On December 3−4, ITMO University hosted the local semi-finals of the largest programming contest ACM ICPC. Among the 17 teams who have reached the finals, one is from ITMO. This year we congratulate Vladimir Smykalov, Ivan Belonogov and Ilya Zban!

Every year, the contest has the same rules: a team consisting of three programmers gets one computer and five hours to solve 8−13 tasks. This time, some 106 teams from Northeastern Europe took part in the semi-finals. All young programmers aim to solve as many tasks as it is possible within the shortest periods of time. Ever team tries to avoid mistakes and second attempts. They solve tasks by writing codes in one of programming languages. The jury judges the solutions by testing. The best programs are those that are compiled without mistakes, give correct results, and meet specific memory use and time requirements.

Five hours — too many or not enough?

When preparing for the contest, participants pay a great attention to timing. The success depends on the correct time management, as demerit points are given to those who have solved the task when the time has expired.

The main intrigue of the contest is also related to time. An hour before the round is finished, the main screen with the results stops being updated. It means that a team can only look at whether their solution is counted or not, while their rivals and viewers can only see that this team has tried, but they don’t know the decision of judges.

Teamwork affairs

A team consists of three people only, but everyone has his own responsibilities, as members cannot use one computer at the same time. Generally, all teams use the same tactics: first of all, each team member chooses those problems that are easiest for him. The real teamwork starts when they have to cooperate to solve the hardest problems.

Train as you fight

Participants train during the whole year. They solve problems from the previous contests and also use other sources, as well. To prepare for participating in the ACM ICPC, students train in conditions closely resembling the rules of the contest.

"We take part in various preparatory competitions. For instance, recently we’ve invited programmers who won last year. They’ve organized a five hour contest for us, and then we’ve discussed our mistakes under their guidance," said Roman Murtazin, member of the "Samara NRU 3" team.

Here is the top-5 teams of the local semi-finals:

  • 1st place — SPb State University 1
  • 2nd place— SPb ITMO University 1
  • 3rd place— Moscow Institute of Physics & Technology 1
  • 4th place— SPb ITMO University 2
  • 5th place— Ural Federal University 1

All in all, 17 teams will compete in the finals of the ACM ACPC, which will take place on May 20−25, 2017 in Rapid City, USA.