Advent Of Code

2022

Day	Comment	Python	Go
Day 01	Summing lists, max N	Python	Go
Day 02	Rock Paper Scissors	Python
Day 03	Overlapping strings	Python
Day 04	Overlapping ranges	Python
Day 05	Stack Ops, Parsing	Python
Day 06	Sliding Window	Python
Day 07	Filesystem Size Calc	Python
Day 08	Line of Sight Trees	Python
Day 09	Rope, or Snake Game	Python
Day 10	ASM and CRT Scanning	Python
Day 11	Dealing w/ Large Numbers	Python
Day 12	Maze with Height	Python
Day 13	Sorting Nested Lists	Python
Day 14	Flowing Sand	Python
Day 15	Sensors and Beacons	Python
Day 16	Opening Pipes Maze	Python
Day 17	Tetris	Python
Day 18	3D Voxels Surface	Python
Day 19	Optimize Build Order	Python

Hardest Problems 2022

16: Opening Pipes Maze
17: Tetris
19: Optimize Build Order

2021

Day	Comment	Python	Elixir
Day 01	Sliding range windows	Python	Elixir
Day 02	Position tracking	Python	Elixir
Day 03	Binary counting and filtering	Python	Elixir
Day 04	Bingo cards	Python
Day 05	Line intersections	Python
Day 06	Exponential fish growth	Python

2020

Day	Comment	Python	Elixir
Day 01	3SUM	Python	Elixir
Day 02	Password Rule Check	Python	Elixir
Day 03	Slope, Grid, Mod	Python	Elixir
Day 04	Parsing, Rule Checks	Python	Elixir
Day 05	Binary Conversion	Python	Elixir
Day 06	Grouping and Counting	Python	Elixir
Day 07	Recursive Bags	Python	Elixir
Day 08	Simple Computer	Python	Elixir
Day 09	Summing Ranges	Python
Day 10	Dynamic Programming	Python
Day 11	Cellular Automata	Python
Day 12	Logo with 2 actors	Python
Day 13	Rings and Modular Arithmetic	Python
Day 14	Unstable Bit Masks	Python
Day 15	Van Eck sequence	Python
Day 16	Deduce correct fields	Python
Day 17	4d Game of Life	Python
Day 18	Parsing Math Equations	Python
Day 19	Grammar Rules	Python
Day 20	Jigsaw Puzzle	Python
Day 21	Ingredient Deduction	Python
Day 22	Recursive Card Game	Python
Day 23	Large Circular Linked List	Python
Day 24	Hexagon Game of Life	Python
Day 25	Diffie-Hellman	Python

Hardest Problems 2020

19 - Grammar Rules
20 - Jigsaw Puzzle
23 - Large Circular Linked List

Favorite Problems 2020

20 - Jigsaw Puzzle

Personal Stats 2020

      --------Part 1--------   --------Part 2--------
Day       Time   Rank  Score       Time   Rank  Score
 25   00:12:13    538      0   00:12:18    430      0
 24   00:16:03    725      0   00:33:29    744      0
 23   00:31:06   1084      0   00:42:20    123      0
 22   00:09:53   1063      0   00:47:12   1173      0
 21   00:14:55    235      0   00:26:05    438      0
 20   00:37:15    769      0   16:56:12   5223      0
 19   00:52:56   1522      0   02:12:04   1839      0
 18   19:59:59  18016      0   20:05:30  16137      0
 17   00:26:21    952      0   00:32:27    906      0
 16   00:24:11   2685      0   00:42:49    901      0
 15   00:13:17    949      0   00:22:14   1076      0
 14   00:48:41   4432      0   01:15:23   3140      0
 13   00:12:15   2473      0   00:33:39    603      0
 12   00:08:52    584      0   00:18:36    568      0
 11   00:23:20   1508      0   01:03:53   3103      0
 10   00:06:26    721      0   00:26:32   1167      0
  9   00:12:14   2907      0   00:20:35   2376      0
  8   00:08:01   1502      0   00:15:18    926      0
  7   00:23:36   1591      0   00:44:23   2092      0
  6   00:05:37   1403      0   00:12:05   1681      0
  5   00:09:30   1101      0   00:11:45    748      0
  4   00:12:24   2122      0   00:29:39   1234      0
  3   00:15:47   3901      0   00:17:54   2655      0
  2   00:12:22   2847      0   00:16:17   2313      0
  1   00:09:02   1554      0   00:15:58   2241      0

Overall Thoughts 2020

This year was a little bit easier than the previous years. I believe the creator was trying to give us a break, but, I enjoy the difficult problems. Bring on the challenge in 2021.

However, I'm still thankful for the event, it still continues to be a favorite part of the holiday season for me.

2019

Day	Intcode	Comment	Python	Elixir	Go	Others
Day 01		Math and iteration	Python	Elixir (test)	Go (test)	See Below
Day 02	✅	Simple VM	Python	Elixir	Go	React Ruby
Day 03		Wire intersection	Python	Elixir	Go	Ruby
Day 04		Password rules	Python (test)	Elixir (test)	Go (test)
Day 05	✅	VM Parameter Mode, I/O, Flow	Python (test)	Elixir (test)	Go (test)	React
Day 06		Orbital Tree	Python
Day 07	✅	Connecting 5 VMs	Python (test)	Elixir (test)	Go (test)
Day 08		Decoding layered image format	Python
Day 09	✅	VM Relative Mode	Python (test)	Elixir (test)	Go (test)
Day 10		Line-of-sight asteroids	Python (test)
Day 11	✅	Painting Robot on VM	Python (test)	Elixir (test)	Go (test)
Day 12		Multi-dimensional Cycle detection	Python (test)
Day 13	✅	Breakout game on VM	Python (test)	Elixir (test)	Go (test)
Day 14		Resource manufacturing / dependency	Python (test)
Day 15	✅	Mapping via limited sight droid on VM	Python (test)
Day 16		Discrete FFT	Python
Day 17	✅	Mapping and compression algo	Python (test)
Day 18		Seemingly O(n!) maze with doors and keys	Python
Day 19	✅	Mapping Tractor Beam	Python (test)
Day 20		Recursive maze with portals	Python (test)
Day 21	✅	SpringScript assembly w/ registers	Python (test)
Day 22		Number Theory	Python (test)
Day 23	✅	Networking 50 VMs	Python (test)	Elixir (test)
Day 24		Recursive/3d game of life	Python (test)
Day 25	✅	Text Adventure on VM	Python

Hardest Problems 2019

18 - Seemingly O(n!) maze with doors and keys
22 - Number Theory (Shuffling a trillion card deck a trillion times)
16 - Discrete FFT over modulo
14 - Resource Chains

Favorite Problems 2019

25 - Text Adventure on VM
23 - Networking 50 VMs
18 - Seemingly O(n!) maze with doors and keys
IntCode in general

Day 01 extra languages 2019

React (Visualization only)
Haskell Main Lib (test)
Crystal Main Lib (test)
Raku
Ruby (Tests Embedded)

Personal Stats 2019

You have 31 points.

      -------Part 1--------   -------Part 2--------
Day       Time  Rank  Score       Time  Rank  Score
 25   01:40:11   560      0   01:40:20   422      0
 24   00:18:26   298      0   01:02:55   257      0
 23   01:02:09   671      0   01:48:33   734      0
 22   00:27:41   437      0   15:47:20  1190      0
 21   00:21:02   194      0   00:30:40    70     31
 20   00:46:06   282      0   01:19:24   244      0
 19   00:08:46   448      0   01:00:23   465      0
 18   13:36:33  1268      0   14:08:27   905      0
 17   00:11:49   276      0   01:31:57   496      0
 16   00:26:09   627      0   11:52:37  2207      0
 15   01:26:14   627      0   01:38:52   522      0
 14   02:40:55  1201      0   03:10:35  1029      0
 13   00:05:56   414      0   00:33:44   380      0
 12   00:14:20   221      0   01:02:39   449      0
 11   00:16:44   266      0   00:21:30   221      0
 10   01:07:41  1359      0   01:50:30   814      0
  9   00:46:35   962      0   00:47:09   917      0
  8   00:23:33  1660      0   00:31:37  1090      0
  7   00:16:31   415      0   00:45:54   288      0
  6   00:11:41   461      0   00:18:11   319      0
  5   00:24:13   369      0   01:07:37  1261      0
  4   00:07:25   856      0   00:32:10  2060      0
  3   00:36:22  1230      0   00:44:44   954      0
  2   00:14:30   944      0   00:19:19   582      0
  1   00:15:43  1660      0   00:15:53  1041      0

Overall Thoughts 2019

This was my second advent of code; I enjoyed it greatly and plan to continue with the event in the future. Some problems were difficult (18 and 22), but completing them means you learned something.

I loved the focus on IntCode: On days 2, 7, 5, and 9 we built a working Virtual Machine that ran problems in IntCode. Every other day after that, our challenge involved interacting with an IntCode program in one way or another. This creative approach leant to problems and inputs that we would not be able to see with basic text files (For example, exploring a maze by issuing commands to a robot.)

My primary language in 2018 was Ruby, in 2019 it was Python. I've been learning Python this year, and completing all 25 programs in it was a way for me to feel that I have a general grasp on the language. I think that it's a great language for these types of problems, with a rich set of data structures baked in. (Disappointly, the heap/priority queue does not allow for reassignment of priority for items already in the queue.) I did miss Ruby's allowances for functional-like programming, though. Since Python is the #2 language in the world currently, I feel like I'm speaking the same language as the rest of the world.

I also used Elixir and Go. Elixir continues to be the functional language that I know the best and I'm most productive with. However, with these sorts of problems, the functional approach is not always the easiest, in my opinion. Functional works well as another tool in my toolbox, and not "the best and only way" to program.

Go blew me away with its speed (regularly 40x faster than python), and it's nowhere near as difficult to use as C, C++ or Rust. It's a fantastic "get stuff done" language, with a distribution and deployment story much nicer than Python's, and I'll be looking forward to use it more in the future. Of course, I miss some constructs like map, filter, etc while using it.

2018

Day	Comment	Ruby	Elixir	Others
Day 01	Sum numbers, detect repeat		(Part 1) (Part 2)
Day 02	String comparison		Elixir	JavaScript
Day 03	Overlapping grid squares	Ruby	Elixir
Day 04	Time ranges		Elixir
Day 05	String "reaction", O() matters	Ruby	Elixir (test)
Day 06	Grid, voronoi, manhattan	Ruby	Elixir
Day 07	Task dependency and simulation	Ruby	Elixir
Day 08	Recursive Parsing	Ruby
Day 09	Huge linked list	Ruby
Day 10	Collapsing stars form a message	Ruby
Day 11	Summed area table	Ruby
Day 12	Cellular Automata	Ruby
Day 13	Minecart grid collisions	Ruby
Day 14	Large array, modulo	Ruby
Day 15	Goblin vs Elves battle	Ruby
Day 16	VM, Reverse engineer opcodes	Ruby
Day 17	Flowing Water	Ruby
Day 18	Cellular automata, cycle detection	Ruby
Day 19	VM Disassembly	Ruby
Day 20	Regexp maze	Ruby
Day 21	VM Reverse engineering/hacking	Ruby
Day 22	Maze with changing tools	Ruby
Day 23	Nanobots, overlapping octohedrons	Ruby
Day 24	Virus Battle	Ruby
Day 25	Constellation groups	Ruby

Hardest Problems 2018

15: Goblins vs Elves
17: Flowing water
19: Disassembly
21: VM Reverse Engineering
23: Nanobots: octohedron vision range
24: Virus battle

Favorite Problems 2018

15: Goblins vs Elves
17: Flowing water
24: Virus Battle

Personal Stats 2018

      --------Part 1--------   --------Part 2--------
Day       Time   Rank  Score       Time   Rank  Score
 25   00:37:43    459      0   00:38:20    337      0
 24   01:58:24    326      0   02:15:09    281      0
 23   10:19:13   2476      0   17:05:58   1131      0
 22   00:50:38    561      0   12:42:24   1176      0
 21   20:01:15   2302      0   20:37:18   2022      0
 20   21:05:02   2080      0   21:05:59   1941      0
 19   19:04:42   3334      0   21:56:49   2589      0
 18   20:57:51   4123      0   22:07:21   3783      0
 17   22:21:38   2259      0   22:23:48   2234      0
 16   10:35:35   2642      0   11:30:16   2414      0
 15   20:17:14   1888      0   20:41:13   1720      0
 14   22:05:04   5787      0   22:44:50   5256      0
 13   21:58:28   5329      0   22:32:23   4756      0
 12   00:32:34    551      0   00:43:27    320      0
 11   10:16:12   6233      0   10:29:15   5116      0
 10   00:35:45    612      0   00:37:19    606      0
  9   00:35:05    574      0   01:19:32    684      0
  8   00:20:03    625      0   00:26:24    471      0
  7   00:16:35    320      0   00:40:45    242      0
  6   00:41:51    591      0   00:49:18    371      0
  5   00:20:58   1184      0   00:32:13   1010      0
  4   22:33:52  13220      0   22:48:37  12654      0
  3   00:22:38   1080      0   00:31:53   1031      0
  2   00:10:19    839      0   00:16:19    512      0
  1   16:56:46  21119      0   17:59:18  17426      0

Overall Thoughts 2018

(Placeholder)

2017

Day	Comment	Python	Elixir	Go	Others
Day 01	String rotation, comparing	Python (test)	Elixir (test)	Go (test)	See below
Day 02	Basic Math			Go (test)
Day 03	2d grid spiral	Python (test)
Day 04	Password Checking		Elixir
Day 05	VM-Like Jumps	Python	Elixir	Go (test)	Ruby
Day 06	?			Go (test)
Day 07	Topological/Recursive Trees			Go
Day 08	Assembly and Registers			Go
Day 09	Recursive Character Parsing			Go (test)
Day 10	Hash Function	Python (test)
Day 11	Hex Grid		Elixir (test)
Day 12	Connected components			Go (test)
Day 13	Simulation / Modulo		Elixir (test)
Day 14	Hash, Grid, Connected Regions	Python (test)
Day 15	PRNG Generators, Bitwise Math		Elixir (test)
Day 16	Composing permutations			Go
Day 17	Ring, Modulo	Python
Day 18	2 VMs Communicating		Elixir
Day 19	Navigating a simple maze	Python
Day 20	Stars moving with acceleration	Python
Day 21	Grid split, combine, rotation, flip	Python
Day 22	Cellular automata, direction	Python
Day 23	Disassembly, optimization		Elixir
Day 24	Recursion	Python
Day 25	Turing Machine	Python

Hardest Problems 2017

23: Disassembly
21: Grid split, combine, rotate, flip

Favorite Problems 2017

18: 2 VMs Communicating
21: Grid split, combine, rotate, flip

Day 01 extra languages 2017

Personal Stats 2017

      --------Part 1--------   --------Part 2--------
Day       Time   Rank  Score       Time   Rank  Score
 25       >24h   5805      0       >24h   4850      0
 24       >24h   5517      0       >24h   5443      0
 23       >24h   6296      0       >24h   5401      0
 22       >24h   6253      0       >24h   6113      0
 21       >24h   5909      0       >24h   5823      0
 20       >24h   7667      0       >24h   7108      0
 19       >24h   8121      0       >24h   8008      0
 18       >24h   9005      0       >24h   7442      0
 17       >24h   9542      0       >24h   8977      0
 16       >24h  10226      0       >24h   9319      0
 15       >24h  10426      0       >24h  10144      0
 14       >24h   9792      0       >24h   9064      0
 13       >24h  11755      0       >24h  10739      0
 12       >24h  12663      0       >24h  12119      0
 11       >24h  12945      0       >24h  12445      0
 10       >24h  14074      0       >24h  12637      0
  9       >24h  15631      0       >24h  15180      0
  8       >24h  17907      0       >24h  17348      0
  7       >24h  20687      0       >24h  15836      0
  6       >24h  23000      0       >24h  21891      0
  5       >24h  26443      0       >24h  24917      0
  4       >24h  29919      0       >24h  26769      0
  3       >24h  31602      0       >24h  23129      0
  2       >24h  45282      0       >24h  38284      0
  1       >24h  55024      0       >24h  45454      0

Overall Thoughts 2017

(Placeholder)

2016

Missing Reflections: 4, 5, 6

Day	Comment	Python	Elixir
Day 01	Turning, Stepping	Python
Day 02	Keypad Navigation		Elixir
Day 03	Column Processing		Elixir
Day 04	Shift Chipher		Elixir
Day 05	MD5 Cracking		Elixir
Day 06	Repetition Code		Elixir
Day 07	Adv string search		Elixir
Day 08	Grid manipulation	Python
Day 09	String Expansion		Elixir
Day 10	Coordinating Agents		Elixir
Day 11	Missionaries and cannibals		Elixir
Day 12	Assembunny VM		Elixir
Day 13	BFS through algo maze		Elixir
Day 14	MD5 / One-time pad		Elixir
Day 15	Modulo / Chinese Remainder		Elixir
Day 16	Dragon Curve		Elixir
Day 17	MD5 Maze, Longest Path		Elixir
Day 18	1d cellular automata		Elixir
Day 19	Josephus Problem		Elixir
Day 20	Overlapping IP ranges		Elixir
Day 21	String manipulation		Elixir
Day 22	Swap Position Maze		Elixir
Day 23	VM Disassembly / Optimize		Elixir
Day 24	Collecting items in maze		Elixir
Day 25	VM Input/Output searching		Elixir

Hardest Problems 2016

Day 11: Missionaries and Cannibals
Day 19: Josephus Problem
Day 22: Swap Position Maze

Favorite Problems 2016

Day 24: Collecting items in maze

Personal Stats 2016

      --------Part 1--------   --------Part 2--------
Day       Time   Rank  Score       Time   Rank  Score
 25       >24h   2431      0       >24h   2043      0
 24       >24h   2397      0       >24h   2378      0
 23       >24h   2861      0       >24h   2683      0
 22       >24h   3379      0       >24h   2466      0
 21       >24h   3529      0       >24h   3290      0
 20       >24h   3938      0       >24h   3739      0
 19       >24h   4144      0       >24h   3382      0
 18       >24h   4023      0       >24h   3985      0
 17       >24h   3676      0       >24h   3575      0
 16       >24h   4391      0       >24h   4249      0
 15       >24h   4294      0       >24h   4258      0
 14       >24h   4443      0       >24h   4232      0
 13       >24h   4506      0       >24h   4268      0
 12       >24h   5377      0       >24h   5296      0
 11       >24h   3703      0       >24h   3440      0
 10       >24h   6168      0       >24h   6038      0
  9       >24h   7930      0       >24h   6586      0
  8       >24h   8633      0       >24h   8449      0
  7       >24h  10048      0       >24h   8880      0
  6       >24h  11636      0       >24h  11224      0
  5       >24h  11479      0       >24h  10868      0
  4       >24h  12360      0       >24h  11595      0
  3       >24h  15685      0       >24h  13775      0
  2       >24h  17004      0       >24h  14917      0
  1       >24h  21727      0       >24h  16407      0

Overall Thoughts 2016

This was my 4th Advent of Code; after completing years 2018 and 2019 during the event, I went back to do 2017 and now 2016 as I'm attempting to get all stars.

Overall, the basic themes of Advent of Code are getting easier to me, which means I've grown as a programmer. Searching a graph with a special condition, implementing a VM, or knocking out some cellular automata doesn't really take much thinking anymore.

This was the first year I organized differently, by making a single program that can run all days instead of a program for each day. I prefer it this way, even if each day is no longer stand-alone. It makes for easier code reuse, and it's extremely satisfying to run several days worth of solutions at once.

I committed myself to doing all of the problems in Elixir. I thought it would be painful, but I started to prefer doing BFS in Elixir than say, Python, which I didn't expect at all! My functional programming chops definitely increased by doing this year in Elixir.

2015

Day	Comment	Python	Elixir
Day 01	Character Iteration	Python	Elixir
Day 02	Simple Arithmetic	Python	Elixir
Day 03	Grid Navigation	Python	Elixir
Day 04	MD5 Leading Zeros	Python	Elixir
Day 05	String Rules	Python
Day 06	Subgrid manipulation	Python
Day 07	Bitwise Logic, Ordering	Python
Day 08	Escaping Strings	Python
Day 09	Travelling Salesman	Python
Day 10	Look-and-Say	Python
Day 11	String incrementing, rules	Python
Day 12	JSON Parsing	Python
Day 13	Optimal Seating	Python
Day 14	Racing Go-Rest Sequences	Python
Day 15	Cookie Optimization	Python
Day 16	Logical elimination	Python
Day 17	Combinations of containers	Python
Day 18	Game of Life	Python
Day 19	String Expansion Search	Python
Day 20	Number Theory, Divisors	Python
Day 21	RPG Battle, Item optimization	Python
Day 22	RPG Battle, Ongoing Spells, Minimize Mana	Python
Day 23	Simple Assembly Language, Collatz	Python
Day 24	Splitting numbers into equal groups	Python
Day 25	Mathy increasing sequence	Python

Hardest Problems 2015

19 - String expansion search
22 - RPG Battle, Ongoing Spells, Minimize Mana

Favorite Problems 2015

22 - RPG Battle, Ongoing Spells, Minimize Mana

Personal Stats 2015

      --------Part 1--------   --------Part 2--------
Day       Time   Rank  Score       Time   Rank  Score
 25       >24h   4044      0       >24h   2873      0
 24       >24h   3422      0       >24h   3366      0
 23       >24h   4123      0       >24h   4091      0
 22       >24h   3338      0       >24h   3235      0
 21       >24h   4570      0       >24h   4439      0
 20       >24h   5088      0       >24h   4732      0
 19       >24h   5576      0       >24h   4138      0
 18       >24h   5899      0       >24h   5803      0
 17       >24h   6266      0       >24h   6122      0
 16       >24h   6956      0       >24h   6635      0
 15       >24h   6516      0       >24h   6403      0
 14       >24h   8203      0       >24h   7531      0
 13       >24h   7501      0       >24h   7372      0
 12       >24h   9175      0       >24h   7735      0
 11       >24h   9010      0       >24h   8845      0
 10       >24h  10652      0       >24h  10153      0
  9       >24h   9678      0       >24h   9423      0
  8       >24h  11345      0       >24h  10603      0
  7       >24h  11946      0       >24h  11420      0
  6       >24h  17431      0       >24h  16430      0
  5       >24h  22127      0       >24h  18417      0
  4       >24h  22867      0       >24h  21658      0
  3       >24h  27322      0       >24h  24613      0
  2       >24h  33816      0       >24h  29589      0
  1       >24h  53186      0       >24h  41194      0

Overall Thoughts 2015

With 2015 complete, I've joined the 250 stars club! (All AoC stars available as of Jan 2020). I'll be ready for AoC 2020, but I'll enjoy the break for now.

Misc

Created:       Mon 02 Dec 2019 05:12:40 PM CST
Last Modified: Wed 08 Feb 2023 10:39:30 PM CST