AdventOfCode.Framework 1.3.8

Advent of Code Framework

Simple framework to bootstrap Advent of Code solutions.

Modes

The framework supports two run modes:

Solve Mode

Runs solutions and outputs the result from the problems.

Benchmark Mode

Benchmarks solution problems.

Setting Up Solutions

A solution needs to satisfy four constrains: inheriting from Solution, having a constructor which takes in a single parameter of type Input, having a single Solution attribute, and having at least one SolutionInput attribute.

A solution should then look something like this:

using AdventOfCode.Framework;

[Solution(1)]
[SolutionInput("Input.txt")]
public class MySolution : Solution
{
    public MySolution(Input input) : base(input)
    {
    }

    protected override string? Problem1()
    {
        return null;
    }

    protected override string? Problem2()
    {
        return null;
    }
}

The solutions to the problems should be returned from Problem1 and Problem2 as strings.

Running

The entry point to the framework is the SolutionRunner.

SolutionRunner runner = new();

You can then run the solution runner directly in one of the two modes and for a specific combination of days/problems.

// Solve mode
runner.Solve(1, Problem.Problem2);
runner.Solve(1);
runner.SolveLatest();
runner.SolveAll();

// Benchmark mode
runner.Benchmark(1, Problem.Problem2);
runner.Benchmark(1);
runner.BenchmarkAll();

There is also an option intended to work with the command line:

runner.Run(args);

The arguments passed to Run can define the two modes as follows:

run <day> [problem]
benchmark <day> <problem>

for example:

runner.Run(new string[] { "run", "1", "1" });

Note that SolveLatest is not supported with run arguments.

Input

Input is read by the framework and can be accessed in the solution via the Input property (or directly in the constructor). The input can be read in lines, or as a raw input string.

protected override string? Problem1()
{
    string[] lines = Input.Lines;
    string raw = Input.Raw;
}

Solution Options

Solution Attribute

The solution attribute takes in the day that the solution corresponds to, and optionally whether the solution is enabled.

[Solution(1, Enabled = true)]

Solution Input Attribute

The solution input attribute takes in a path to an input file to run the solution for. This is by default resolved from the base directory of the project but this can be changed via the SolutionRunner options.

Optional properties can be set to enable/disable the input, specify that the input is only relevant to a single problem and enable benchmarking.

[SolutionInput("Input.txt", Enabled = true, Benchmark = true, Problem = Problem.All)

Solutions to the problems can also be added which will allow incorrect runs to be marked in the solution output.

[SolutionInput("Input.txt", Problem1Solution = "X", Problem2Solution = "X")

Note that in benchmark mode, only inputs marked with Benchmark = true will be considered. This is false by default.

Notes

Process

Each problem run instantiates a new solution, so state can't be shared between runs. Benchmarking includes the runtime of the constructor as well as the specific problem, however it doesn't include reading input files.

Disabling Problems

A problem that returns null is not considered as being a non-atttempt and therefore will not contribute to the benchmarks, or stop the current run.

Solve Output

When running in Solve Mode, the output gives an approximate run time along with the problem result. If the result is known to be correct or incorrect, it will be highlighted in green and red respectively. If the result is not know, but two solutions provide different results for the the same problem, then these will be considered inconsistent and marked in yellow.

Note that the runtime is approximate, and doesn't take into account any overhead. To measure a problem accurately, run in Benchmark Mode.

Pitfalls

Input file paths should be specified relative to the output directory (or usually relative to the project root). For this to work the files need to be setup to copy over when building (https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/53248.visual-studio-copying-files-to-debug-or-release-folder.aspx).