Solution to problem 14 in Python

src/Year_2021/P14.py

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+# --- Day 14: Extended Polymerization ---
+
+# The incredible pressures at this depth are starting to put a strain on your
+# submarine. The submarine has polymerization equipment that would produce
+# suitable materials to reinforce the submarine, and the nearby
+# volcanically-active caves should even have the necessary input elements in
+# sufficient quantities.
+
+# The submarine manual contains instructions for finding the optimal polymer
+# formula; specifically, it offers a polymer template and a list of pair
+# insertion rules (your puzzle input). You just need to work out what polymer
+# would result after repeating the pair insertion process a few times.
+
+# For example:
+
+# NNCB
+
+# CH -> B
+# HH -> N
+# CB -> H
+# NH -> C
+# HB -> C
+# HC -> B
+# HN -> C
+# NN -> C
+# BH -> H
+# NC -> B
+# NB -> B
+# BN -> B
+# BB -> N
+# BC -> B
+# CC -> N
+# CN -> C
+
+# The first line is the polymer template - this is the starting point of the
+# process.
+
+# The following section defines the pair insertion rules. A rule like AB -> C
+# means that when elements A and B are immediately adjacent, element C should be
+# inserted between them. These insertions all happen simultaneously.
+
+# So, starting with the polymer template NNCB, the first step simultaneously
+# considers all three pairs:
+
+#     The first pair (NN) matches the rule NN -> C, so element C is inserted
+# between the first N and the second N.
+#     The second pair (NC) matches the rule NC -> B, so element B is inserted
+# between the N and the C.
+#     The third pair (CB) matches the rule CB -> H, so element H is inserted
+# between the C and the B.
+
+# Note that these pairs overlap: the second element of one pair is the first
+# element of the next pair. Also, because all pairs are considered
+# simultaneously, inserted elements are not considered to be part of a pair
+# until the next step.
+
+# After the first step of this process, the polymer becomes NCNBCHB.
+
+# Here are the results of a few steps using the above rules:
+
+# Template:     NNCB
+# After step 1: NCNBCHB
+# After step 2: NBCCNBBBCBHCB
+# After step 3: NBBBCNCCNBBNBNBBCHBHHBCHB
+# After step 4: NBBNBNBBCCNBCNCCNBBNBBNBBBNBBNBBCBHCBHHNHCBBCBHCB
+
+# This polymer grows quickly. After step 5, it has length 97; After step 10, it
+# has length 3073. After step 10, B occurs 1749 times, C occurs 298 times, H
+# occurs 161 times, and N occurs 865 times; taking the quantity of the most
+# common element (B, 1749) and subtracting the quantity of the least common
+# element (H, 161) produces 1749 - 161 = 1588.
+
+# Apply 10 steps of pair insertion to the polymer template and find the most and
+# least common elements in the result. What do you get if you take the quantity
+# of the most common element and subtract the quantity of the least common
+# element?
+
+from collections import Counter
+
+
+def part_1() -> None:
+    polymer, polymer_rules = open("files/P14.txt").read().split("\n\n")
+    rules = {
+        s: e
+        for line in polymer_rules.strip().split("\n")
+        for s, e in [line.strip().split(" -> ")]
+    }
+
+    for _ in range(10):
+        polymer = polymer[0] + "".join(
+            rules[a + b] + b for a, b in zip(polymer, polymer[1:])
+        )
+
+    most_common = Counter(polymer).most_common()
+    print(f"The result is {most_common[0][1] - most_common[-1][1]}")
+
+
+# --- Part Two ---
+
+# The resulting polymer isn't nearly strong enough to reinforce the submarine.
+# You'll need to run more steps of the pair insertion process; a total of 40
+# steps should do it.
+
+# In the above example, the most common element is B (occurring 2192039569602
+# times) and the least common element is H (occurring 3849876073 times);
+# subtracting these produces 2188189693529.
+
+# Apply 40 steps of pair insertion to the polymer template and find the most
+# and least common elements in the result. What do you get if you take the
+# quantity of the most common element and subtract the quantity of the least
+# common element?
+
+from collections import defaultdict  # noqa: E402
+
+
+def part_2() -> None:
+    polymer, polymer_rules = open("files/P14.txt").read().split("\n\n")
+    rules = {
+        s: e
+        for line in polymer_rules.strip().split("\n")
+        for s, e in [line.strip().split(" -> ")]
+    }
+    counts = {key: polymer.count(key) for key in rules}
+
+    for _ in range(40):
+        new_counts = defaultdict(int)
+
+        for pair, count in counts.items():
+            char = rules[pair]
+            new_counts[pair[0] + char] += count
+            new_counts[char + pair[1]] += count
+
+        counts = new_counts
+
+    element_counts = defaultdict(int, {polymer[0]: 1})
+
+    for pair, count in counts.items():
+        element_counts[pair[1]] += count
+
+    most_common = Counter(element_counts).most_common()
+    print(f"The result is {most_common[0][1] - most_common[-1][1]}")
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    part_1()
+    part_2()

src/Year_2021/files/P14.txt

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+PSVVKKCNBPNBBHNSFKBO
+
+CF -> H
+PP -> H
+SP -> V
+NO -> C
+SF -> F
+FS -> H
+OF -> P
+PN -> B
+SH -> V
+BO -> K
+ON -> V
+VP -> S
+HN -> B
+PS -> P
+FV -> H
+NC -> N
+FN -> S
+PF -> F
+BF -> F
+NB -> O
+HS -> C
+SC -> V
+PC -> K
+KF -> K
+HC -> C
+OK -> H
+KS -> P
+VF -> C
+NV -> S
+KK -> F
+HV -> H
+SV -> V
+KC -> N
+HF -> P
+SN -> F
+VS -> P
+VN -> F
+VH -> C
+OB -> K
+VV -> O
+VC -> O
+KP -> V
+OP -> C
+HO -> S
+NP -> K
+HB -> C
+CS -> S
+OO -> S
+CV -> K
+BS -> F
+BH -> P
+HP -> P
+PK -> B
+BB -> H
+PV -> N
+VO -> P
+SS -> B
+CC -> F
+BC -> V
+FF -> S
+HK -> V
+OH -> N
+BV -> C
+CP -> F
+KN -> K
+NN -> S
+FB -> F
+PH -> O
+FH -> N
+FK -> P
+CK -> V
+CN -> S
+BP -> K
+CH -> F
+FP -> K
+HH -> N
+NF -> C
+VB -> B
+FO -> N
+PB -> C
+KH -> K
+PO -> K
+OV -> F
+NH -> H
+KV -> B
+OS -> K
+OC -> K
+FC -> H
+SO -> H
+KO -> P
+NS -> F
+CB -> C
+CO -> F
+KB -> V
+BK -> K
+NK -> O
+SK -> C
+SB -> B
+VK -> O
+BN -> H