Hardcore Programming Compo

Create a program in one of the allowed programming languages. The program must solve a given problem, and will be measured on criteria given in the compo case. The problem will be a believed-to-be unsolvable problem in polynomial time (NP-complete), which means that your best bet will be to apply some form of heuristic that hopefully performs better than your opponents.

Click here to go to Compo Case (Out now!)

The compo case is now released! Happy coding!

Rules

  1. Hand-in

    Entries in the hardcore programming competition must be delivered through the web-based compo system.

    If you really want to make us happy, please hand in a ZIP or RAR file containing the entry itself, and a short text file (file_id.diz/.nfo/.txt) with information about the entry as well as contact info.

  2. What to deliver?

    Source code of your solution to the compo case, supplied as a plain text file with the correct extension for the language you have used.

  3. Deciding a winner

    The winner will be the entry that performs best with regard to the criteria stated in the compo case

  4. Allowed languages

    • C/C++
    • C#
    • Java
    • PHP
    • Python

    Entries in other languages will be disqualified.

  5. Use of external libraries

    You are not allowed to depend on any external library except the standard libraries of your language. Your entry should run with no prerequisite libraries or VM configuration.

  6. Accessing system resources

    Your program is not allowed to access disk, the network, external devices or the likes. This is not a competition in cheating the compo system or wreaking havoc.

  7. Time limit for execution

    There will be a time limit given in the compo case. Your program must not exceed this time limit.

    The time limit will be the same for entries in all languages. This means that you might get an advantage from using faster programming languages. There will be no handicap system to compensate for this.

  8. Other criteria for disqualification

    If your program crashes or fails to solve the task, your entry will be disqualified.

  9. No-go limit

    The compo will be held if we receive 3 or more entries. If not, this compo may be cancelled.

General rules

The general rules for the Gathering 2010 creative competitions apply to this compo.

Deadline

Friday 2. april, 23:59

Prizes

  1. place 7000 NOK
  2. place 3500 NOK
  3. place 1500 NOK

See the complete prizelist for info about the prizes in all creative competitions.

Help and support

If you have questions or need help regarding this competition, you can: