What Advent of Code Has Taught Me About Data Science

Participating in the Advent of Code programming challenge offers several key learnings that translate directly to data science work. The experience highlights the importance of thinking before coding by sketching out solutions and understanding requirements first. It also reinforces the necessity of input validation to avoid failures caused by incorrect assumptions about data. Furthermore, the challenge demonstrates the value of iterating quickly from a simple baseline, designing for scale, and maintaining consistency to build momentum and skills over time.