I'm intentionally only dabbling in this year's Advent of Code because I know that the puzzles will get harder over the month, so much so that I won't have the time to dedicate to solving them.
This approach has at least given me the "excuse" to just use whatever technique or language I feel like to solve the puzzles. I tried a bit of APL for day 1, used Bash for day 2, and have used standard JavaScript (rather than, say, Ramda-flavoured) for day 3. Moreover, I won't feel as guilty if I don't solve day 4. Then again, I'm on a private leaderboard and can't help seeing what others are up to, and feeling some competition and pressure!
Anyway, I realised the eternal dilemma I face during December because of Advent of Code and it's similar to what we know from "Fast, Cheap, Good - Pick Two". This version is "Fast, Elegant, Instructive - Pick One". In other words, my small brain allows me to solve a puzzle in only one of these modes:
fast: just getting it done quick (and most likely dirty)
elegant: writing something tidy, that I could show to others
instructive: using the puzzle to learn something new, either in a new language (especially if it's from a different descendant), or a new technique
I'm intentionally only dabbling in this year's Advent of Code because I know that the puzzles will get harder over the month, so much so that I won't have the time to dedicate to solving them.
This approach has at least given me the "excuse" to just use whatever technique or language I feel like to solve the puzzles. I tried a bit of APL for day 1, used Bash for day 2, and have used standard JavaScript (rather than, say, Ramda-flavoured) for day 3. Moreover, I won't feel as guilty if I don't solve day 4. Then again, I'm on a private leaderboard and can't help seeing what others are up to, and feeling some competition and pressure!
Anyway, I realised the eternal dilemma I face during December because of Advent of Code and it's similar to what we know from "Fast, Cheap, Good - Pick Two". This version is "Fast, Elegant, Instructive - Pick One". In other words, my small brain allows me to solve a puzzle in only one of these modes:
Do you feel the same?