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Programming Contests

PeguPegu
edited February 2011 in Technology
I'm doing the CCC programming contest at my school tomorrow. (Yay skipping 3 hours of class!) I'm wondering if anyone else has done anything similar. Does anyone have advice for preparation? So far, I've practiced by trying the past contests while listening to Code Monkey by Jonathan Coulton. Also, as it's open book/printed notes, I've prepared some algorithms that I think might come in handy.

Comments

  • AprecheApreche
    I never did a programming contest specifically. Most of them are too much work for not enough payout. It's usually some meager prize for the first person to solve some series of problems. Even if I solve them all, I'm not going to do it faster than all the other participants.

    I did, however, once do a programming test in high school. It was at GE HQ, and was really lame. It was like, hey come take a standardized test, and then we'll see who has the best score.
  • lackofcheeselackofcheese
    I never did a programming contest specifically. Most of them are too much work for not enough payout. It's usually some meager prize for the first person to solve some series of problems. Even if I solve them all, I'm not going to do it faster than all the other participants.
    Sure, but the point is to enjoy trying. If you don't enjoy it, then don't bother.
  • Luke BurrageLuke Burrage
    Sure, but the point is to enjoy trying.
    Hint: You are replying to Scott.
  • trogdor9trogdor9
    I did a contest in high school with my APCS class. There were some interesting problems, and some impossible ones, but they graded the questions in a way none of us had seen before (we had only used BlueJ and we needed to use arguments from the command line - not hard, but we hadn't seen it before), so we came in almost-last. It was still a really fun time. Basically, there's nothing you can do to prepare, assuming you understand the libraries and syntax of the language you're using. It's all problem solving skills, if it's a good contest.
  • zehaevazehaeva
    Top Coder Like Scott I'm not fast enough to develop a solution faster than some of the guys who do this stuff all the time. I do still check out some of the contests and do them on my own. It's interesting.
  • Dragonmaster LouDragonmaster Lou
    Top Coder also ain't bad if you want to prepare for a tech interview. I hit that site up quite a bit while looking for a job a few months ago just to brush up on my skills/knowledge.
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