Introduction

Advent of Code is an annual coding challenge that has been running online since 2015. It is a great way for programmers to practice their problem solving and coding skills while having some fun along the way. But why should you participate? Is this something you should do? Here are some reasons why you should give Advent of Code a try in 2022:

Let’s You Have Fun

Advent of Code is a great way to have some fun. The challenges are designed to be enjoyable. You can compete against yourself and others to complete them. On the Advent of Code website, you can join different leaderboards to compete with friends or coworkers. Along with the public leaderboard, this gives you some incentive to keep up with the daily challenges. Solving them gives your ranking points based on how long it takes you. Personally, I have never been good at the global leaderboard, but having some personal ones with friends and coworkers has been excellent!

Let’s You Improve Our Problem Solving Skills

Advent of Code also provides an excellent way to practice your problem solving skills. The challenges are designed to test your analytical and programming skills. You can learn a lot from the solutions that other participants have come up with. The questions start off easy and get progressively difficult throughout the 25 days. It is a great way to hone your skills and become a better programmer. I would say it starts off at the Leetcode level of “easy” and rapidly gets into Leetcode level of “hard”.

Let’s You Get Ready for the Job Market

This one goes without saying. More and more programming jobs out there are asking coding challenge style interview questions. Advent of Code is a great way to practice coding and prepare for interviews. The problems offered during the 25 days are challenging and really make you think. Sometimes simple solutions time out and you have to work out a better solution. Sometimes what you thought the question was asking was entirely incorrect. This should not be your only reason for doing Advent of Code, but if you are already grinding Leetcode this is a fun alternative.

Let’s You Learn Different Programming Languages

Advent of Code provides a great opportunity to brush up on your coding skills in a variety of languages. Even if you are just tangentiality familary with a programming language, Advent of Code is a great place to flex. I have done multiple languages; starting with Elixir and practicing my Rust and (this year Go) Even though you might not be an all-star with a given language, does not mean you need not try Advent of Code. Since the questions grow in difficulty, you are able to grow with the challenges themselves.

Conclusion

Advent of Code is a great way to practice your coding skills, have fun, connect with other programmers, or learn different languages. So why not give it a try? It’s free to participate, and you can learn a lot in the process. I will be trying to stream as much of Advent of Code as I can on Twitch. Find me there and come pair program! Or come have a conversation about Advent of Code on Mastodon. You can find me here.