For anyone interested in further sharpening their coding skills while having good-natured, fun competition at the same time — I encourage you to join this year’s Advent of Code competition!

This is a worldwide event that occurs every year from Dec 1st to Dec 25th — a total of 25 increasingly challenging coding problems that the studliest coders in the world compete for prizes to complete. I’ve participated several times, and it has never failed to be fun, clever, skill-building, and a bonding experience (with others I know who are participating, and with people all over the world I’ve never met)!

Ian has set up a local leaderboard for UMW, and I encourage you to read his email and sign up for an account!