The Advent of Code is a programming challenge consisting of daily puzzles of varying difficulty for the 25 days leading up to Christmas.  This was the first year I participated, and it has been a wonderful experience.  Most of the embedded programming I’ve done previously has been in C++; however, I am usually using the Arduino IDE, which abstracts a lot of the complexity away from the programmer.  I decided to complete the Advent of Code in C++ to improve my “raw” C++ skills and knowledge. As a mechanical engineer who works mostly on software, I’ve learned a lot about data structures and algorithms that I hadn’t been previously exposed to.  Recursion, linked-lists, graph traversal, and dynamic programming, to name a few.  Between the Advent of Code and reading Bjarne Stroustrup’s “A Tour of C++,” I’ve gotten a lot more confident in my C++ abilities.  As of writing this, I’m on day 21 (yes, I’m taking my sweet time) and can’t wait to find some time to finish the last four days. My solutions are available on my Github.