Computer Science Canada

CompSci.ca's programming contest

Author:  Tony [ Wed Feb 26, 2003 10:17 am ]
Post subject:  CompSci.ca's programming contest

If we were to organize a programming contest - along the lines of waterloo's CCC... would you participate?

Vote on the poll and leave some comments. We want to know how many people we should expect, and how to organize it.

I'd like to comment on:

should we charge anything?
if so how?

what kind of prizes would you guys like?
can CompSci.ca afford those?

what kind of problems to have as a part of contest?

etc.

Author:  BlAcK TuRtLe [ Mon Mar 31, 2003 6:58 pm ]
Post subject: 

For prizes I'd have to go with Bits. I am really new to Turing so probably will just submit some pixel graphics. Speaking of which I think that there should be seperate categories.

Author:  Blade [ Mon Mar 31, 2003 7:20 pm ]
Post subject: 

i dont think you should charge anything, because theres some of us out here that dont have jobs yet... and it should just be for fun... but with prizes of bits of course Wink ..but if people didnt enjoy programming they shouldnt really participate...

Author:  azndragon [ Mon Mar 31, 2003 11:18 pm ]
Post subject: 

Maybe you should also have divisons for grade groups. Some grades don't really have the knowledge of people in higher grades. But of course, we just have the hope that all the members will be honest about their age.

Author:  octopi [ Mon Mar 31, 2003 11:47 pm ]
Post subject: 

I don't think age is really a factor.... but yes, it should be fair, there are grade 10's and 11's who are smarter, and better at programming then the grade 12's, perhaps it should be based on compsci mark?

Author:  Tony [ Tue Apr 01, 2003 12:00 am ]
Post subject: 

what you should realize is that right now about 10 people would participate total...

Author:  Blade [ Tue Apr 01, 2003 12:13 am ]
Post subject: 

i only have 13 people in my class... ten should be cool.. but i think there should be 2 divisions, its still a contest... and there's no way some of the people would have a chance... like me..

Author:  Tony [ Tue Apr 01, 2003 12:30 am ]
Post subject: 

true... cuz if we put everybody in one group, we might as well give the prize to Catalyst right now Wink

Author:  Blade [ Tue Apr 01, 2003 8:25 am ]
Post subject: 

see.... my point exactly haha Wink

Author:  Martin [ Sun Apr 13, 2003 12:25 am ]
Post subject: 

Catalyst? What about me?

Author:  Mazer [ Sat Apr 26, 2003 5:47 pm ]
Post subject: 

Darkness wrote:
Catalyst? What about me?


what about you? Wink

i think the more important question is what about me. let's face it, if this contest has a question that asks you to create a game good enough to get two students (not including the programmer) addicted, then i've got this thing in the bag.

Author:  nate [ Sat Apr 26, 2003 8:20 pm ]
Post subject:  You could do it in 1 category!

Just have 3 sections.

Easy


Medium


Hard

Award like 50 bits 2 the winner of easy, 100 2 the winner of medium, and 200 to the winner of hard.

So if someone is really good, they much rather get 200 then get the mear 50 bits. That way every skill level will get a chance to get bits and will have to strive to get more bits.

-Nate

Author:  Tony [ Sat Apr 26, 2003 8:26 pm ]
Post subject: 

Interesting sujestion. But who do you think should determine in which category the program belongs? Do judges group it with others or do users chouse in which category to submit it?

Author:  jamez [ Sat Apr 26, 2003 8:36 pm ]
Post subject: 

The coder of the program should decide.

Author:  nate [ Sat Apr 26, 2003 9:10 pm ]
Post subject:  coder decides

The person makin the program decides.

If he wan't more bits he won't put his 3d engine, raycasting stuff in easy cause you only get 50 bits. He would try hard!

-Nate

Author:  Asok [ Sat Apr 26, 2003 10:06 pm ]
Post subject: 

raycasting stuff does not qualify as easy.

Author:  Tony [ Sat Apr 26, 2003 10:15 pm ]
Post subject: 

Quote:
If he wan't more bits he WON'T put his 3d engine, raycasting stuff in easy

Author:  Crono [ Sun May 11, 2003 1:05 pm ]
Post subject: 

i dunno, some ppl could've already had a program ther all ready to submit, or did i totally missed sumtin, is sum1 comin up wit the questions, just like CCC?

Author:  Tony [ Sun May 11, 2003 1:09 pm ]
Post subject: 

It would depend on what kind of contest we'll deside to go with.

Such as I want to host a CCC type of contest next year to get some practice before the actual CCC 2004 Contest.

Other possibilities might include freestyle (any program) or with requirements...

I think there's under 200 lines contest going on somewhere around here Confused

Author:  Homer_simpson [ Sun May 11, 2003 3:56 pm ]
Post subject: 

hmmm... i'm too lazy to scroll back and read all the posts in this forum... =(
could some1 please tell me what's going on?
there's gonna be a contest?
if yes, the please tell me what are the rules...?

Author:  Asok [ Sun May 11, 2003 4:16 pm ]
Post subject: 

http://www.compsci.ca/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=879

go there to learn about our Game Contest.

Author:  Homer_simpson [ Sun May 11, 2003 4:32 pm ]
Post subject: 

isn't that a different contest?

Author:  Asok [ Sun May 11, 2003 4:42 pm ]
Post subject: 

the 200 line restriction contest is here: http://www.compsci.ca/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=618&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15

however the details of it haven't been as ironed out as the Game Contest.

Author:  bugzpodder [ Thu May 22, 2003 4:53 pm ]
Post subject: 

if you guys decide to go with
Quote:
along the lines of waterloo's CCC



i can make up the questions. non of that raycasting bull, you'll never see it on a CCC contest.

Author:  Andy [ Thu May 29, 2003 6:49 pm ]
Post subject: 

if we really do have a contest, massey's gonna have the most participating students i bet all my bits on that

Author:  bugzpodder [ Mon Jun 02, 2003 6:24 pm ]
Post subject: 

not only that, massey will win Wink i bet all my bits on that, and i'll see to it that it happens Wink

Author:  Catalyst [ Mon Jun 02, 2003 6:31 pm ]
Post subject: 

hmm..
school pride, i havent seen that in a while

Author:  bugzpodder [ Mon Jun 02, 2003 7:04 pm ]
Post subject: 

it is not without reason also. after all, i have yet to see exceptional problem solvers on this board, esp with the CCC type contest i've hosted

Author:  Catalyst [ Mon Jun 02, 2003 7:07 pm ]
Post subject: 

i dont think CCC type questions really motivate people to solve them (read: boring)

Author:  Homer_simpson [ Mon Jun 02, 2003 7:08 pm ]
Post subject: 

agreed... Rolling Eyes

Author:  bugzpodder [ Mon Jun 02, 2003 7:18 pm ]
Post subject: 

or maybe its just too challenging that no one here could do it... but we'll see

Author:  Catalyst [ Mon Jun 02, 2003 7:19 pm ]
Post subject: 

that's a bit presumptuous, but we'll see...

Author:  Homer_simpson [ Mon Jun 02, 2003 7:21 pm ]
Post subject: 

nice try that doesn't motivate me at all... or... maybe i'm just an ol lazy ass bum Very Happy

Author:  Blade [ Mon Jun 02, 2003 7:44 pm ]
Post subject: 

Homer_simpson wrote:
maybe i'm just an ol lazy ass bum Very Happy


i can agree with that one RazzRazz

Author:  bugzpodder [ Mon Jun 02, 2003 7:56 pm ]
Post subject: 

FYI on a difficulty level of 1-10, 1 being the easiest, i'd say that problem has a rating of 2 or 3. if you want to see a high-end question, give me a buzz

Author:  krishon [ Mon Jun 02, 2003 8:20 pm ]
Post subject: 

i'd do it, but i can program too well, and my codin is a bit too excessive, as i put way more lines that necessary.

Author:  ShadowStorm [ Mon Jun 02, 2003 8:22 pm ]
Post subject: 

yeah.. CCC type questions are pretty boring and lame..

it should be something like in 3 days submit a game that can do the following things:

- ~~~~~
~~~~
~~~
etc..


but that's just what i think...

Author:  bugzpodder [ Mon Jun 02, 2003 8:49 pm ]
Post subject: 

lol well you guys can always write up an AI for my snakes game!!

Author:  Martin [ Mon Jun 02, 2003 8:51 pm ]
Post subject: 

Wait till after exams Wink then I've got all the time in the world to program.

Author:  bugzpodder [ Mon Jun 02, 2003 8:59 pm ]
Post subject: 

you are looking at a person who gets exempted from 4 (or even 5 including the chemistry exam if i am lucky Very HappyVery HappyVery Happy)

Author:  bugzpodder [ Mon Jun 02, 2003 8:59 pm ]
Post subject: 

still gotta do english, computer engineering and physics though.

Author:  Catalyst [ Mon Jun 02, 2003 8:59 pm ]
Post subject: 

how do you get exempted at ur school?
(no exemptions for my school Evil or Very Mad )

Author:  Martin [ Mon Jun 02, 2003 9:03 pm ]
Post subject: 

There is no computer engineering exam bugz, the gates stuff is our exam.

Author:  bugzpodder [ Mon Jun 02, 2003 9:12 pm ]
Post subject: 

i know that... but mr ferrara is unpredictable. he might change his mind. i am going to waterloo during the exams for waterloo math seminar (cuz of my Euclid score)

Author:  Martin [ Mon Jun 02, 2003 9:19 pm ]
Post subject: 

Cause your euclid score was bad or good (i know what you got)?

Author:  bugzpodder [ Mon Jun 02, 2003 9:36 pm ]
Post subject: 

lol its not that bad!

Author:  Martin [ Tue Jun 03, 2003 9:43 am ]
Post subject: 

Less than perfect though

Author:  Andy [ Wed Jun 04, 2003 7:34 pm ]
Post subject: 

if farerra gives us an computer engineering exam, i'm gonna burn his house down, after all we been through...

Author:  thegoose [ Wed Jun 09, 2004 3:55 pm ]
Post subject:  My Idea

My idea is to put up some really hard problem, aka. problems which are nearly NP complete. Then give us about a month to work on it. The person with the most correct and efficient solution wins.

Author:  Tony [ Wed Jun 09, 2004 4:50 pm ]
Post subject: 

thegoose : while its an interesting idea, I doubt that many would remain interested enough in the contest for a duration of a month Confused

Author:  bugzpodder [ Wed Jun 09, 2004 5:41 pm ]
Post subject: 

NP complete? optimization problems are about the worst type of contest problems... I think that AI competitions are much better...

Author:  Tony [ Wed Jun 09, 2004 8:25 pm ]
Post subject: 

didn't you suggest AI contests before? and didn't I get really excited about the idea but scrapped due to the lack of interest? Thinking

Author:  bugzpodder [ Wed Jun 09, 2004 9:39 pm ]
Post subject: 

okay well,
yes i have suggested an AI contest before
yes I've actually wrote the engine
http://www.compsci.ca/v2/viewtopic.php?t=1162&highlight=snakes
yes i've actually wrote my own AI



but only one person submitted anything...
I cant help it if nobody is interested... at least making a AI is hell-a-lot better than making some stupid optimization for a NP-complete problem!!

it would be more interesting if the AI is sophisticated

also i've made an AI for robocode as part of York thing: http://robocode.alphaworks.ibm.com/home/home.html
but you can easily write a simple AI that does relatively well and it is VERY difficult to write a good AI so this is no good.

Author:  Brightguy [ Thu Jun 10, 2004 3:08 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: My Idea

But NP-complete problems are not necessarily hard at all. Laughing

That could be interesting. Any specific problems you had in mind? If it was an NP-complete problem you would probably have to devise an approximation algorithm, or have it only work on special cases.

AI is another good idea. The snakes game was interesting...

Author:  bugzpodder [ Thu Jun 10, 2004 3:42 pm ]
Post subject: 

unless you really know what you are doing, i suggest you guys stay away from NP complete stuff

Author:  Brightguy [ Fri Jun 11, 2004 5:13 pm ]
Post subject:  NP-complete

Yeah, you're probably right. But there are still interesting questions that someone could give a look. For example, did you know problems in Tetris are NP-complete? (To maximize number rows cleared or tetrises, minimize the highest height of a filled gridsquare, or maximize the number of blocks placed before the end of the game.) You would be given a finite sequence of pieces, and would have to find the best solution. So, you could make a contest out of this, and the algorithm which comes up with the best solution(s) wins.

How similar would creating a tetris AI be to these problems? I suppose a tetris AI would only be allowed to see the next block to come, like in an actual game.

Author:  bugzpodder [ Fri Jun 11, 2004 6:20 pm ]
Post subject: 

no i didnt know that, but i would have expected it to be NP complete. similarly minesweeper is also NP complete. basically it boils down to good heuristics for optimization... but if you are going to write heuristics, might as well do it as part of an AI than on some stupid NP complete problem, wouldnt you say?? and I can guarentee you that nobody is going to participate in a contest that involves writing optimized solutions for NP complete problems.[/b]

Author:  theguru [ Tue Nov 08, 2005 8:07 pm ]
Post subject: 

I personally don't think that anything should be charged and nothing should be bought. (but of course if you want to then you can) But you should just award the winner with bits and maybe with a graphics award or something?? But it's more practice for other contests, bragging rights, and preperation than just winning a prize.

Author:  Martin [ Tue Nov 08, 2005 8:46 pm ]
Post subject: 

Alright guys, quick contest - Rock, Paper, Scissors AI. Ends Friday the 18th.

write a function in a language of your choice as follows:

Turing:
code:
function doRockPaperScissors (last : String) : String

Java:
code:
String doRockPaperScissors (String last)

etc.

The parameter last will be one of "rock" "paper" "scissors" "none" representing your opponants previous move. The function returns one of "rock" "paper" "scissors", representing your move. 50 games will be played round robin style. Winner gets some bits. Go.

Author:  [Gandalf] [ Tue Nov 08, 2005 9:08 pm ]
Post subject: 

What is emphasized? Speed? Length? Readability? Features?

Author:  Martin [ Tue Nov 08, 2005 9:26 pm ]
Post subject: 

Winning. No features. That's all that your function has to do. Speed, in the sense that it can't take all day to execute.

Also, you may use a file to store previous results for statistical purposes if you like.

EDIT: Let me change that. 200 games per round. I'll make a post in a few minutes.

Author:  ownageprince [ Wed Jan 17, 2007 6:32 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: CompSci.ca's programming contest

correct me if i am wrong but isn't compsci taking over dwite? also are you going to have contests apart from dwite?
because i think programs that are given in dwite are pretty for practicing for ecoo n ccc

Author:  cool dude [ Wed Jan 17, 2007 8:08 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: CompSci.ca's programming contest

Dan with Tony I believe took over dwite. They have already made a few competitions in which i participated. As for compsci.ca we do have a yearly competition to submit projects but we do not have something like dwite where they would post problems for people to solve. Although sometimes some of the users take initiatives and make a contest like that.

Side Note: Does anyone know when will ecco and ccc competition will be?

Author:  Mr.S. [ Wed Jan 17, 2007 9:50 pm ]
Post subject:  RE:CompSci.ca\'s programming contest

Dan and Tony will hopefully take over DWITE very shortly. I'm still running them. This is my last year. Hopefully Dan and Tony will have a test run of their system in the near future.

ECOO dates are posted at http://www.ecoo.org/ecoocs/Contests.html

CCC dates are posted at http://www.cemc.uwaterloo.ca/ccc/

Author:  McKenzie [ Thu Jan 18, 2007 8:13 am ]
Post subject:  Re: CompSci.ca's programming contest

own, Don't forget to read the dates that posts are made. The post you responded to was over a year old.

I just wanted to remind everyone, again, not to post or talk about today's DWITE contest until after Friday's contest.

Author:  Mr.S. [ Thu Jan 18, 2007 8:57 pm ]
Post subject:  RE:CompSci.ca\'s programming contest

Are you certain? It says Yesterday at 8:08pm.

Author:  [Gandalf] [ Thu Jan 18, 2007 9:32 pm ]
Post subject:  RE:CompSci.ca\'s programming contest

Mr.S., he was referring to ownageprince's reply to Martin's year old post.

It's an old topic in general... SWAT? Laughing

Author:  andy_tok [ Fri Mar 02, 2007 11:32 am ]
Post subject:  Re: CompSci.ca's programming contest

cool dude @ Wed Jan 17, 2007 8:08 pm wrote:
Side Note: Does anyone know when will ecco and ccc competition will be?


SOrry but what's ECCO?

Author:  McKenzie [ Sat Mar 03, 2007 6:00 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: CompSci.ca's programming contest

It's actually ECOO. It's a competition sponsored by York University. It is conducted in three stages. The first stage is at the board level. You need someone from your school board to act as a convenor (usually a CS teacher.) Top teams compete at the regionals, then the top from there compete at the provincials at York U. Here is the link:

http://www.ecoo.org/ecoocs/Contests.html

Author:  A.J [ Sun Jan 20, 2008 1:38 am ]
Post subject:  Re: CompSci.ca's programming contest

I say that this should like a practice for the CCC

making it unique could be nice too....

The winner should be entitled 'top coder'

Author:  Dan [ Sun Jan 20, 2008 1:53 am ]
Post subject:  RE:CompSci.ca\'s programming contest

I can't blive this topic is still going around. It still calls CompSci.ca SWAT.

The history behind this thread was that way back when we whonted to basily have a contest like DWITE (befor i even knew about DWITE) witch was onine based. This idea spread in to the FP contest and eventualy when Mr. S. retried from doing DWITE we took it over (this year) so i guse we did it Wink

I think it is time to put this topic to bed and lock it, is histroical tho :p


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