Puzzles
Advent of Code 2024 Ruby Solutions: Day 3
Advent of Code is an annual event that invites programmers to solve a series of themed puzzles each December, and this post is the third in my ongoing series for 2024. Day 3, “Mull It Over”, seemed simple at first glance: find and evaluate multiplications in a corrupted memory dump. But …
Sudoku Series: Implementing Hidden Set Rules
In the last Sudoku Series blog post we implemented the naked pair and the naked triple rules. In this post, we will look at implementing the hidden single, hidden pair and hidden triple rules. Applying these rules is documented on many websites, but the two I’ve liked during my research are …
Advent of Code 2024 Ruby Solutions: Day 2
A couple of weeks ago, I published the first post in my Ruby solutions to Advent of Code 2024. In this second post of the series, we’ll tackle Day 2’s challenge: “Red-Nosed Reports.” Join me as we explore the problem, understand the requirements, and walk through my Ruby …
Sudoku Series: Implementing Naked Set Rules
In the last Sudoku Series blog post we implemented the single candidate rule. In this post, we will look at implementing both the naked pair rule and the naked triple rule. These are documented alongside more advanced rules on a Mastering Sudoku website.
If you like this post and you’d like to …
Advent of Code 2024 Ruby Solutions: Day 1
Advent of Code is an annual programming event that offers daily puzzles throughout December, delighting enthusiasts with clever challenges and a festive spirit. If you’d like to know more about what Advent of Code entails, take a look at my previous blog post: Advent of Code Introduction.
I’m …
Sudoku Series: Implementing the Single Candidate Rule
This week, we hit a major milestone: our solver can now complete very easy Sudoku puzzles, thanks to the simplest rule of all — the single candidate rule. By writing code that parses the grid repeatedly and looks for opportunities to apply this rule, we’re able to solve some of the simplest …
I play Advent of Code, and you should too!
One of the hardest parts of learning a language’s fundamentals is having enough meaningful problems to solve. “Hello World!” is all well and good, but when do you ever have to use that code in an application you’re building? That’s where Advent of Code comes in for me. …