 Cohomological proof of Riemann-Roch for curves

On a smooth projective curve, the exact sequence $0\to \mathcal{O}(D-P)\to \mathcal{O}(D)\to k(P)\to 0$ increases the Euler characteristic by one. Iteration for positive and negative coefficients gives $\chi (\mathcal{O}(D))=\mathrm{deg}D+1-g$. Serre duality identifies $h^1(\mathcal{O}(D))$ with $h^0(\mathcal{O}(K-D))$, proving $\ell (D)-\ell (K-D)=\mathrm{deg}D+1-g$.