# Advent of Code

31 Hacker News commenters recommended Advent of Code and 5 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 4 years (3 owners). It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Free yearly set of programming puzzles that people use for fun, for learning new languages, and for sharpening problem-solving skills. Some critics say heavy string parsing makes it a weak way to learn most languages.

## Why people recommend it

- Fun, enjoyable puzzles (10 comments): "they’re meant to be fun to solve, not a means to an end, but enjoyable for what they are" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46097251)) "I also love Advent of Code and look forwards to it all year." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46185172)) "I have always taken AoC as fun and time to learn." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46100971))
- Good for learning new languages (5 comments): "I also suggest Advent of Code as a nice way to cut your teeth with expressing thoughts with Prolog." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46649946)) "the point of AoC was to write in some language that you always wanted to learn" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46102110)) "I recommend the problems to help learning new languages." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46096746))
- Festive yearly tradition and community (5 comments): "the corny stories about how the elves f up and their ridiculous machines and processes add a lot of flavor" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46004910)) "I'm still glad we get to take part in this fun Christmas season tradition" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46096662)) "Advent of Code has always felt more like a cozy problem solving festival" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46098964))
- Sharpens problem-solving skills (4 comments): "Thank you to the folks who organize this event, for giving me that extra motivation to tie a ribbon around my understanding" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46125490)) "I've found aoc/leetcode pretty much reversed the accidental atrophy for me" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49627072)) "For me it's a great chance to sharpen the tools in my toolbox." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46101484))

## What people warn about

- Heavy string parsing limits learning (2 comments): "with the very heavy emphasis on string parsing, I'm not convinced it's a good way to learn most languages" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46096811)) "The vast majority (though not all) of the inputs can be parsed with regex or no real parsing at all." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46101016))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [LeetCode](https://hackerapproved.com/p/leetcode.md): 50 recommend
- [Project Euler](https://hackerapproved.com/p/project-euler.md): 45 recommend
- [Codecrafters](https://hackerapproved.com/p/codecrafters.md): 14 recommend
- [AlgoDrill](https://hackerapproved.com/p/algodrill.md): 13 recommend
- [Exercism](https://hackerapproved.com/p/exercism.md): 6 recommend

## Where to get it

- [Visit the official site](https://adventofcode.com/)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Advent of Code", https://hackerapproved.com/p/advent-of-code/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).