Do you like programming puzzles?
Do you like working together closely?
Do you want more practice thinking and DOING?
Do you want to broaden your programming
expertise?
Do you like a challenge and
a competition with a chance for big rewards?
Would
you like credit for a CS Major elective?
Join the ACM Programming Team!
We need undergraduates and graduate students!
Please contact the coach, Dr. Harrington. Contact information: www.cs.luc.edu/~anh/officehrs.html
Every year the ACM puts on a programming competition for several three-member teams from each school. Generally undergrads and first year grad students are eligible, though the actual rules are more baroque. In particular for the Fall 2011 competition, eligible students include:
People who have
started college in 2008 or later,
OR were born in 1989 or
later,
OR possibly if you have completed no more than 8
semesters after high school (Fall 2012 doesn't count) AND not have
significant programming experience at times you were not a student
(other than summer jobs). If you are in this last category,
let me know promptly - a waiver must be acquired,
and there is a deadline on the waivers!
Students who do not satisfy the above criteria can still practice with us, and may enroll in Comp
314/315, as long as they have
We compete on Saturday, November 3, all day. An excellent description of most aspects of our Mid-Central Regional Competition is http://mcpc.cigas.net/. Winners get to go to the International Finals. See http://icpc.baylor.edu/icpc/ for detailed information.
First Organizational Meeting: We meet Wednesday August 29, 3-4 PM in the Linux Lab at Watertower campus, LT 411 to answer questions and plan meeting times. Meeting times have generally been 5 hours on a weekend, five times before the competition (roughly every two weeks), plus a reflection time in the week after each practice, likely for one hour, late on a weekday afternoon. I need you input on when you are available. (Bring your calendars!) If you cannot attend the organizational meeting, please email me, preferably at least a day ahead, and include
Times you are unavailable on specific weekends,weeknights in the first month of class, and on a regular basis for weekday afternoons. If you are unavailable at a particular time, but available before or after, indicate the campus you would be on (WT or LS), so I can account for travel time.
What are your prefered times and campus (so the times that are omitted from both this entry and the previous entry are OK if necessary, but not your favorite).
Are you interested in and eligible for one of our teams, or whether you just want credit under Comp 314 or 315?
Phone contact number.
We will practice with old competitions. Generally a team will agree on their language, C, C++ or Java, though it is possible to have one problem in Java and the next in C++.... Sorry no C# or Python. Students can join the team for the first time while taking COMP 271. Of course, advanced students are very welcomed to jump in any time, but you are encouraged to start early in your studies and return in later years after more advanced programming/algorithms courses! I am happy to have a second or third team with beginners, gaining experience.
If you like, undergraduates can earn 3 units of credit in two years of participation, 1 unit of credit the first year and then 2 units in succeeding years by enrolling in Comp 314/315 and by participating in the practices. Full-time undergraduate students now pay no exctra for going up to 21 credits, but you need to apply to your Dean to go over 18 units.
See Basic Strategy for a more complete idea of the competition/practice dynamics, strategy, and sample problems.
Past teams have agreed that it is important to have practices as
much like the real competition as possible. That means 5 hours
long! I have never had a team that could agree on a five-hour
weekday time. We have generally done 5 weekend practices,
coming about every other week, generally including the last two
weekends before the competition. There was some discussion after the
competition last year about having some initial shorter practices,
maybe on a weeknight in place of one or more 5 hour weekend
practice.
Tentative Schedule From Fall 2012
Practices are at LSC Reflections are online.
Sunday Sep 9, 5-10 PM Math Dept. Seminar Room
Sunday Sept 23, 2-7PM Math Dept. Seminar Room
Saturday, Sept 29 2-7 PM: qualifying round sponsored by the ACM contest, with online automated judging (worldwide)
Locatio on LSC TBD.
Sunday, Oct 21 2-7PM Math Dept. Seminar Room
Sunday, Oct 28 2-7PM Math Dept. Seminar Room
**** Saturday Nov 3, 9AM- 6PM competition at the University of
Chicago + I take you out to dinner afterward, if you like.
After each practice, in the week after a practice, a time for
reflection on the problems together. This year we are planning to
do it virtually, with Google Hangout (and a good Internet
connection). The tentative time set now is Wednesday
6:15-7:15PM (that would be Sep 12, 26, Oct 3, 24, 31).