that it’s been running as a labor of love for as long as it has, and to such a high degree of quality. I never get very far (usually I run out of steam around day 10) but always enjoy the attempt. Hopefully the adjusted difficulty curve won’t eliminate me even faster this year.
From down in the comments:
First time seeing this, and I can't believe I haven't found about it sooner! I've always loved those "escape room" advent calendars where each door gives you a hint for which the next day's door is, and programming in general is super satisfying once you get it right. I've played a few programming puzzle games in the past and had lots of fun, so this seems like such a good idea. I can't wait for the first puzzle! Meanwhile, I'll be checking previous years to get an idea of how this goes.
Also, about the changes, it's my first year so it doesn't really make a difference for me, but they all sound like completely valid reasons, and I'm glad you're prioritizing your own health and still providing us with fun challenges, so thank you!
If you can't wait for December, the site has an archive of past events you can check out.
My favorite were the (divisive) 2019 puzzles, since there was a big focus on gradually building a little "bytecode" interpreter to hang further puzzles off of.
Oh, I did just that! I'm halfway through 2015 already in just one day! These challenges are addictive.
I kind of like the removal of the leaderboard. If you look at how people became highly ranked, it’s not something most people would be willing to go to the trouble of setting up. I’ve never completed all the puzzles, but that in itself is a huge achievement for anyone who hasn’t done the level leetcode grinding to make such things easy and maybe has other responsibilities in their life (kids/sick people to take care of/unsustainable work hours).
I usually only make it 10-ish days anyway before getting burnt out or needing to focus on other things for the holidays. I hope that harder problems come earlier now!
As an aside, I’m sure the advent of AI programming means that the global leaderboard was a lot less meaningful anyway.