Thank you, Advent of Code 2024.

Yep, I’d like to say “Thank you!” to people behind the Advent of Code 2024. It was my first time when I tried solve everything and I wasn’t complete it in time, but I still want to complete it and search “the right solution”.

Developing an Android app isn’t required to work with complex CS-like problems. AAt least that’s what my experience tells me. The main problems are communication, finding PM and designer needs, and implementing smooth UI and comfortable UX for the shortest time.

The maintainability and ability to extend and work with different AB-tests and analytics aligned with SOLID, Clean Architecture, etc is difficult too. But it requires different approaches to solving different problems vs CS-like problems that usually people ask at the interview stage.

It might sounds a little bit strange, but solving the advent of code was the easiest TDD practice that I have in my life. Step by step, aligned with example inputs and outputs I created tests ahead of implementation, built a simple solution, and refactor. When I started part II of the problems, I had such a simple and naive implementation that I can easily extend it to the second part solution without rewriting layers or dependencies.

I wrote benchmarks to check the ways, even I knew the result I found a place where it could be used and prove that sometimes advanced implementations don’t worse it.

I found applications for studies I did more than 10 years ago. I found insights into some techniques that I didn’t understand. I found great tasks to solve and bring light to my blind spots. And these memes at reddit (maybe AoC is the only reason why I read this platform), they’re funny, and I understand them now.

It was simple and hard, but it was…joyful?

Yes, maybe it’s the right word.

Joyful.

Thank you, Advent of Code 2024 team!