Advent of Code: the ultimate programming challenge

Every year in December, Advent of Code brings programmers from all over the world together to solve challenging puzzles. This digital advent calendar presents a new programming problem each day, which you can tackle in any programming language. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced developer, the puzzles challenge you to think logically and come up with efficient solutions.

Since we are constantly focused on the development and growth of our people, we saw this as a great challenge to participate in. To make the challenge even more exciting, we turned it into an internal competition. Both the participant with the highest score and the best-performing region were rewarded.

Big boost in confidence

For many participants, finding a solution to a difficult problem is one of the most satisfying moments. “The satisfaction I felt when solving a tough puzzle gave me a huge boost in confidence and motivation each time,” says Nick ‘s Heeren. The variety of tasks, such as generating a Christmas tree pattern or navigating mazes, makes the challenge even more enjoyable.

But not everything goes as expected. Some participants discovered that a solution that worked perfectly with sample data completely failed when applied to the actual input. “This was the first time my code pushed my laptop to its limits. I had to optimize my solution to handle larger datasets more efficiently,” says Jelle van Langendonck.

?

Valuable learning moments

Beyond the fun of competition, Advent of Code also offers valuable learning experiences. “I discovered functions and features I had never used before. Some problems seemed simple but turned out to be surprisingly complex once I tried solving them.”

What participants take away most from Advent of Code is an improvement in their problem-solving and debugging skills. The challenges not only teach you to write more efficient code but also to persist when a problem initially seems impossible. “The puzzles helped me recognize patterns in problems faster and develop more efficient solutions,” Jelle explains. Moreover, it is an excellent exercise in perseverance, which is useful in many programming and data analysis tasks.

?

Battle Between Regions

Why should you participate next year? Besides personal growth and sharpening your programming skills, it’s a fantastic way to challenge yourself while adding a competitive element with colleagues. “Since there is competition between the regions and the Brighters themselves, we need as many people as possible to join!” says Nick. Jelle was also enthusiastic about the competition: “The battle between regions makes it extra exciting, and there’s nothing better than seeing yourself at the top of the leaderboard after solving a puzzle first.” He ended up winning this year, while the best-performing region was Brightest North.

In short, Advent of Code is a unique and educational experience that takes your programming skills to the next level. Whether you participate for the challenge, the competition or just for fun!