Advent of Code is an annual programming challenge that releases a new puzzle every day in December until Christmas. It's a great opportunity for programmers to learn new skills and challenge themselves with interesting problems. In this year's challenge, I decided to take a different approach and learn more about assembly language programming using x86 architecture.
Why use x86 Assembly Language?
While many people use Advent of Code to learn new programming languages, I was interested in delving into assembly language programming. Specifically, I wanted to explore x86 assembly language because it's the architecture I'm most familiar with.
Getting started
To start the challenge, I needed to set up my development environment. I chose to use nasm, a popular open-source assembler for x86 architecture. Nasm is a great choice for beginners as it's easy to install and use, and there are plenty of online resources to help you get started.
Once I had my development environment set up, I was ready to start solving puzzles! The first thing I noticed was that solving puzzles in assembly language is very different from solving them in high-level languages like Python or Java. The main challenge is dealing with low-level details, such as memory management, which are abstracted away in high-level languages.
Despite these challenges, solving puzzles in assembly language can be incredibly rewarding. It forces you to think more deeply about the problem at hand and consider the underlying architecture of the computer you're working with.
Conclusion
Advent of Code is a great opportunity to learn new programming skills and challenge yourself with interesting problems. This year, I decided to take a different approach and learn more about assembly language programming using x86 architecture. Although it was challenging at times, I found solving puzzles in assembly language to be incredibly rewarding. If you're interested in learning more about assembly language programming, I highly recommend giving it a try!