Google Code Jam 2003 Announced

An anonymous reader says "O'Reilly Developer News is reporting details of the newest Google programming contest, Google Code Jam 2003. Prizes range from t-shirts to ten grand and you can use any programming language you want to solve the increasingly challenging problems." Update by J : ... as long as it's Java, C++, C# or VB.NET.

Read up, people!

[inertia187]

This will help. Pick one (or all) and go to town in 24 hours, and just in time for the contest:

• Sams Teach Yourself Java 2 in 24 Hours (3rd Edition) [amazon.com]
• Sams Teach Yourself C++ in 24 Hours, Complete Starter Kit (3rd Edition) [amazon.com]
• Sams Teach Yourself C# in 24 Hours [amazon.com]
• Sams Teach Yourself Microsoft Visual Basic .NET 2003 (VB .NET) in 24 Hours Complete Starter Kit [amazon.com]

Good luck! (Google will grade on a curve, right?)

blogs

[CGP314]

you can use any programming language you want to solve the increasingly challenging problems

Like how to stop blogs from screwing with google's results? :)

All right!

[anon*127.0.0.1]

Finally, a chance for me to show what COBOL can really do!

Mmm..

[Trolling for Profit]

Give away your software and ideas for free (or in this case a t-shirt, that's close enough).. and then possibly get a reward afterwards? Sounds a lot like soviet communism with it's quality reward program.

Cheap Labor

[inputsprocket]

When your stuck on how to code something....
run a competition and let others do the coding for you.

oh and don't forget to through in a t-shirt or to for all the hard work

Thank you, captain obvious!

[192939495969798999]

I assumed everyone knew about the contest already, or I would've submitted the story myself! Argh! Oh well. You can all expect to see sir_haxalot take time off from being an artist for a few minutes, in order to use the force and attempt to gain at least a t-shirt.

If you enter "Google code jam 2003" in Google

[TasosF]

What you get is a page full of Perl Jam.

Re:Cheap Labor

[CGP314]

oh and don't forget to through in a t-shirt or to for all the hard work

That's more than some coders in the US get :(

Examples of problems

[192939495969798999]

A typical Google sample problem: Suppose there are X lockers in the hallway, and someone is opening every Nth locker where n is a prime number. Write a program to parse all the html files on the internet and return something useful. :)

Re:All right!

[GoofyBoy]

(((If (You can ((keep track of) all the)) crazy )) brackets ) !)

Re:Any language?

[Anonymous Coward]

Here is some winning code:

#!/usr/bin/perl

print "I win!!!!";

Art contest announced

[FuzzyBad-Mofo]

In related news, the American Art Foundry(*) has announced an open art contest. Artists are free to use whatever medium they choose, as long as it's oil on canvas.

* Not a real organization

Free Money

[CGP314]

Prizes range from t-shirts to ten grand and you can use any programming language you want to solve the increasingly challenging problems." Update by J: ... as long as it's Java, C++, C# or VB.NET.

You can withdraw as much money from my bank account as you want!*




* Must be a deposit of at least $1.

Re:Any language?

[PaulBu]

Good luck compiling a C program which has a variable named 'new'! ;-)

Paul B.

Re:Any language?

[SeanTobin]

Time to break out my perl to C converter! You haven't seen obfuscated perl until you've seen it in C!

Re:All right!

[tuffy]

(((If (You can ((keep track of) all the)) crazy )) brackets ) !)

You missed an open-paren

;)

Re:For charity !

[-Grover]

TopCoder approved charity list:

1) TopCoder
2)

And next...

[K-Man]

Google Temptation Island!

Your choices

[955301]

Yeah, the limit on programming languages reminds me of The Jerk. No, not my grandfather, but the Steve Martin movie. Specifically, a scene where he is working at a carnival stand:

Carnival Goer:
What'd I win?

Navin:
Uh, anything in this general area right in here. Anything below the stereo and on this side of the bicentennial glasses. Anything between the ashtrays and the thimble. Anything in this
three inches right in here in this area. That includes the Chiclets, but not the erasers.

CANT WAIT!!!

[Serapth]

To watch the live telecast on ESPN!

Hey... if they will televise spelling bee's, they damned well better televise a coding contest!

Hmmmm.... ok... im a geek, and even I would find that dull as hell.

Re:SPAMMER I says!!!

[Bucky Katt]

On a different note I see you are also the owner of the infamous martin-studio website that has been placing ads on the mirrors for slashdotted stories .... Even if you do learn to speak correct English, whom are you going to speak it to? -- Clarence Darrow

I didn't know Clarence Darrow read Slashdot.

Re:Obviously looking for people to hire

[What is a number]

The same people who read slashdot while at work...

---
I type this every time.

If you use VB to win...

[Enrico Pulatzo]

you also get a mask, to protect your anonymity ;) Just kidding!

Can we use Google to find the solutions?

[phamlen]

As virtually every good developer can attest, the first thing you do when stuck with a hard computer program is....

...Google for the answer!

I wonder if that violates the spirit of the competition?

Re:Programming competitions, give me a break

[lars]

Well, apparently TopCoders suck at posting properly formatted Slashdot comments. You're right after all -- no real world skills whatsoever!

Re:Looking for telecommuters?

[shralpmeister]

As much as I'd love to work at a place like Google, there's no way I'm moving to Cali-fall-into-the-ocean-fornia.

Yes, yes! Rember folks, California really is falling into the ocean. It is also a nightmare of wildfires, earthquakes, sharks, deadly volcanoes, poison gasses, smog, etc. You don't want to live here! It's horrible... horrible!

Re:Obviously looking for people to hire

[GnuPooh]

Never met a good programmer that would be awake at this hour, independant of job status.

Re:Looking for telecommuters?

[daveo0331]

That's right. There's also SARS patients, grizzly bears, incompetent politicians, no jobs, horrible traffic, we're right next to the Pacific Ocean (which routinely produces typhoons that kill thousands of people), nuclear power plants, deadly blizzards... we even have a place called Death Valley.

(if we scare everyone off maybe the housing will actually be semi-affordable someday)

Re:CANT WAIT!!!

[Jacer]

What are you talking about? That would be the event of the....century! Here goes Mr. X, finishing out what looks to be line 100,000, and oh my, what's this? HE'S GOING TO COMPILE! Error, error error, oh the humanity, let's take a look at how Mr. Z is doing. Mr Z appears to have written only 100 lines, but it does compile, and What's this?!?!? It's fully functional! Mr. Z, here's your prize, one XXXL T-shirt. Tune in next week for Linus vs. Bill on the Professional Coder Network. Will be forced to where a M$ sucks shirt to work on Monday? Only one way to find out!

Re:Cheap Labor

[WIAKywbfatw]

When your stuck on grammer, post to slashdot and let all the pedants do the proofreading for you. Don't forget to through or in a t-shirt to for all the criticism

That's "grammar", not "grammer". D'oh!

It's pretty sad when the "proofreaders" need proofreaders too...

Re:Looking for telecommuters?

[hondo77]

It's even worse than that, folks. Los Angeles has banned lap dancing [latimes.com]. There truly is no reason to live here anymore.

Re:Any language?

[UnknowingFool]

I guess it's like Ford and colors for the original Model T. Any color you want as long as it's black. Any programming language as long as it's one of the four.

Re:Why can't Quebec people participate ?

[Anonymous Coward]

What an easy question...
French is not one of the languages listed and Google / Top Coder didn't want to violate any of Quebec's language preservation laws.


Pourquoi ne pouvons-nous pas employer le Perl?

Re:Programming competitions, give me a break

[mess31173]

Like when you communicate there instead of their. You seem like management material to me...

Re:SPAMMER I says!!!

[xchino]

He even looks [yahoo.com] like a prick! Funny, he seems to have mistakenly listed himself as a programmer, instead of spammer.

In case you want to thank him personally for his services:
Here's a handy map. [yahoo.com]
Anthony Martin, [phone], 17450 Van Ness Ave, Torrance, CA 90504

Re:CANT WAIT!!!

[JohnQPublic]

Reminds me of the classic:

Jesus and Satan have a discussion as to who is the better computer programmer. This goes on for a few hours until they come to an agreement to hold a contest, with God as the judge.

They set themselves before their computers and begin. They type furiously, lines of code streaming up the screen, for several hours straight. Seconds before the end of the competition, a bolt of lightning strikes, taking out the electricity. Moments later, the power is restored and God announces that the contest is over. He asks Satan to show what he has come up with.

Satan is visibly upset and cries, "I have nothing. I lost it all when the power went out."

"Very well, then," says God, "let us see if Jesus fared any better."

Jesus enters a command and the screen comes to life in vivid display, the voices of an angelic choir pour forth from the speakers.

Satan is astonished. He stutters, "B-b-but how?! I lost everything, yet Jesus' program is intact! How did he do it?"

God chuckles and says: "Jesus saves."