The UQCS CodeJam is an individual competitive programming competition hosted each year to put students' programming and problem solving abilities to the test. You'll be given a list of questions to solve, varying in difficulty, with solutions to harder questions earning more points and the highest scoring competitors taking home some sweet prizes. The questions use knowledge from a wide range of fields but all can be solved with the help of code.
It’s a fun challenge to get experience in these styles of questions, which are often asked by employers in technical interviews. This year CodeJam is being supported by IMC, one of the world's most active proprietary trading firms and a key market maker in various products listed on exchanges throughout the world. They'll help support your journey and also provide you with some amazing networking opportunities!
Keep reading to find out more about the competition and what to expect. If you have any questions, reach out on the Facebook event page or via our Slack community.
So, how does it all work?
The CodeJam is programming competition hosted online through HackerRank. You can code in virtually any language (see competition environment). Once you’ve written your code, it’s executed online against a number of test cases.
Tests will cover basic scenarios as well as larger and more complex cases, to ensure your algorithm is efficient and reliable. Points are awarded for the number of tests you pass and the question’s difficulty.
There will be a leaderboard of competitors based on points scored. The top scorers will earn prizes!
How can I prepare?
You'll need a HackerRank account to compete, you can sign up here. You don’t need to do special practice or preparation, just come well-rested and ready to problem solve! You can also sign up to the competition on HackerRank in advance of the day:
To get familiar with the HackerRank interface and styles of questions, you can try some practice questions on HackerRank.
If you are coming in person, make sure to get a ticket here for COVID-19 contact tracing purposes!
What do I do on the day?
The CodeJam will run from 10am – 4:00pm on Saturday 28th March. The live event will be hosted from the Advanced Engineering Building, room 49-316, but you can participate (and win prizes) from anywhere. You can join in at any time but the more time you spend, the better your chances of winning prizes!
We’ll post updates and reminders throughout the day on our Slack workspace. Both the event kickoff and presentation of prizes will be live streamed on our YouTube channel, at the start and end of the day, respectively. The actual coding competition will be hosted on HackerRank.
Prizes!
We have various prizes, all sponsored by IMC.
| 1st place overall | $150 JB Hi-Fi gift voucher |
|---|---|
| 2nd place overall | $100 JB Hi-Fi gift voucher |
| 3rd place overall | $60 JB Hi-Fi gift voucher |
| Top first year | $120 JB Hi-Fi gift voucher |
Rules & Conditions
- Competitors must work individually and submit only their own work.
- Limit of one prize per person.
- To be eligible for prizes, you must be a current university student and registered on the HackerRank contest. Non-students (including alumni) can participate but will not be eligible for prizes.
- You are considered a first year student if this is your first or second semester of university studies (in any degree).