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Programming competition

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  • S Shog9 0

    As Nish said, Rama used to run an informal little contest every so often. They were fun. If you really like that sort of thing, you might want to check out TopCoder[^] - they've been running competitions like that for years now.

    Citizen 20.1.01

    'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master - that's all.'

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    Rama Krishna Vavilala
    wrote on last edited by
    #8

    I missed the CPHog icon:cool: as I have been using Safari almost exclusively lately.

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    • W wizofaus

      I know Code Project has an article competition - but how about a programming competition, where every week (or month) a small programming task is set - something that would generally take no more than 1000 lines of code to do - and all Code Project members are encouraged to submit answers. Ideally, it would be language/platform neutral, or there could be separate competitions for different platforms. The judging could be partly automated (i.e. the code has to compile and produce the expected output), then all the solutions that work correctly could be judged by a panel, or even by other (non-participating) readers. No need for prizes unless some corporate sponsor feels it's worth it I guess. Does anyone know of an existing website that does this? (I found one, but it hadn't been updated since 2006).

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      wizofaus
      wrote on last edited by
      #9

      Oh, I forgot mention, Code Project members should also be encouraged to submit tasks/problems too. As an example of the sort of task that might be suitable: a simple program that takes 3 or 4 web pages generated by the same server-side template/script, and that automatically "reverse engineers" the pages to work out what what the optimal template is. E.g. if the pages were 1.html This page is about apples.

      Colour

      Red

      Size

      Medium

      2.html This page is about blueberries.

      Colour

      Blue/black

      Size

      Small

      3.html This page is about coconuts.

      Colour

      Brown

      Size

      Large

      Then then the optimal output template (in .aspx format) would be something like: This page is about <%=v1>

      Colour

      <%=v3%>

      Size

      <%=v4>

      To pass the automated part of the test, the application would be compiled and run against at least 3 sets of files, (i.e., not the ones that are given as examples as part of the task definition), and the output tested to confirm it was at least sensible (e.g. matches the regular expression ^.{10,200}\s*$), or if the task itself was defined very strictly, then there's no reason why the output shouldn't be exactly as expected. Ideally, programmers should be able to submit their solution to be tested against the automated checker first, just to confirm their solution compiles and runs. Anyway, just an idea...

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      • N Nish Nishant

        RKV*0* and MC*1* used to do something similar to this a while ago - every Friday. But very few people here are actually interested in writing code, most people just like to talk about it, so they both stopped doing it. :rolleyes: *0* - Rama Krishna Vavilala *1* - Marc Clifton

        Regards, Nish


        Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
        My latest book : C++/CLI in Action / Amazon.com link

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        Marc Clifton
        wrote on last edited by
        #10

        Nishant Sivakumar wrote:

        But very few people here are actually interested in writing code, most people just like to talk about it, so they both stopped doing it.

        Actually, a client and I parted ways a while back, so I lost my source of examples of terrible code (written by outsourced folks in Costa Rica) from which I would ask "how would you code this?" here at CP. But I did enjoy getting away with posting programming questions in the lounge, hehe. Marc

        Thyme In The Country Interacx My Blog

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        • W wizofaus

          I know Code Project has an article competition - but how about a programming competition, where every week (or month) a small programming task is set - something that would generally take no more than 1000 lines of code to do - and all Code Project members are encouraged to submit answers. Ideally, it would be language/platform neutral, or there could be separate competitions for different platforms. The judging could be partly automated (i.e. the code has to compile and produce the expected output), then all the solutions that work correctly could be judged by a panel, or even by other (non-participating) readers. No need for prizes unless some corporate sponsor feels it's worth it I guess. Does anyone know of an existing website that does this? (I found one, but it hadn't been updated since 2006).

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          Anton Afanasyev
          wrote on last edited by
          #11

          There's always this: http://icpcres.ecs.baylor.edu/onlinejudge/[^], if you just feel like coding something. But I guess it's just not the same.

          "impossible" is just an opinion.

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          • A Anton Afanasyev

            There's always this: http://icpcres.ecs.baylor.edu/onlinejudge/[^], if you just feel like coding something. But I guess it's just not the same.

            "impossible" is just an opinion.

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            wizofaus
            wrote on last edited by
            #12

            Looks like the sort of thing I had in mind (although the site itself doesn't work under IE7), except I imagined having just one active problem at a time, rather than a whole bunch of them that appear to have been there for years. Still, thanks for the link.

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            • W wizofaus

              I know Code Project has an article competition - but how about a programming competition, where every week (or month) a small programming task is set - something that would generally take no more than 1000 lines of code to do - and all Code Project members are encouraged to submit answers. Ideally, it would be language/platform neutral, or there could be separate competitions for different platforms. The judging could be partly automated (i.e. the code has to compile and produce the expected output), then all the solutions that work correctly could be judged by a panel, or even by other (non-participating) readers. No need for prizes unless some corporate sponsor feels it's worth it I guess. Does anyone know of an existing website that does this? (I found one, but it hadn't been updated since 2006).

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              dwales
              wrote on last edited by
              #13

              It would be nice if Programmer of the Month (http://dinsights.com/POTM/[^]) could be revived (possibly that's the one you found). Spent a lot of time coding solutions to the problems there, without too much success. I think it took a lot of time of the moderator to run it though. Some others I can't vouch for: http://www.recmath.org/contest/[^] http://www.spoj.pl/[^] And of course: http://www.ioccc.org/[^]

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              • W wizofaus

                I know Code Project has an article competition - but how about a programming competition, where every week (or month) a small programming task is set - something that would generally take no more than 1000 lines of code to do - and all Code Project members are encouraged to submit answers. Ideally, it would be language/platform neutral, or there could be separate competitions for different platforms. The judging could be partly automated (i.e. the code has to compile and produce the expected output), then all the solutions that work correctly could be judged by a panel, or even by other (non-participating) readers. No need for prizes unless some corporate sponsor feels it's worth it I guess. Does anyone know of an existing website that does this? (I found one, but it hadn't been updated since 2006).

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                Bijoy Thangaraj R
                wrote on last edited by
                #14

                Check out http://www.topcoder.com

                Thanks and Regards, Bijoy Thangaraj http://www.jsplash.com

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                • W wizofaus

                  I know Code Project has an article competition - but how about a programming competition, where every week (or month) a small programming task is set - something that would generally take no more than 1000 lines of code to do - and all Code Project members are encouraged to submit answers. Ideally, it would be language/platform neutral, or there could be separate competitions for different platforms. The judging could be partly automated (i.e. the code has to compile and produce the expected output), then all the solutions that work correctly could be judged by a panel, or even by other (non-participating) readers. No need for prizes unless some corporate sponsor feels it's worth it I guess. Does anyone know of an existing website that does this? (I found one, but it hadn't been updated since 2006).

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                  Jonas Hammarberg
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #15

                  Not on topic but not that far away either... For stretching your mind; "Find The Bug - A book of incorrect answers" by Adam Barr,ISBN 0-321-22391-8 Not that hard problems but you never ceases to be amazed by the number of wrong ways a piece can be coded. rgds /Jonas

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                  • B Bijoy Thangaraj R

                    Check out http://www.topcoder.com

                    Thanks and Regards, Bijoy Thangaraj http://www.jsplash.com

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                    Reelix
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #16

                    Sounds good :) What's the first challenge? *Cracks Knuckles* Re-Code Windows? ;P

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                    • C Chris Maunder

                      Send me a few quiz questions and I'll do it. I love the idea.

                      cheers, Chris Maunder

                      CodeProject.com : C++ MVP

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                      Member 96
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #17

                      I'd love to see some along the lines of an optimization competition with a fixed set of data and some complex task and standard for timing but aside from that no rules, use any language, any common platform etc. It would not only be fun it would be very instructive.


                      "The pursuit of excellence is less profitable than the pursuit of bigness, but it can be more satisfying." - David Ogilvy

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                      • W wizofaus

                        I know Code Project has an article competition - but how about a programming competition, where every week (or month) a small programming task is set - something that would generally take no more than 1000 lines of code to do - and all Code Project members are encouraged to submit answers. Ideally, it would be language/platform neutral, or there could be separate competitions for different platforms. The judging could be partly automated (i.e. the code has to compile and produce the expected output), then all the solutions that work correctly could be judged by a panel, or even by other (non-participating) readers. No need for prizes unless some corporate sponsor feels it's worth it I guess. Does anyone know of an existing website that does this? (I found one, but it hadn't been updated since 2006).

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                        Dexterus
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #18

                        http://ace.delos.com/usacogate[^] A huge training set that you have to complete in order, monthly competitions or something. Done about half the training set while in highschool but due to spending a lot of time drinking/partying I didn't get through it all. Then there's any ACM problem sets (still have a few hundred of those tasks). Normally you want reasonably low runtimes, low enough that complexity makes the difference and not the compiler. It's always fun but never enough time.

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                        • W wizofaus

                          I know Code Project has an article competition - but how about a programming competition, where every week (or month) a small programming task is set - something that would generally take no more than 1000 lines of code to do - and all Code Project members are encouraged to submit answers. Ideally, it would be language/platform neutral, or there could be separate competitions for different platforms. The judging could be partly automated (i.e. the code has to compile and produce the expected output), then all the solutions that work correctly could be judged by a panel, or even by other (non-participating) readers. No need for prizes unless some corporate sponsor feels it's worth it I guess. Does anyone know of an existing website that does this? (I found one, but it hadn't been updated since 2006).

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                          Luke Dyer
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #19

                          A website called http://projecteuler.net/[^] does something similar, the problems are mainly theoretical and maths based. The problems start off easy, but believe me, they get very hard. It's updated quite regularly, probably a new problem every couple of weeks.

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                          • J Jonas Hammarberg

                            Not on topic but not that far away either... For stretching your mind; "Find The Bug - A book of incorrect answers" by Adam Barr,ISBN 0-321-22391-8 Not that hard problems but you never ceases to be amazed by the number of wrong ways a piece can be coded. rgds /Jonas

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                            BadKarma
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #20

                            Take a look at this site http://www.gimpel.com/[^]. Its kind of an online version. With every month a new Bug to crack

                            codito ergo sum

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                            • W wizofaus

                              I know Code Project has an article competition - but how about a programming competition, where every week (or month) a small programming task is set - something that would generally take no more than 1000 lines of code to do - and all Code Project members are encouraged to submit answers. Ideally, it would be language/platform neutral, or there could be separate competitions for different platforms. The judging could be partly automated (i.e. the code has to compile and produce the expected output), then all the solutions that work correctly could be judged by a panel, or even by other (non-participating) readers. No need for prizes unless some corporate sponsor feels it's worth it I guess. Does anyone know of an existing website that does this? (I found one, but it hadn't been updated since 2006).

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                              Mostafa Siraj
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #21

                              TopCoder.com is the best description of your requirements.

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                              • B BadKarma

                                Take a look at this site http://www.gimpel.com/[^]. Its kind of an online version. With every month a new Bug to crack

                                codito ergo sum

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                                Jonas Hammarberg
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #22

                                I considered their "Bug of the Month" in DJJ and CUJ as the high point of the month... On my former company we run a contest with two prizes, one on solving the bug, one on giving a clear and consise explanation that was understood by _all_ the programmers... Solving the bug was most of the time easy but sometimes explaining why really took some thought (there are hings one just doesn't do in C/C++, eg. we that know about the DO's and DONT's)... rgds /Jonas [proud owner of a legimate personal license of PC-Lint]

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                                • W wizofaus

                                  I know Code Project has an article competition - but how about a programming competition, where every week (or month) a small programming task is set - something that would generally take no more than 1000 lines of code to do - and all Code Project members are encouraged to submit answers. Ideally, it would be language/platform neutral, or there could be separate competitions for different platforms. The judging could be partly automated (i.e. the code has to compile and produce the expected output), then all the solutions that work correctly could be judged by a panel, or even by other (non-participating) readers. No need for prizes unless some corporate sponsor feels it's worth it I guess. Does anyone know of an existing website that does this? (I found one, but it hadn't been updated since 2006).

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                                  Simon P Stevens
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #23

                                  There's also Google code jam The 2008 site[^] is just a place holder at the moment. There was a beta run the other week, the questions and scores are here: http://code.google.com/codejam/[^]

                                  Simon

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                                  • W wizofaus

                                    I know Code Project has an article competition - but how about a programming competition, where every week (or month) a small programming task is set - something that would generally take no more than 1000 lines of code to do - and all Code Project members are encouraged to submit answers. Ideally, it would be language/platform neutral, or there could be separate competitions for different platforms. The judging could be partly automated (i.e. the code has to compile and produce the expected output), then all the solutions that work correctly could be judged by a panel, or even by other (non-participating) readers. No need for prizes unless some corporate sponsor feels it's worth it I guess. Does anyone know of an existing website that does this? (I found one, but it hadn't been updated since 2006).

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                                    eFotografo
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #24

                                    Not exactly a competition site, 'though they do have monthly (or so) random draws giving away commercial software (and I was the lucky winner of UltraEdit 12 a few months back :-)) there is: http://www.donationcoder.com[^] ("for software connoisseurs" as they put it on their homepage :-D) The software they offer is "donationware". Free to use, but needs to be re-registered every few months, however a perpetual license for everything may be obtained if *any* donation is given. They also have a forum where people may request small tools or app(let)s to do some specific task. One (or more) of the many programmers regularly reading may then take up the challenge and produce a solution within a matter of days (or even hours!) subsequently making the tool available for anyone that wants it! For the latest newsletter (to get an idea of what the site is all about), follow this link: http://www.donationcoder.com/Forums/bb/index.php?topic=12788.0[^] John

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                                    • S Simon P Stevens

                                      There's also Google code jam The 2008 site[^] is just a place holder at the moment. There was a beta run the other week, the questions and scores are here: http://code.google.com/codejam/[^]

                                      Simon

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                                      wizofaus
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #25

                                      I like the sort of problems I saw there - but not so keen on the timing requirements (not because I'm not a fast coder, but I don't often have 2 hours I can be sure I can solidly dedicate to such a task). The other sites mentioned by various posters didn't seem to quite fit the bill, though maybe I need to look more at topcoder.com.

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                                      • W wizofaus

                                        Oh, I forgot mention, Code Project members should also be encouraged to submit tasks/problems too. As an example of the sort of task that might be suitable: a simple program that takes 3 or 4 web pages generated by the same server-side template/script, and that automatically "reverse engineers" the pages to work out what what the optimal template is. E.g. if the pages were 1.html This page is about apples.

                                        Colour

                                        Red

                                        Size

                                        Medium

                                        2.html This page is about blueberries.

                                        Colour

                                        Blue/black

                                        Size

                                        Small

                                        3.html This page is about coconuts.

                                        Colour

                                        Brown

                                        Size

                                        Large

                                        Then then the optimal output template (in .aspx format) would be something like: This page is about <%=v1>

                                        Colour

                                        <%=v3%>

                                        Size

                                        <%=v4>

                                        To pass the automated part of the test, the application would be compiled and run against at least 3 sets of files, (i.e., not the ones that are given as examples as part of the task definition), and the output tested to confirm it was at least sensible (e.g. matches the regular expression ^.{10,200}\s*$), or if the task itself was defined very strictly, then there's no reason why the output shouldn't be exactly as expected. Ideally, programmers should be able to submit their solution to be tested against the automated checker first, just to confirm their solution compiles and runs. Anyway, just an idea...

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                                        Russell Jones
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #26

                                        do you get prizes for the most "enterprisy" solution?

                                        1 Reply Last reply
                                        0
                                        • W wizofaus

                                          I know Code Project has an article competition - but how about a programming competition, where every week (or month) a small programming task is set - something that would generally take no more than 1000 lines of code to do - and all Code Project members are encouraged to submit answers. Ideally, it would be language/platform neutral, or there could be separate competitions for different platforms. The judging could be partly automated (i.e. the code has to compile and produce the expected output), then all the solutions that work correctly could be judged by a panel, or even by other (non-participating) readers. No need for prizes unless some corporate sponsor feels it's worth it I guess. Does anyone know of an existing website that does this? (I found one, but it hadn't been updated since 2006).

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                                          Broken Bokken
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #27

                                          It would be kind of fun to have 2 categories for each programming task - The Right Way and The Wrong Way. You could do one or both, but both solutions must compile, run, and produce the expected result.

                                          Broken Bokken You can't carry out a ninja-style assasination dressed as an astronaut. It's the luminous fabric; too visible. - Tripod http://www.brokenbokken.com

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