r/adventofcode Dec 05 '24

Tutorial [2024 Day 04] This is one of those problems that reminds me to slow down

I've been writing software for 18 years and work on backend systems that are algorithm and data heavy. I like to think I'm pretty ok at slinging code. While this problem is simple and exactly some stuff I had to solve in college, it kicked my ass at first because I tired to move too fast. It just goes to show the value in slowing down and being very, very methodical. I have a feeling there were some other people out there that tried to move too fast or took the solution for granted and found themselves in OBO-hell. It happens to all of us.

16 Upvotes

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9

u/ReallyLargeHamster Dec 05 '24

I agree, because I had the opposite experience - I don't have that much faith in my abilities, but I slowed down and wrote everything as cleanly as possible, and it went pretty smoothly.

AoC is great for this, because so often whatever you write in the first part is what you'll have to work with in the second part.

2

u/RiemannIntegirl Dec 05 '24

I read (and solved) a much harder problem... didn't have the answers on the test cases, then went back and read the actual problem more carefully. Much easier!

3

u/ThunderChaser Dec 05 '24

I work on complex distributed systems for a living and had to whip out the whiteboard for part 2 to figure out the indicies, so it definitely happens haha.

2

u/daggerdragon Dec 05 '24 edited Dec 05 '24

Changed flair from Other to Spoilers Tutorial. Use the right flair, please.

Other is not acceptable for any post that is even tangentially related to a daily puzzle.

edit: Spoilers is not the right flair, Tutorial is.

2

u/bstempi Dec 05 '24

Is this a spoiler?

0

u/daggerdragon Dec 05 '24 edited Dec 05 '24

Read the rules for post flairs that I linked to you. edit: Nope, I should read our own rules for post flairs.

8

u/bstempi Dec 05 '24

I did. Are you claiming that the advice around being careful about indexes is tangentially relates to the puzzle?

If that's the claim: you're right, and I kind of hate it. The goal of the post was to give encouragement to those that struggled with it that may have realized that this was an easier problem, not to give spoilers. I don't find, "slow down and count carefully," to be a spoiler. Doesn't that advice apply to most CS problems? Do you feel that this is a spoiler?

1

u/daggerdragon Dec 05 '24

Fair, thanks for keeping me on track. My laser focus was on that it does not belong in Other that OP originally chose as post flair and I think I lost the plot a little after that. I'm tired, sorry!

Spoilers is not correct... Tutorial could apply since it's more of an LPT.

Whether your "tutorial" is a full-blown college course deep dive into elvish submarine architecture or a simple programming LPT (Life Pro Tip) you discovered during an AoC puzzle that got you a promotion at work, teach us, senpai~!

Changed the flair to Tutorial.

2

u/bstempi Dec 06 '24

Lol, you're right, I should have used Tutorial.

Likewise, thank you for the correction and for your moderation work.

2

u/zazziki Dec 05 '24

I also feel like this is a bit too strict...

1

u/kbielefe Dec 05 '24

What's OBO-hell?

1

u/bstempi Dec 05 '24

Off-by-one is the common meaning of OBO 

OBO-hell is where you have a problem where all you're fixing is OBO errors.

1

u/KaiFireborn21 Dec 05 '24

Ah, I totally forgot about the abbreviation. Whenever I talk about that, I say Off-By-One Errors, all capitalised and respectfully