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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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