Discord vs solutions thread

[thedoctar]

Hi all,
A fellow PE solver recently introduced me to the Discord.
It seems that the threads there can be quite active.
I always thought insights to the problems were in the official solution threads, but maybe it's not the case.
To aid other learners, would it be good to mention the Discord when you solve the problem?

Also, I asked a question in the PE455 forum. If someone knows the answer, please tell!

Happy solving,

thedoctar

[PierrotLeFou]

As far as I know, the discussions on Discord are not archived, so it will be useless to mention them.
Also, PE do not recommend to give answers to problems.

[byhill]

The discord is mentioned on the about page if you want to join. (Or you can use this link: https://discord.gg/28bQcA7pQQ). While a few members of the PE team do have a presence on the discord, it is an unofficial community and not run by PE itself.

Though opinions may vary, I think that the discord usually strikes a good balance of helpful without being spoilery. In particular, you are certainly not allowed to just share solutions there. There are also private problem threads where you can join only once you solve the problem on Project Euler. In these threads, people can talk freely about the problem without spoiling it for other people. While the discord threads can be active, the best place to find insight about the problem is still the official solution forums.

[Lazar]

Though opinions may vary, I think that the discord usually strikes a good balance of helpful without being spoilery. In particular, you are certainly not allowed to just share solutions there.

I do not want to troll or reignite flames but I thought the solution to 942 was leaked there and people regularly share solutions. I am unsure why the Discord exists.

[universalset]

the solution to 942 was leaked there

This is false. We discussed the fact that 942 was leaked to the broader internet, and the fact that some people had used AI to solve it, after these things had happened and without discussing the solution. The actual solution was not discussed (except in the private thread only open to people who already solved it).

and people regularly share solutions.

This is also false.

Sometimes newcomers don't know what they are doing and post solutions or ask spoilery questions about their work. They are asked to remove any such spoilers and solutions, and if they fail to do so promptly, the mods delete (generally quite quickly) any solutions or other discussion that is deemed to potentially spoil part of the solution.

The policy in the Discord is intended to reflect the policy for Project Euler as a whole as given by the admonitions on the About page, and several Project Euler admins are in fact members of the Discord.

[Lazar]

This is false.

No, this is very questionable. I saw multiple users for over 10 days talking about their own interpretation of how long a "brute-force" C++ solution might take with various quotes under 100 days of runtime and I felt it was very wacky they would be leaking nontrivial insider information because more informed parties with knowledge of Project Euler Minus C techniques would know how to do it in under 10... and the point is that if there is nothing to leak then why is there even a Discord at all? And the point I was trying to emphasise was that it was totally unfair to the Eulerians who were not on the Discord at the time I mean totally flagrantly unfair conduct. Most of this took place within 14 days of the task being released, well before other information hit the public internet. A lot of banter which would constitute the so-called table talk in games like Bridge. Well I guess the post beneath this one is OK but I would appreciate sharing insights in to the actual thread too because I am all about the learning.

[thedoctar]

There has been wider discussion on other threads about the competitive nature undermining the spirit of PE.

Whilst I'm proud to have been in top 30 of some hard problems, I wasn't aiming for the 1-minute rule and it was quite stressful

I think it's wrong to highlight & stress the competitive aspect of PE, although I understand that those who are proud to be in top of Eulerian table and have honed their library and skill would be upset about others spoiling problems.

I just wanted to highlight my use case. There are many ACTIVE users on discord, but few ACTIVE users on the solution threads, especially after they become recent.

I asked for help PROVING the correctness of another's solution on PE455, and with the help of the user Teseting in the PRIVATE Discord thread, I think I managed to get a proof.

I think this shows a very positive aspect of facilitating coordination of Discord. Undoubtedly, like all tools, it can be used for more nefarious purposes.

[echip]

As a person who's been joining Project Euler since before the leaderboard existed, I also don't like ProjectEuler's emphasis on its competitive aspect.

When I joined Project Euler, there was no such thing called "leaderboard". You could become an Eulerian simply by solving at least half of the latest 25 problems.

Who made ProjectEuler what it is today? It's Unluckytoilet and those who leaked the answers. If you don't want ProjectEuler to emphasize on its competitive aspect, please stop providing answers. But I don't think there's any possibility to go back.