Put your skills to the test.

WHAT: A free state-wide programming competition hosted at UW Madison! You will be given a large series of problems of increasing difficulty. With a team of 1-4 people, you will compete to solve as many of these problems as you can in the time allotted. Check out some sample problems!

WHO: Students in grades 8-12

WHEN: Sunday, October 14th, (11:45 registration starts) 12pm-5pm

WHERE: UW Madison CS Building, Room 1240


WHAT TO BRING:

  • Two computers per team (one for competition and one for backup)

  • Charger

  • Parental Waiver for each student (if not turned in online)

  • Extra Snacks


Prizes


First Place

Each team member of the first place team wins a quadcopter drone!

Second Place

Each team member of the second place team wins a raspberry pi!

Third Place

Each team member of the third place team wins a portable speaker!



Details

Equinox programming challenge will be run on hackerrank.com. Teams will be provided with an account on competition day. Then, once the competition begins, teams will be left to complete as many of the challenges as possible in 4 hours. The team who completes the most challenges, or in the case of a tie the most challenges the fastest, will win!


What languages can we use?

Hackerrank compiles and runs your code for you on its own server. This means you can use any of the 30 languages on hackerrank.com including but not limited to: Java, Python, C++, or Javascript!


What experience level is necessary?

The first couple problems are accessible to all even with minimal programming experience. We encourage anyone who is interested, especially those currently enrolled in a CS course at their highschool, to give it a shot!


What are the problems like?

Each problem will give an input and require a specific correct output for the given input. The input is all read in from stdin and output is all given in stout. The problems start out fairly straightforward, where the solution can be achieved by writing a simple method. However, the more challenging problems are bigger and using several methods/classes would help.

Check out some sample problems!


What will be provided?

The room has outlets. Additionally, we will provide free T-Shirts, snacks, and other miscellaneous items like pens. However, we will not be providing either lunch or dinner so please plan accordingly.


How many team members are needed on a team?

You can have anywhere from 1-4 team members. If you are a team of 1, still fill out the form, but email us equinoxprogrammingchallenge@gmail.com if you want a partner! We will try to make sure everyone can participate!


I would like to add a member to my team, but I already registered.

Simply send an email to us at equinoxprogrammingchallenge@gmail.com with your team name, the name of the new member, and the new member's shirt size.


How early should our team register?

Register at least 10 days in advance (by October 4th) to be guaranteed t-shirts. Those who register later than October 4th may still participate, but may not receive T-Shirts.


My team does not have access to a laptop.

We can provide teams, if requested, with a laptop. Email us or check the option on the google form while signing up!


I have another question that is not answered here

Just send an email to equinoxprogrammingchallenge@gmail.com!


Sponsors

Thanks to our generous sponsors, this competition is free to enter and has a great selection of prizes.



About Us

We, the organizers and creators of Equinox Programming Challenge, are two students from Madison West High School. Our goal is to give students an outlet for growing their interest in computer science.

Contact us at: equinoxprogrammingchallenge@gmail.com