The UQCS CodeJam, our semester 1 flagship event, is an individual competitive programming competition designed to put the programming and problem solving abilities of students of all years to the test. You'll be given a list of questions to solve, each varying in difficulty and style, with harder questions earning more points. The questions use knowledge from a wide range of disciplines but can all be solved with the help of code.
It's a fun challenge to work through the questions, and getting experience with these styles of questions is especially useful as they are often asked by employers in technical interviews. The highest scoring competitors will be taking home some sweet prizes, courtesy of our sponsor for the event, IMC! IMC are 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 more questions, you can reach out at any of our social media pages or via our lovely Discord 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 are also based on the difficulty of the question.
There will be a leaderboard of competitors throughout the event for you to track number of points scored. The top scorers by the end of the day, as mentioned, 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! If you'd like, you can try some practice questions on HackerRank to get familiar with the interface and style of questions. You can also sign up to the competition on HackerRank in advance of the day:
If you are coming in person, make sure to get a ticket too!
What do I do on the day?
The CodeJam will run from 10am – 4:00pm on Saturday 2nd April. 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 also have free lunch on the day too, so be sure not to miss out!
We’ll post updates and reminders throughout the day on our Discord server. 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.
- There is a limit of one prize per person.
- To be eligible for prizes, you must be a current university student, a current UQCS member, and registered on the HackerRank contest. Non-students (including alumni) and non-UQCS members 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.