011.js

let gridText = `08 02 22 97 38 15 00 40 00 75 04 05 07 78 52 12 50 77 91 08
49 49 99 40 17 81 18 57 60 87 17 40 98 43 69 48 04 56 62 00
81 49 31 73 55 79 14 29 93 71 40 67 53 88 30 03 49 13 36 65
52 70 95 23 04 60 11 42 69 24 68 56 01 32 56 71 37 02 36 91
22 31 16 71 51 67 63 89 41 92 36 54 22 40 40 28 66 33 13 80
24 47 32 60 99 03 45 02 44 75 33 53 78 36 84 20 35 17 12 50
32 98 81 28 64 23 67 10 26 38 40 67 59 54 70 66 18 38 64 70
67 26 20 68 02 62 12 20 95 63 94 39 63 08 40 91 66 49 94 21
24 55 58 05 66 73 99 26 97 17 78 78 96 83 14 88 34 89 63 72
21 36 23 09 75 00 76 44 20 45 35 14 00 61 33 97 34 31 33 95
78 17 53 28 22 75 31 67 15 94 03 80 04 62 16 14 09 53 56 92
16 39 05 42 96 35 31 47 55 58 88 24 00 17 54 24 36 29 85 57
86 56 00 48 35 71 89 07 05 44 44 37 44 60 21 58 51 54 17 58
19 80 81 68 05 94 47 69 28 73 92 13 86 52 17 77 04 89 55 40
04 52 08 83 97 35 99 16 07 97 57 32 16 26 26 79 33 27 98 66
88 36 68 87 57 62 20 72 03 46 33 67 46 55 12 32 63 93 53 69
04 42 16 73 38 25 39 11 24 94 72 18 08 46 29 32 40 62 76 36
20 69 36 41 72 30 23 88 34 62 99 69 82 67 59 85 74 04 36 16
20 73 35 29 78 31 90 01 74 31 49 71 48 86 81 16 23 57 05 54
01 70 54 71 83 51 54 69 16 92 33 48 61 43 52 01 89 19 67 48`;

//first, we parse the text copied directly from the problem page into a 2d array called "grid"

let grid = new Array(10);

let rows = gridText.split("\n");

for (let i = 0; i < rows.length; i++) {
    grid[i] = rows[i].split(" ");
}

let highestProduct = 1; //accumulator variable to hold the highest product found so far as we traverse the grid

//next, we traverse the grid
//check adjacent products of the 3 elements up, down, left, right, diagonally bottom right, and diagonally bottom left of each element (if it's possible to do so)
//if a product is higher than the highestProduct found so far, update highestProduct

for (let row = 0; row < grid.length; row++) {
    for (let col = 0; col < grid[row].length; col++) {
        //3 up
        if (row >= 3) {
            let product = parseInt(grid[row][col]) * parseInt(grid[row-1][col]) * parseInt(grid[row-2][col]) * parseInt(grid[row-3][col]);

            if (product > highestProduct) {
                highestProduct = product;
            }
        }

        //3 down
        if (row < grid.length - 3) {
            let product = parseInt(grid[row][col]) * parseInt(grid[row+1][col]) * parseInt(grid[row+2][col]) * parseInt(grid[row+3][col]);

            if (product > highestProduct) {
                highestProduct = product;
            }
        }

        //3 left
        if (col >= 3) {
            let product = parseInt(grid[row][col]) * parseInt(grid[row][col-1]) * parseInt(grid[row][col-2]) * parseInt(grid[row][col-3]);

            if (product > highestProduct) {
                highestProduct = product;
            }
        }

        //3 right
        if (col < grid[row].length - 3) {
            let product = parseInt(grid[row][col]) * parseInt(grid[row][col+1]) * parseInt(grid[row][col+2]) * parseInt(grid[row][col+3]);

            if (product > highestProduct) {
                highestProduct = product;
            }
        }

        //3 diagonal bottom right
        if ((row < grid.length - 3) && (col < grid[row].length - 3)) {
            let product = parseInt(grid[row][col]) * parseInt(grid[row+1][col+1]) * parseInt(grid[row+2][col+2]) * parseInt(grid[row+3][col+3]);

            if (product > highestProduct) {
                highestProduct = product;
            }
        }

        //3 diagonal bottom left
        if ((row < grid.length - 3) && (col >= 3)) {
            let product = parseInt(grid[row][col]) * parseInt(grid[row+1][col-1]) * parseInt(grid[row+2][col-2]) * parseInt(grid[row+3][col-3]);

            if (product > highestProduct) {
                highestProduct = product;
            }
        }
    }
}

console.log(highestProduct); // our answer!