Programming Puzzles & Code Golf newsletter

Top new questions this week:

Optimizing the telephone keypad

There seems to be this ongoing craze about people tediously learning new keyboard layouts like Dvorak or Neo because it supposedly makes them more productive. I argue that switching keyboard layouts …

code-golf

asked by Flonk 20 votes answered by OJW 2 votes

Solve the Global Debt, the Code Golf way

The leaders of the world have met and have finally admitted that the best (and only) way of resolving global economic woes is to take stock of how much they owe each other and just pay each other off …

code-golf math

asked by WallyWest 19 votes answered by Mathieu Rodic 6 votes

Kolmogorov-mania

The Kolmogorov complexity of a string s is defined as the length of the shortest program P that outputs s. If the length of P is shorter than the length of s, then s is said to be compressible, …

code-golf puzzle kolmogorov-complexity

asked by Marzio De Biasi 19 votes answered by Claudiu 19 votes

Solve Aristotle's Number Problem

Aristotle's number puzzle is the challenge of populating each of 19 cells in a hexagonal grid with a unique integer between 1 and 19 such that the total along every axis is 38. You can picture the …

code-golf game

asked by Michael Stern 18 votes answered by ProgrammerDan 9 votes

The Note of Destiny - place a note on a staff

The zombie apocalypse has come, and the world is coming to an end. Suddenly, someone discovers a formula that takes the current hour, minute, and day, and spits out the perfect note to play on a piano …

code-golf ascii-art music

asked by Doorknob 18 votes answered by m.buettner 5 votes

What ROT is this? - decrypt ROT-n

Here are the letters of the English alphabet in order by frequency: e t a o i n s h r d l c u m w f g y p b v k j x q z That is, e is the most frequently used letter, and z is the least common. …

code-golf cryptography

asked by Doorknob 18 votes answered by swish 7 votes

Circles dividing the plane

This problem idea is borrowed from a recent Croatian programming contest but please don't cheat by looking at the solution outlines :) You are given a set of circles in the plane with their centers on …

code-golf algorithm geometry

asked by Niklas B. 17 votes answered by m.buettner 4 votes

Greatest hits from previous weeks:

Shortest code to determine if a string is a palindrome

A palindrome is some string that is spelled the same way both backwards and forwards. For instance, 'Eva, can I stab bats in a cave?' is a palindrome (EVACANISTAB | BATSINACAVE) For this code golf, …

code-golf palindrome

asked by Andrew Gray 26 votes answered by tmartin 21 votes

Shortest code for longest output

This one is pretty simple. Write the shortest program you can, while generating the most output. To make it fun, programs that produce infinite output will be disqualified. The winner is the …

code-golf

asked by tbodt 6 votes answered by arshajii 15 votes

Can you answer these?

Fillomino Solver

Fillomino is a puzzle where you fill a grid with polyominoes. Each polyomino is an area of contiguous cells. The grid representation shows what size polyomino is covering each cell. For example, a …

code-golf puzzle

asked by Geobits 13 votes

How many Sudoku puzzles exist?

This is not a Sudoku solver, nor a Sudoku checker. Your challenge is to write a function or script that, given as input the "block" size of a 2D Sudoku puzzle (which is 3 for the classic 9x9 board, 4 …

code-challenge sudoku

asked by Tobia 7 votes