Google Code Jam 2003 Announced 303
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.
Any language? (Score:5, Informative)
The submitter writes ".. you can use any programming language you want" but Google's page says "Use Java, C++, C# or VB.NET. Pick any of these programming languages to code your solutions. All are acceptable and none is given an advantage."
Unless I'm parsing this wrong, it sounds like one can't use any language, only 1 of the 4 listed. (It's also odd that C isn't there but some proprietary languages are)
TopCoder! (Score:5, Informative)
Also, it would be wise to participate in a few live TopCoder rounds, which are held weekly, if you have any hope of being competitive.
Traveling? (Score:5, Informative)
Sounds like to win any money you have to travel, so keep that in mind when you sign up.
"The top 25 performers in Round 2 will be invited to compete for cash prizes in the Championship Round onsite at the Googleplex (Mountain View, CA) on November 14th."
They are floating the bill though, according to the terms [topcoder.com]
" Google will provide travel accommodations for each finalist to attend the Championship Round. In addition, Google will provide overnight accommodations and all travel arrangements to and from the airport, as well as to and from Google's headquarters. All other expenses are the responsibility of the contestant. "
Re:Any language? (Score:5, Informative)
Matt
Re:Read up, people! (Score:3, Informative)
Good luck to your Amazon Associates account too.
Which of you moderators modded that ad up as Informative??
For charity ! (Score:3, Informative)
No mention of TopCoder? (Score:4, Informative)
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Google is pleased to announce the Google Code Jam 2003 competition, powered by TopCoder. Compete against the top programmers in the world for a share of $25,000 in cash and enormous bragging rights. Google is growing and actively seeking top engineering talent to help solve some mind-bending programming challenges on a global scale.
The competition will consist of a two-week registration period from October 1st to the 15th. All TopCoder members who intend to compete in this competition must register for the event through a new registration path that has been set up exclusively for the tournament.
All registrants must then participate in the Qualification Round. The Qualification Round will be open from Friday, October 17th at 8:00 AM EDT to Monday, October 20th at 8:00 AM EDT. During this 72-hour period, a competitor must complete one randomly generated problem set. All competitors will be given a score for their performance on that one problem set.
The top 500 participants from the Qualification Round will advance to the first online round to be held at 9:00 PM EDT on October 24th. All competitors in this round will be sent a t-shirt commemorating the Google Code Jam 2003. The top 250 scorers from Round 1 will advance to Round 2, which will be held at 9:00 PM EST on October 27th.
The top 25 scorers in Round 2 will win an all expense paid trip to the Googleplex (Google's corporate headquarters) in Mountain View, CA. Here, they will compete in-person in the Championship Round for their share of $25,000 on Friday, November 14th at 4:00 PM EST (1:00 PM PST).
The grand-prize winner will be awarded $10,000. Second, third and fourth place winners will be awarded $5,000, $3,500 and $1,250, respectively. The remaining finalists in the Championship Round will each receive $250. In order to receive a cash prize, a competitor must be at least eighteen years of age and a lawful permanent resident of one of the nine countries approved for cash prizes. All other cash prize winners will choose a charity to receive their prize.
Google's engineering organization is pleased to sponsor this contest and is looking forward to meeting the top coders. Participating in this contest propels you to the front of the line for consideration for open positions in our engineering group. You are encouraged to submit your resume for immediate consideration for open positions at any time during this competition. Please visit http://www.topcoder.com/googlecodejam for more information. And remember to register starting on October 1st!
Best of luck to you in the Arena!
The Google Team
SPAMMER I says!!! (Score:5, Informative)
Guess you forgot to check the "Post Anonymously" check box this time. Anyway, this is a spammer people, dont click those links.
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
Re:Not 100% true. (Score:2, Informative)
It's quiet easy to write C code that does not compile on C++ compilers(malloc() casts anyone??? etc.), so the answer to this question is more likely to be:
"Yes, you may write C code and it'll be accepted as long as it compiles on our compiler package.".
Re:Obviously looking for people to hire (Score:1, Informative)
Monday, October 20 - 8:00 AM - Qualification Round ends
correct me if i'm wrong, but it seems to me that the initial round lasts the whole of the weekend
Re:Obviously looking for people to hire (Score:3, Informative)
Monday, October 20 8:00 AM
Friday, November 14 4:00 PM
Who with a job could participate?
Qualification round requires you to complete the problem set between Friday, October 17 8:00 AM and Monday, October 20 8:00 AM. You can complete the problem anytime over the weekend if you prefer.
The last date you gave out is for the championship round, which is onsite anyways.
[OT] Re:Programming competitions, give me a break (Score:2, Informative)
Jeez... People, it's really not that difficult!
There: not here, adverb - at or in that place
Their: not mine, possessive form of they
They're: they are
Your: possessive form of you
You're: You are
Its: possessive form of it
It's: It is
If you want to exercise, go here [commnet.edu].
Happy spelling!
Re:Any language? (Score:3, Informative)
I don't see any reason why C code shouldn't be able to compete if it complies with the C++ specifications - I'd just be C++ but without any C++ features. Unless of course you by C mean C99, in which case there would be other differences, as not all C99 features are supported by C++. Still, writing code that is valid in both C++ and C should pose no great obstacle to any programmer skilled enough to compete in a competition such as the one in question.
Re:Any language? (Score:3, Informative)
Unless I'm parsing this wrong, it sounds like one can't use any language, only 1 of the 4 listed. (It's also odd that C isn't there but some proprietary languages are)
Just for the record, although you're parsing that sentence correctly, the way TopCoder works is that there are 3 problems per contest, and you may use any of the 4 available languages for each problem, so you could use 3 of the 4 listed if you really wanted to. I would hope it's spelled out correctly somewhere in the official rules, as opposed to Google's promotional copy.
Re:Any language? (Score:4, Informative)