What to expect?

[Clayton]

hey yall, ive been invited by my school to take part in an annual compsci contest held throughout the schoolboard and i would like to know, if any of you have ever taken part in one, what i might expect, and how hard some of the stuff i might need to know, so i can pass this on to my teammates as well, thnx in advance for the help

[MysticVegeta]

ECOO? Thats the one for the schoolboard, because DWITE and CCC are national.
ECOO is harder than DWITE, but a good problem solver would be able to get it. Just know your recusions, DP, and a language better than turing lol.

There is always ecoo.org for sample sets.

[Clayton]

thnx for the info its greatly appreaciated

[codemage]

Figure out your team strategy. You only have one computer per team of four members. Decide how you will use your manpower most effectively to solve all the problems.

You aren't allowed to bring any code or references with you besides one manual for your language of choice. Therefore, make sure that algorithms that are likely to pop up (you should know the ones if your teacher is worth his salt) are either in that book, or are well-known by a team member.

[MysticVegeta]

I have seen this strategy with lots of groups and its quite effective. 1 person codes the easy problems (the ones you dont need to think on) The others, figure out the next problem, preferably the math one, then go onto the algos one, with the first person now coding the math one.

[Clayton]

thnx again guys glad ur willing to share ur experiences