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Begun on 12/25/22
Advent of Code is an Advent calendar of small programming puzzles split in 2 parts, every day, for the 25 days before Christmas. Any programming language is allowed, and I absolutely recommend trying this yearly challenge as it definitely improves problem-solving and programming abilities.
In 2022, my first year, I attempted the challenge in Javascript. With it being my first year, I definitely struggled and only completed 5 of the first 6 days (1-4 and 6). One problem I ran into was that as the days took longer and longer to complete, I got closer and closer to finals week. With finals week looming, I would lose motivation to complete each day and instead would study for finals. In general, however, I was still fairly new to programming and just didn't know how complete the days.
2023 was my second year attempting the challenge. I decided to try it in Java as I was in AP Computer Science A at the time, which was a Java class. With it being a new language, I struggled similarly to the first year. However, with a a year passing, I did have more experience and was able to figure out better approaches to the problems. In 2023 I managed to complete the first 4 days, as well as days 6, 7, and 8. Overall, seeing some improvement is the important thing.
In 2024, I really wanted to go as far as I could. With this goal in mind, I chose my best programming language, Javascript, and set aside time each day to make sure I didn't fall behind. Due to these measures, I saw a huge improvement. I was managing to complete some of the early days in under an hour and went as far as I ever had before. In the end, I managed to complete the first 10 days, and got halfway through days 11 and 12. I am really happy on how I did this year, and I hope I can make it into the teens next year.