I'm Not Participating in This Year's Advent of Code For Very Good Reasons

"Doing Work Outside of Work is Fucking Stupid" - completely disagree with this take. I got into programming because I like it, and the challenges in aoc are fun. I'm not doing work outside of work, I'm having fun outside of work, and it's alright to invest about an hour of my time into it. Also, you don't have to chase the leaderboards? You can just do it in the comfortable pase, it's not like the internet points mean something
- After day 5 part 2 I take it back, it's not fun anymore it's suffering. This is my first time doing aoc, I didn't know what I was getting myself into.
  
  I think that has been an outlier so far, its good to have one that makes you re-evaluate your solution once in a while.
  Definitely a time sink though!
- I enjoy learning and practicing my skills.
  I'm running through AoC in a language I am less familiar with, so I can learn while I do it.
  But that's not work, so fuck me right?

Thank u Jason, very cool !!
Seriously though, good for you I guess? Not sure why you're grandstanding about it.
Meanwhile, I'm doing it the way I have in years past: as a fun set of puzzles that let me write code I enjoy in a language I like, because I do actually enjoy writing code, and only until my real-life schedule no longer allows.
Nobody's saving the world by posting on their personal blogs about how they're bravely and boldly not doing a series of optional advent-calendar puzzles.
- I'm not "Grandstanding" so much as "resisting"; I've been peer pressured into participating for half a decade. It's always made me feel bad. There's no shame in opting out.
  
  I mean, is "other people are having fun" really something that demands a resistance?
  Or could you, perhaps, just not do it and not care whether that makes you "cool" or not?
  It's like that bit from Community: "wear it because of them, don't wear it because of them — either way, it's for them."
  Just be you, without having to have some sort of faux "resistance" to justify yourself.
  
  I hope you don’t mind my asking; what’s the nature of the peer pressure to participate you’re facing?
- While grandstanding might be a bit odd, it seems to me the broader point is about tech culture in general and what else it could be.
  The point about the dark third place resonated with me for instance, where fruitful and fulfilling third places can be quite hard to build and find IMO.
  
  I think the author's idea of painting it as a dark third place is way off base (pretty much every point seems off base). Is reading a book a dark third place because you didn't write the book?
  Third places are where you might have a conversation about the fun puzzle you solved, they aren't the puzzle.

"Doing Work Outside of Work is Fucking Stupid"
Lol. Welcome to the "over it, it's a job now" club.
I still code for fun, myself, but certainly not to someone else's spec. Even if it's holiday themed.
I saved the most time, because I not only don't do advent of X challenges, but I also don't blog about not doing them.
Until I wrote this reply. I really fucked up my streak just now.
- Yea I mean, it’s almost like humans actually enjoy and learn from the process of communicating and expressing their thoughts and feelings.

OK.
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I'm doing them because it's an excuse to do some interesting challenges however you want and have people to talk about them with.

I feel like all the points you raise could be replied by : if you do not like it, no one is forcing you into doing it.
It is my understanding that people do this for fun - to take the occasion to get into a new language and/or exercise their problem resolution skills.
Personally, although I love coding (it is a passion), after a whole day of coding I do not feel the energy to partake in a coding event. And during holidays I am busy doing other stuff. So I do not participate in the Advent of Code. But I am still glad that the event exists for people who enjoy it and have the time for it

It's not work if it's not work lmao

I am not participating for very bad(/sad) reasons. Here's to another lousy millennium.
Somewhat personal (including language preference/difficulty), but ultimately I just kinda lost hope/motivation for doing further learning/projects. The last code I did, load format example
Well that and AoC never really excited me, was for something more open like L1T's Devember but I didn't even pretend to myself that I'd try this year.

Why are you active on programming.dev?
- Yea sorry that’s some potentially toxic gatekeeping.
  
  I'm not gatekeeping at all. I'm wondering why he's participating in a forum that ticks a lot of the boxes that he claims are reasons why not participating is a good thing.