Okay, so check it, today I’m diving into a little project I’ve been messing around with: turning 2012 into 1982. Sounds weird, right? But stick with me.
First off, Why Bother?
Well, I was feeling nostalgic, thinking about the good old days (even though I barely remember ’em). Plus, I wanted a fun coding challenge. See if I could wrestle with dates and stuff. So, the goal was simple: take the year 2012 and somehow transform it into 1982. No biggie, right?
The Brainstorming Begins
I started by just staring at the numbers. 2012… 1982… What’s the difference? Obviously, subtraction! But I wanted to make it a bit more interesting than just a straight-up minus operation. I wanted a story, you know?
The (Slightly Crazy) Plan
Here’s what I came up with. I’d break down 2012 into its digits: 2, 0, 1, and 2. Then, I’d mess with those digits using some basic math to get closer to 1982. It was all about the journey, not just the destination.
Getting My Hands Dirty with Code
So, I fired up my code editor (I’m a Python guy, if you’re curious) and started coding. First thing’s first, I needed to separate the digits. Quick and dirty, but effective:
- Convert 2012 to a string.
- Loop through the string, turning each character back into an integer.
Now I had a list: `[2, 0, 1, 2]`
The Math Shenanigans
This is where it got fun. I played around with different operations. Here’s a taste:
- Multiplication: I tried multiplying the first two digits (2 0 = 0). That didn’t help much.
- Addition: Adding all the digits together (2 + 0 + 1 + 2 = 5). Nope, still nowhere near 1982.
- Subtraction (with a Twist): I decided to subtract the sum of the last two digits from the first two. So, (20 – (1 + 2)) = 17. Getting warmer… kinda.
The Eureka Moment (Sort Of)
After a bunch of trial and error, I realized I needed to think bigger. I couldn’t just manipulate individual digits; I needed to combine them in more meaningful ways.
Then it hit me: What if I treated 20 and 12 as separate numbers? I could do something with those!
The (Almost) Final Calculation
Here’s what I did:
- I took 20 and multiplied it by 100 (because why not?). That gave me 2000.
- Then, I subtracted 12 from 2000. Now I was at 1988.
Okay, so I wasn’t exactly at 1982. But I was close! Just six years off.
The Grand Finale (or, Close Enough)
To get that final “minus six,” I just straight-up subtracted 6. Boom! 1982.
So, here’s the full breakdown:
(20 100) – 12 – 6 = 1982
The Takeaway
Did I use some crazy, convoluted math? Absolutely. Was it the most efficient way to get from 2012 to 1982? Probably not. But did I have fun doing it? Hell yeah!
Sometimes, coding isn’t about finding the perfect solution; it’s about the journey and the little “aha!” moments along the way.
What I Learned
This little project reminded me that:
- Breaking down big problems into smaller steps makes them less scary.
- There’s always more than one way to skin a cat (or, in this case, turn 2012 into 1982).
- It’s okay to get a little weird with your code.
So, yeah, that’s the story of how I turned 2012 into 1982. Maybe it’ll inspire you to try your own crazy coding experiment. And who knows, maybe you’ll even learn something along the way.