aoc-2023

My code for the Advent of Code - 2023 edition

👋 Introduction

When I first began doing AOC challenges in 2022, I had no setup. Each day, I would create all of the files manually before starting to write code. It worked but it made me lose some time here and there. Usually, I would create the file before the daily challenge came out but sometimes I woke up late and lost a bit of time doing some late file creations. Also, I did not have my own utility classes and I would copy the same code to read and parse the file from the previous day. All of the things I have mentioned are not huge issues but it was still bothering me.

That's why this year, I have decided to do things a little differently.

🛠️ Proper workspace

I have created proper structure for my project and wrote my own utility classes to automatically generate the needed files, easily read the inputs and run the code. Thanks to that, I can jump straight to solving the daily challenge instead of losing time setting up everything.

What the workspace takes care of:

• Automatically generating empty input files (example, input, input2, etc.) for the current day. I still need to manually copy my input data from AOC website inside the file but that takes like 5 seconds. I am not so good at solving AOC programming challenges that these lost seconds matter anyway :)
• Automatically generating a skeleton solver file (C# class file) for the current day:

  namespace aoc_2023.src.dayXX
  {
      public class DayXXSolver : AocSolver
      {
          // Link to the puzzle: https://adventofcode.com/2023/day/XX
  
          public override int Day => XX;
          public override int Part => 1;
  
          public override void Solve()
          {
              string[] input = ReadInput("input");
              string[] lines = ReadInputLines("input");
  
              Console.WriteLine($"Result for Part {Part} is ");
          }
      }
  }

• When the project is run, the daily solver will be called and its code will be executed automatically
• Once I am done with the first part of the challenge, I just need to change a boolean in the main function and the solver for part 2 will be automatically generated next time I run the project
• The solver created for part 2 is a direct copy of the solver file for part 1 but with some tiny adjustments (mostly file/class name and Part value)

💼 Workflow

When it's time to tackle the daily challenges:

• I run the app once to generate the daily files (data folder and solver skeleton for part 1)
• I read the challenge description and start implementing a solution
• I test the solution against example data and make sure it works before testing with my own input
• Once I get the golden star for part 1, I push the code to Git
• Then, I change a boolean in my main function to indicate that I am ready for part 2
• Upon running the project, the solver for part 2 gets automatically generated and it contains the same code as part 1
• I tweak the code of the new generated solver so that it works for part 2
• I test with my inputs and edit the code until I find something that works and I get my second star
• Finally, I push code to Git