TopCoder
TopCoder
is fast becoming the major league for programming competitions.
TopCoder brings members together twice a week to compete online
(Single Round Match). In addition, online and on location (Tournaments)
are held twice a year. For each individual problem, coders have the option
of using Java, C++ or C# to code the solution.
Single Round Match:
Matches are online competitions that are held twice a week.
Competitors must be a member to participate, and must register
for the match prior to it's starting time. The single Round Match
gives competitors the opportunity to build their ratings, (or
watch them drop, as the case may be).
Each match consists of three phases, Coding,
Challenge and System Testing phase.
The Coding phase, lasting for 75 minutes, is the most critical.
Coders work to solve any one, or all three of the problems given. Each problem has a different level of difficulty--with level one being the easiest. Points are awarded upon the submission of any
problem solution, provided it compiles successfully. In addition,
points are given based on the total time required to solve the
problem.
The Challenge phase is also a timed event. Each competitor has
the opportunity to challenge the functionality of the other
competitors' code. A successful challenge results in the loss
of points to the original submitter. In addition, 50 points are
awarded to the challenger. However, unsuccessful challenges
result in a 50-point penalty to the challenger.
The final phase is the System Test. TopCoder attempts to
validate all remaining submissions that have not been challenged
successfully. At this point, if flawed code is found, the
author of that submission loses all points that were originally
awarded for the submission. The automated tester applies a set
of inputs, expecting the output from the submission to be
correct. The submission is considered flawed if the output
doesn't match the expected output.
Tournaments
TopCoder hosts two annual tournaments, the Collegiate
Challenge followed by the Invitational Tournament. The Collegiate
Challenge is open to full time students, attending college or
university in the US, and who are members of TopCoder. The
Invitational tournament is open to all rated members.
Total tournament purses have been as much as $250,000.
Competitors have an opportunity to earn cash with the successful
completion of each elimination-round through the final round. A
Grand Prize of $100,000 is awarded to the champion of the final
round.
Tournaments take place over three months with the elimination
matches running concurrently with regularly scheduled weekly
matches.
The TopCoder site and tournament applications have all been
written in Java. Apache (Stronghold) is used for the
web server with Weblogic for the J2EE server layer.
Visit
TopCoder
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