Using Rust for a simple tool like this is, of course, a total overkill and something like Python or Go would do the same job with much less code. But I enjoy writing Rust and was already using it to solve the AoC problems :)
I also like the fact that the tool is now very easy to install with Cargo without me having to upload it to some package manager.
The 2000 lines are in the Cargo.lock file, which is generated. The actual config is 18 lines. Of course having that many dependencies is worth criticizing.
I build the tool for myself last year because I like the comfort of not having to switch between terminal and browser. As I wanted to use it this year again so I decided to put it into a separate repo and to share it here.
But I see the point that this a special kind of laziness not everyone can relate to :)
Last nights task I did with stinky code string-splitting for speed.
I assumed Eric (the creator) moved away from JSON to have a level playing field and simplify parsing (and potentially build dependencies) across various programming languages.
Well... the biggest use case I can think of is automated, AI assisted, problem solving. Which isn't really aligned with the spirit of AOC. In fact they politely asked people not to, if I'm not mistaken.
I just need to run `aoc submit <my-solution>` and immediately get feedback if I am correct. If that it the case, it automatically downloads the second problem so I can immediately continue.
As explained in another comment I'm not participating competitively. I just really like automating things.
I also think that AI assisted program solving if against the spirit of AoC, so I will add a note to the readme to discourage it.
I personally use a solution like this because I'm just plain and simply lazy.
