PythonChallenge - how far have you solved it?
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You probably know - there is qurious website with programming-related puzzles, but with significant feel of real investigation. Puzzles are not necessarily difficult but one needs to figure out what really puzzle consists of.
Really many (most?) of puzzles are not strictly related to Python. Though at least some want you to know something about Python which is rarely recollected nowadays at all... Still after "flash" one can get through with googling and tinkering around not being python guru.
So the question is - who of us have tried it - and how far have you fared? What is your feeling about such puzzles?
I remember much stuck about "hill", then did few more and postponed it at about level 10, never have returned yet.
I had a quick look last year but didn't get far - I think I got to level 5 or 6 and then gave up. Usually, I much prefer algorithmic challenges like on this site but I also like mixing things up now and then.
Two (negative) remarks: a. It's linear. Like an adventure game, if you get stuck you will eventually give up. b. It's partially language restricted, but due to reason "a" it would make me give up fairly early (as early as step 5 according to the FAQ)
What was it specifically that peaked your interest? No shame in bringing it over if you happened upon a particularly interesting problem among the lot.
As a side note, the site looks like an early '90s Lycos search result (not a compliment...).
What was it specifically that peaked your interest?
Here came suggestion that we may have one (at least) problem, at least as a joke, in similar manner :) The idea looks fun but I suspect especially if it is a lonely problem of the kind, some people may be much frustrated if hints are not subtle / clever enough... So I'm slowly thinking about whether this idea could be employed somehow...
About task 5 - if I remember correctly, it is just that with picture of "hill" I mentioned. Perhaps it would be curious to have it tested by Clive. I was torn apart between feeling of joy and rage when at last figured it out. Let there be a brief explanation in disguised form for those who are curious about how annoying the problem could be.
gur uvag vf gb or ernq nf crnx uvyy be crnx uryy juvpu qbrfag trg zr naljurer ohg gurer jnf fbzr fgenatr ohyx bs qngn vafvqr cntr fbhepr nf dhrre gnt jvgu n yvax nsgre fbzr ybbxvat ng vg v thrffrq vg vf fbzr qngn frevnyvmngvba sbezng naq fvapr vg vf nobhg clguba v dhvpxyl tbbtyrq gur jbeq cvpxyr zngpuvat gur uvag naq cebonoyl dhvgr sbetbggra be rira haxabja rira gb gubfr jub hfr clguba rirelqnl zlfrys inthryl oryvrir urneq vg bapr orsber erznvavat vf rnfl
Further problems are somewhat less "annoying" and even more programming-demanding, but I stopped bit later getting bit tired (the next problem being understandable but not feeling in the mood to code further that night).
I hadn't come across Python Challenge and am not feeling tempted to do so after reading the previous posts. I tend to agree with Mathias about problems in general. I like a problem to have a definite starting point and a clearly defined goal. I don't mind how complicated the route between the two of these positions is. The fun (for me) is finding an appropriate route to the goal and formulating an algorithm to implement it.
Out of curiosity I read Rodion's rotated comment in the post above. I had to read it several times before I thought that I had fully understood what was required in the problem being described. I also had to google the word "pickle" in order to find its relevance to Python. I had never come across this feature before; although it is fair to say that there is probably a lot of Python-related material that I have not come across. Rodion's description of the required solution only served to confirm my intention not to look at the site.
However, this discussion has reminded me of a problem which my son persuaded me to try some time ago. I value his recommendations so was keen to give it a go. After solving the puzzle I had to agree with him that it was a really nice problem. Unfortunately it was in a category similar to what I think Python Challenge must be like, in that you had to begin by working out what the problem actually was. I wasted an entire day before I finally hit on something (at random) which gave me the start that I needed to find out what the problem was actually about. I had tried a number of different things which had all seemed very promising but turned out later to be complete red herrings. If it had not been for my son's recommendation I would have given up long before I made the breakthrough. Once I had worked out what the problem was I really began to enjoy it and had it solved within a few hours. It was somewhat annoying to solve it in a fraction of the time that it took to find out what the problem was in the first place!
Since then the problem and its solution have been made available online. Here's the link: https://2018.galacticpuzzlehunt.com/puzzle/adventure.html
The problem is available in the form of Python source code which you can download and run; avoiding the temptation to read any of the code! You might have better success than me in working out what the actual problem is (my son worked this out in 3 hours). If, however, you reach the point when you have had enough you can simply open the "View Solution" button on the website. This is a complete written description of the method of solution. My advice would be to read the first 3 paragraphs only. This will tell you what the problem is. You can then have all of the enjoyment of solving it without the frustration of not knowing what it is you are trying to achieve. I can thoroughly recommend the problem part but would advise you not to waste too much time trying to find out what it is.
On a different note I was very pleasantly surprised to find no less than three new and interesting problems on CodeAbbey. These are always presented clearly so that the user can concentrate on finding a solution.