Anthony turned me onto this new project called Project Euler. On the site, there are currently 202 computational math problems ranging from easy to extremely difficult. Several of the problems can be brute-forced in order to find a solution, but there are some that are just not possible to solve in this manner in this lifetime, and thus, clever methods are needed to solve the more difficult problems. As you may guess, I am becoming obsessed with this site; last night, I stayed up until 6:30am working on as many as I could. So far, I have solved 14 of them.
I was not too savvy with Python until now that I am restricting myself to using one and only one programming language for these problems; I have learned much about the language, and I’m quite impressed. It is always great to have mundane aspects of coding shot into oblivion because they really just are not needed anymore: well, maybe some will continue to believe C is necessary for all.
In the next couple of days, I am going to start uploading my code for these solutions; if anyone cares, maybe it will be a learning experience for us all. For the most part, I have the math know-how to solve these problems within the recommended minute, but I ask that any and all advice be given to improve my Python skills.
I have no idea why I am doing this because the last time I tried to go through with this, the lame programming references just got old. I deleted all of my posts except for one, and I’ve moved on and am no longer aspiring to be a code monkey. On August 16th, I will finally graduate with my B.S. in Mathematics from Baylor University, which will lead to my next venture - being a graduate student. Masochist? Probably. However, those cute little initials after my name when it’s all over might impress…the ladies. But there can be only one lady in my life. Her name is iPhone.
Yes, yes. Megan has come to terms with this, and she is willing to bear the bigamy for a bit. I cannot put this new toy down. Everything from Exchange support to a new way of interfacing with an iPod to my PhoneSaber app. This thing is just so shiny.
This is just an excerpt of what zefrank said; it really spoke wonders to me, because I have been struggling with getting some of my personal projects started after putting in long days at work.
“I see all creative projects like they were Sudoku puzzles. You can stare at them as long as you like, but you won’t suddenly see all the numbers. You have to start; you have to find one box to fill in. And from that, another one reveals itself. You might not be able to solve all of them, but as long as you know it’s possible, you’ll keep trying. And no matter how many you solve, each new one begins with a bunch of empty spaces.” zefrank - “bittersweet”