📺 https://youtu.be/PLBL85M_qqw
Nothing. I never do. I consider it a waste of good time that could have been spent contributing to any number of FOSS projects or, I don’t know, helping your local charity out with whatever coding they need. A little planning and all that amazing energy could be spent on activities that actually matter.
Oh, and if you are looking to get a job, having a contributor status with a company, non-profit, or FOSS project goes a lot further to convince someone to trust you to work for them.
I know it’s a “hot take” but honestly I don’t care. I tried it one year and thought I was going to lose my mind on the waste of time that it was. I’m a very practical person. I only like coding for what it gets me. I know people enjoy Advent for the challenge of it, like a puzzle, and that’s amazing. But other than that, I see absolutely zero value in doing it. In fact, I wish it would die.
Some say “as long as there are whiteboard interviews, there will be people doing Advent”. All I can say is if you are doing whiteboard interviews at all we have different views of life. They are illegal, bigoted against non-whiteboard test takers who can do the fucking job, and are no accurate measure of skill or ability. Thankfully, more and more are realizing this. (Just search for it.) So if you are going to give up a worthwhile contribution to the world so that you can maybe work for a shitty company that requires whiteboard interviews, there is something seriously wrong with your view of what the holidays are actually about. It ain’t that.