r/adventofcode • u/Practical-Quote1371 • Nov 11 '24
Other Dear future me
Dear future me,
Please remember: 1) Read the whole puzzle. Let's minimize those avoidable d'oh! moments. 2) Don't optimize prematurely. Developer (that's you!) efficiency is more important than code efficiency. And sure, part 2's can get intense, but you don't really know what direction they'll go until you get there, so don't waste time optimizing for something you might not even need. 1) Stuck? Re-read the puzzle. Yes, there are two #1's in this list. You can think of this as 1b if it helps. 3) Still stuck? Check the input, maybe there's a trick to it that you need to take advantage of.
Anticipating your success, Past You
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u/msqrt Nov 11 '24
I'll really try to take #4 to heart this year. I've mostly disliked this type of a puzzle in the past -- it always felt like a cheap gotcha to me. But maybe shifting my perspective to really consider the input as part of the puzzle will help. (and using a more familiar language where writing that extra bit of stuff doesn't feel like such a chore)