Advent of Code 2021

adventofcode.com/2021

My Rust solutions (This repo)

This year got a bit ugly at the end. My protocol when things should work, but just don't:

1. Carefully re-read the challenge discription to validate my understanding and to look for edge-case details (which are explicitly covered whenever there is any ambiguity.)
2. Create the test cases if I initially skipped them. The examples are provided for that reason.
3. Walk through the code, especially the initial steps before it scales up (way up!) and validate the intermediate state of things.
4. If ordinary debugging isn't helpful, I sometimes downgrade to "printf debugging" -- especially helpful to identify when loops go wrong.
5. Get hints when I'm stuck, or not confident in my approach. Reddit's SOLUTION MEGATHREAD is a great place for "hints". It is helpful to remember that the leaderboard is full of people who solved the same puzzle very quickly. What am I proving if I continue to struggle after 3, 4, or 10 hours? I should get a hint before I get to that point.