Advent of Code Success!
Published on 07 Mar 2017
by Alexander Garber
To a seasoned programmer, it's a simple puzzle, and my solution is more elaborate than strictly necessary, but I set myself a goal and I achieved it!
Source code for my solution is here: https://github.com/clockworkpc/advent-of-code
It draws heavily on the work of Ryan Bigg in the Toy Robot, mentioned before on this blog, but is considerably modified in order to give a full answer to the puzzle.
Today's success coincides with the completion of another progress chart:
Working in pomodoros is hard to sustain all through the day, especially when a tricky problem crops up -- then it's tempting to stay in my seat and stare at the screen while I turn the problem over in my mind. When I get up, I feel as if I'm wasting time, but that is a misperception. My records show that I spend very little time between work blocks when I'm working my way through a tricky problem, and exercising the discipline to move away from my desk and scribble on the whiteboard always pays off.