These “coding interviews” are generally designed for people who got A’s in their Algorithms class or in their Data Structures class (the latter for an easy interview). That’s going to be roughly 20–30% of the students taking those classes.

I’m a teaching assistant at a top school for Computer Science that teaches these classes, and I find it hard to believe that a B-student, much less a C-student, would do well in these interviews.

Sure, it’s possible that the B-student gets lucky and gets asked a question that they understand really well, because the B-student probably has an A-student’s understanding of some of the course topics. But in general, a B-level understanding of algorithms and data structures is not good enough.

Now, a certain percentage of students who get A’s in these classes don’t really deserve them because they cheated (i.e. copied homework solutions). Cheaters won’t get A’s on their exams, but a cheater who knows the material well enough to get B’s on their exams, may get an A in the class if the cheat on everything else.

So you’re left with about 15–20% who actually earned their A.

Now, we have to consider that the topics from these courses aren’t really reinforced that much in other classes. So even the A-student is bound to forget stuff over time. After a few years, the A-student is probably going to perform more like a B-student, unless they spend a sufficient amount of time reviewing the material they had forgotten. I think word has gotten out about the interviews, so a lot of the A-students will be spending time reviewing their Algorithms textbooks and practicing problems, but you still have some attrition.

So we’re down to about 10–15% at this point.

Now, consider that the format of the interview — solving problems on the board. If you grew up in a Soviet bloc country, this may be old hat for you. The whole interview format seems designed to make Eastern Europeans shine. But for most Westerners, this is a very unfamiliar experience, and so mere anxiety and lack of comfort with the format of the interview is going to probably screw up half the people who could in theory do well.

That reduces us to 5–7% who are still in the game.

Now consider that some students who get A’s in their Algorithms classes are not good programmers. I always see a bunch of Math students who can get an A+ on their problem sets but couldn’t code if their life depended on it. Since the “coding interview” should at some point involve writing actual code, that should further diminish the pool.

Let’s say we’re down to about 4% who realistically have a good chance at the interview. That means that 96% will suck. Google likes those odds, because Google wants an easy way to filter 96% of its applicant pool. But if you’re anyone other than Google, you have to ask yourself if this is really what you’re trying to accomplish.

I know how to create a CS curriculum where most students would ace their coding interview:

In a nutshell, 4 years of studying Algorithms and Data Structures. First year, there would be very little programming if any. Mainly just problem sets, like you would get in a math class. Second year, the students would get very small programming tasks — mainly to code up ideas they learned their first year. I’d choose the easiest language for students to learn, because most interviews don’t care what language you use. So probably Python. No reason to waste time on Java. Students would never waste their time on any large projects, and none of the small programming tasks would require writing more code than fits on a white board — so 20 to 50 lines max. Third year — wash, rinse, repeat! Pound in the same ideas from the first two years, but increase the difficulty of problem sets. Also, loosely introduce some applications. Oh you heard of computer networks? They’re really just graphs. Fourth year, same.

My curriculum would be both easier (consume less time) than existing CS curricula, and get better results on interviews. No more all-nighters struggling to debug a project that no one will ever care about once it’s graded!

But is it a good CS curriculum? I will let other people comment on that. The point is that while algorithms are important for practitioners to understand, so-called “coding interviews” are incredibly lop-sided in what they assess, and not very fair to students. For all the time that students spend working on their CS degrees, they get an interview that covers little of what they learned in school and even less of what they will need to know to do the job. If you’re going to test people in this way, at least give them a curriculum that matches the expectation.

I should also comment that I believe the old Soviet Union taught computer science similar to how I’m suggesting, and yet somehow America developed the successful software industry and they didn’t!

Let me make this really clear. Computer Science is not just competitive programming. Infact it is the opposite. No one in their right mind will write code as competitive programmers do in the contests. It is buggy, has no documentation and does not follow any kind of coding standards. It will be a horror for the company if a part of their code-base is in that format.

That said, what competitive programming does is that makes you really skilled in data structures and algorithms which is the fundamental of computer science. But if you decide that competitive programming is not cup of your tea, you may choose to excel in any of the thousand branches of computer science. Let me tell you some of these exciting branches :

1. Artificial Intelligence and Machine learning
2. Data Science
3. Computer Architecture
4. Web Development
5. Computer Security
6. Distributed Computing
7. Databases
8. Compiler Design

The choices are endless and it is not possible for me to list every single one of them. I hope this answers your question.

Why are you asking algorithmic questions when the job is most likely digging through a large amount of crappy code trying to work out why it isn’t working properly?

I used to be good at algorithms and data structures in university, when most of the coding I did was algorithms and data structures.

In 20 years of my career very little of my time has been spend writing complex algorithms, just a bit of basic business logic and getting the whole system to work together. Most of the algorithmic stuff has been for interviews when you are under time pressure, and honestly it’s 50/50 if a suitable answer will pop into my head at the time if there is a moderate amount of complexity to it. In the real world if I needed an algorithm, the first thing I would do is look to see if anyone had solved the problem before me and take that as a starting point.

Writing clean maintainable code is a far more useful skill and one that every developer should be striving to achieve. Something that the next developer to read the code will understand easily.

No. I’ve never solved a programming contest problem in my life. Probably I could solve a lot of the problems, but I don’t know that. I’ve never even looked at a programming contest problem.

When I started developing software as a 12-year old sometime around 1974, there weren’t too many (if any) programming contests. I started developing as a professional in 1979. I doubt there were many more programming contest then than there were four years previously.

If you want to become a developer, develop software. If you want to take part in programming contests, practice doing programming contest problems. The two are not necessarily all that related.

Disclaimer: I suck at competitive programming.

I've become inclined to believe competitive programming is like any type of sport; you have to practice it every day and constantly repeat the types of problem solving techniques used in contests. By practice, I mean spend thousands of hours before you can even be half-decent at it. You have to do competitive programming to be good at competitive programming. You can't only do software development, only learn about algorithms/data structures, or only solve math problems. You can't only read books about competitive programming. You especially can't solve problems without full effort into understanding the solution or only reading the solution.

The only way you can be good is by practicing intensely. You have to practice a problem and understand the concept enough to be able to recognize it and solve a similar type of problem quickly. The only way you can do that is by truly understanding the problem.

Personally, I've been involved in competitive programming for a year and a half and am absolutely horrible at it. I'm going to partition the next 6 months to practicing intensely.

Here are the best suggestions I can make for you…

Find one or more interesting programming projects to work on. I started developing computer games because it interested me when I was a teenager, so you might find this enjoyable too.

Next, pick one or more computer languages to use on your project. Most often its the type of project that determines the computer language used. But ideally, you should begin by learning what are called a structured procedural language, such as “C”, Python, or BASIC. These languages will force you to solve problems in neat, logical pieces or procedures that are tied together like a chain. Using such languages will allow you to see and test how computer programs actually work. As you advance later on, you can try using an object oriented programming language such as Java, C sharp, or C++, which are extensions of C and BASIC. Object oriented languages provide extra features for dealing with logical units of code and data.

Once your language is selected, look at your project, and think of all the problems you need to solve. Examples might be drawing some graphics, playing a sound, sorting a list, printing your name on the screen, or adding up a bunch of numbers. This will force you to write a function or method that accomplishes something useful to solve your problem. As you proceed, you will tie multiple functions together to solve problems.

This is the area of effort where you actually learn how to become an accomplished programmer. It involves understanding a problem, designing a logical solution on paper or in your mind, and then implementing the solution in one or more computer languages. You will run a program you created, look at its output, and immediately find out if you solved the problem. If not, make code adjustments, and re-run. If it does work, then move onto your next problem to solve.

If you enjoy doing the above steps, I have no doubt you will become an excellent programmer or engineer.

Good luck.

The primary reason is that most universities no longer teach CS the way they used to teach CS up until the early 1990's.

With the exception of a very few U.S. universities, you will be very hard pressed to find a class in the C programming language (for example). What you will get instead of a language class, where you actually learn the language, is something like database fundamentals using C.

In other words: learning the language is left as an exercise for the student.

Most students therefore only learn enough about their tools to get by in the lab exercises for a given class.

And many universities teach in languages which are easier to grade, and easier to learn because they are incapable of expressing a number of complex language concepts. I frequently see people who know only Java, or Python, or, in some cases, ActionScript (Flash).

So really, it's not a requirement that they learn to code.

This came about because of changes in curriculum to comply with the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Inc. (ABET) accreditation requirements, which is the main accreditation body for CS curricula across the U.S..

These changes first started occurring in 1984, and again in 1998, and by the mid 2000's, the courses were quite watered down, compared to what they were early on.

There are about a dozen universities that offer explicit classes necessary to turn out good coders, but in almost all cases, the coursework is optional, since most universities offer multiple tracks that will let you attain what they call a CS degree -- but not all CS degrees are equal.

So you have to go to the right college or university, and you have to take the right degree track, and the right optional classes, to get the same education that you used to be able to get a couple of decades ago.

Some of these universities are: Georgia Tech, Brown University, Rice University, MIT, Stanford, and a number of others.

Rule of thumb: if they don't offer an optional course in assembly language programming, and another in C language programming, you are likely on your own.

There are other ways to get the necessary language skills and experience that you no longer get in CS degree programs in most places in the U.S. -- but you have to be an autodidact. And teaching yourself is a lot harder.

You can get some support by being a strong contributor to someone else's Open Source project; the BSD's are a good place to get it, less so Linux, but still Linux is fantastic, compared to what most colleges or universities will offer you, in terms of experience. I downplay Linux here, since the community tends to be relatively intolerant to complete beginners.

You almost certainly won't get it by starting your own Open Source project, particularly if you are the sole contributor, or if there are only a small number of people ever involved.

To give a wood shop analogy of which I'm fond (wood shop used to be vocational education offered in almost every high school and junior high/middle school in the U.S. at one point):

Modern CS classes at most universities are like learning table theory, or chair theory, or birdhouse theory, or spice rack theory, etc..

And then you get a job in the real world at a furniture factory, and you've never learned how to really use the tools correctly.

The first time you use the table saw, or the band saw, or a joiner, or a lathe -- it's going to be your actual first time on some of that equipment.

And, well... that's how people lose fingers.

A craftsman must know how to use their tools, or they are not a craftsman.

If companies hired marketing people like you want to hire programmers:

The interviewer is sitting at the table. Enter Mr. Jenkins, the candidate: stage right

So, Mr. Jenkins, you’ve been director of Marketing at BigCo for the last 5 years?

Yes, I have. Over that time, BigCo grew from number 4 in the industry to become number 1 in the market, while maintaining the highest margins in the industry.

That’s all very well, but let’s turn to the serious questions… Can you explain how Shakespeare’s presentation of the descent into madness Lady MacBeth differs from the similar descent of Desdomona?

What? Are you serious?

Come on, Mr. Jenkins, you have a degree in English. This is standard stuff…

But, I thought I was here to talk about the sorts of things that might be relevant to the role of Director of Marketing.

Mr. Jenkins, I’ve asked a question about madness in Shakespeare. You can use the whiteboard if you want, but no using Google.

I can’t.

Well, I’m afraid that this company isn’t for you, Mr. Jenkins.

But what about my experience of BigCo?

Come on, we’re looking for people who can answer the sorts of questions that come up at University, not people with a track record of delivery. What sort of company do you think we are?

Does that feel a good way to hire a marketing head?

Why is it different from software developers? Are you under the impression that the work we do is similar to algorithm design?

Any combination of:

1. Never writing code outside of class.
2. Being able to pass most tests without writing more than a function body.
3. Trying to learn about programming like you might learn about Roman history.
4. Curriculum that does not emphasize practical coding skill.
5. Grade inflation and grades that reward effort itself.
6. Academic dishonesty.
7. Doing something else for work after college, forgetting it all (may be more of a consequence of 1–6).
8. Academic dishonesty (it’s more likely than you think…).

Also, “unable to code” may be implicitly saying “at a level where they produce more value than it takes to fix their errors and keep them on a team.”

Keep at it.

First make sure you understand the basics: sorting, searching, graphs and trees, programming paradigms like backtracking, dynamic and greedy programming.

And then make sure you go over classic problems like the knapsack, various string manipulation algorithms, sorting and searching algos, graph traversal etc. And them code every damn one of them. By now, you should have a catalog (both in a book and in your mind) of what sort of a solution you should try and apply to what sort of a problem.

Till here is the preparation part. It'll take a couple of weeks to months, depending on how much productive time you can spend on it.

Now comes the next part: practice. Take all the time you need for solving the simple problems to start with. But when you've finally solved it, or looked into the answer, make sure you completely understand the solution. And then code it up. 'Reading an answer' it not the same as coding it up. You will actually see progress if you do this long enough. Coming up with template solutions will become second nature and you'll be able to advance up the complexity ladder faster and faster.

All the best!

Competitive programming is based on Logic and Analysis. These two qualities are not sufficient but they are necessary.

This is how you should proceed:-

First you analyse the problem or situation and then frame the logic. Upto here it has nothing to do with implementation details. But, it's important that you are aware of required algorithms.

For implementation, you require Data Structures and have to be thorough with them. Figure out what data structures are necessary for your logic to work..

For debugging while working out with the code, you require practice and experience. It's better you start off with naive questions if you aren't used to problems with difficult implementation details and algorithmic designs.

Wherever you get stuck, refer programming forums and sites like

1. StackOverflow
2. Geeksforgeeks

Eventually you'll see your self improved and more confident on your skills.

For placements its OK if you are not skilled in a particular language, but Logical reasoning and skills are damm important.

I hope this helps!!

Cheers ;-)

It’s not.

I know what competitive programming is. I have a four-year degree in Software Engineering, which is very similar to Computer Science. Students of either don’t need to participate in competitive programming.

Most people get degrees in Computer Science in order to get jobs programming. Not always, but it’s the most likely case. Most employers want clean, correct, maintainable code. Competitive programming teaches participants how to quickly program the fastest code in the shortest amount of time. No thought is given to:

• readability
• maintainability
• reliability
• extensibility
• measurability

Sure, the solution the participant coded up in five minutes works great for the given problem sets, there’s no telling how it would operate on real-world data.

My employers want to know that the code I wrote is clean and will work reliably with all sets of real-world data. They don’t care how fast I do it (within reason). Do they want a very fast solution that works great for a small set of data that took me five minutes, or one that’s reliable, unit tested will work well for all possible data sets that took me five hours to come up with?

I’d say that almost all employers would go with the latter.

Competitive programming is fine as a pastime, but it won’t make anyone a better programmer. Good software usually comes from sitting, thinking, experimentation, discussion and measurement. Most of those are eschewed in competitive programming.

The reasons vary from person to person, but some common reasons are:

1. It is fun
2. It helps you prepare for tech interview with companies like Google, Facebook, Amazon, Bloomberg, Microsoft, etc.
3. You can actually have companies reach out to you one sites like HackerRank and CodeChef
4. It helps you develop your data structures and algorithms knowledge

For those that say it isn’t that popular, it is true that it isn’t as popular as mainstream sports like soccer, but neither was e-sports, and it is huge now. Back in April I made this post:

HackerRank is up to 172.9K (13% annualized growth)

Codechef is up to 137.5K (30% annualized growth)

Leetcode is up to 64.4K (187% annualized growth)

The point being that these sites are growing and as the world becomes more and more tech driven, competitive coding is only going to grow more and more.

What should you do? You should work on things directly related to your computer science goal instead of doing competitive programming. I’m not an expert in that area, but at least I know that it is not about programming competitions.

There is not so much connection between these two - so don’t worry too much. Some strong contestants are also making progress in computer science, but that’s unrelated - just like being strong contestant isn’t necessary / doesn’t automatically make you good software engineer.

Competitive programming is about developing specific skill set for being able to solve specific kinds of tasks under specific circumstances. And you already know in advance that there is a solution and it is relatively simple (so the problem is solvable, including implementation, within a short contest). Doesn’t sound like scientific research.

Take a look at this CF user: Darooha - Codeforces. Some random div2 guy, right? Just in case - besides taking part in CF rounds, he also knows a thing or two about computer science: Daniel Sleator - Wikipedia.

Does it make my point clearer? :)

It’s an interesting question. Let me answer you.

Let’s have a look at what Problem Solving is:

the process of finding solutions to difficult or complex issues.

As you read above, problem solving is a process of finding solutions to issues. Now let’s have a look at some problems from past.

When there was no computer, there was no “computer science” field. But when scientists started working on Programmable Machines, eventually they invented a machine which is now called “computer”.

Don’t you think, when they were trying to make a programmable machine. It was a big problem for them. And they were trying hard to solve this problem. And after long time, they were able to make a machine.

They succeeded to solve a big problem.

They succeeded in developing a Programmable Machine. But it was not that good and competent. So they were facing a second problem, to make that current version of Machine more better and competent.

So, you can see that Computer itself was a problem and it’s still a problem for scientists. They are still trying to make it more better. There are now super computers but they are still trying to make super-super-computer.

Now let’s look around us for a while.

Every scientific field is trying to solve problems. Either it be Physics, Chemistry, Medical/Biology, Mathematics or Psychology, to name a few.

Medical Scientists are trying to find solution to different diseases. They are trying to cure diseases that are still not curable. So basically, they are solving problems.

Scientists interest in Physics are trying to find solutions to different Physics related problems.

(…………………same goes for other fields.)

Conclusion: I can now conclude that “Yes, it’s all about solving problems”. Actually, life is all about solving problems (Just think for a while and let me know what do you think in comments).

Thank you so much for reading my answer. Let me know if you agree/disagree with me in comments below.

Regards,

Tauqeer Nasir

Competitive programming can be fun for folks who enjoy it (a sort of tautology :). It is not, however, the be-all and end-all of computer science or the profession. Here’s a short list of topics that aren’t covered in many programming contests:

* Databases

* Text/output Formatting

* User/Client application design & layout

* Javascript

* Web design

* Robotics

* Knowledge engineering (whatever that is)

* Big data

* Networking (websockets, ajax, servers)

* 'Model-View-Controller'

* Client-Server

* Software Design (API's for things) -- objective? subjective?

* Mobile Platforms: iOS, Android

* Fault Tolerance

* Logic Design

* Security

* Documentation (objective?)

* Graphics

* Artificial intelligence

* Sysadmin

* Cloud computing

* XML, JSON, et al.

* Formal: proofs, analysis

* release control/content management?

* spreadsheet programming

* Adobe Illustrator/Corel Draw etc. macros

* 3d printing

* Real time programming

* Fuzzy logic

Want to get good at programming? Do projects. Big ones, small ones. All the time. Find people who need software and help them.

Are they?..

I wouldn’t say they are very popular. But popularity is a relative thing. Clearly there are lots of less popular activities. On the other hand, in most of the world pretty much nobody even knows what competitive programming is, and it is nowhere close to sports/activities like athletics, or football, or computer games etc.

So which things have positive effect on the popularity of programming competitions?

For me great thing about competitive programming is that it is interesting and fun thing to do :) And as a sport/competitive activity, it doesn’t require much money and effort to participate - yes, you probably need some PC/laptop, and Internet access, but a lot of people already have it - so it is basically free for them. You don’t need to buy ball, or bike, or special shoes and clothes, or whatever other equipment, or to pay for access to gym or specific facility… You don’t even need to leave your home - you can participate online.

I can also participate in same competitions as strongest contestants in the world, I can even interact with them - like get my solution hacked by tourist or Petr. Now let me know how I can play chess against Carlsen, or have a run with Kipchoge, or play football against Messi, or basketball against James, or tennis against Federer… Even if I can theoretically join some marathon with Kipchoge or Ironman with Frodeno - I would likely need to pay quite a lot for participation, and also travel to a different country or maybe even different continent. To compete against top-level CP contestant - I can simply open my laptop and join a competition without even getting out of the bed.

And now if you’ll ask me what’s the most important reason of CP popularity nowadays… Apparently now a lot of people believe that competitive programming has something to do with actual industry programming, or that it is a great way to get better at programming, or that it is what employers look for; a lot of people even believe that you must do competitive programming in order to get a job.

Unsurprisingly these people helped to significantly increase number of contestants - both by doing it by themselves and by persuading others.

A lot of people are looking for a job while having zero skills, so one is already not that bad.

Jokes aside, your question is wrong because you are assuming that “champions of programming competitions” know nothing except of how to do well in these competitions. This is not necessary true :)

I know multiple ICPC medalists who got rejected by several IT companies when looking for a job or an internship. On the other hand, most of strong contestants are successful on getting a good job: even if you don’t know anything else besides competitive programming, you can usually go through internships or join a company as a fresh grad, and in a lot of companies for these roles you aren’t really expected to know anything and be capable of actually writing any code right away :) So when you are taking a random student with no experience and almost no related skills, and strong competitive programmer with no experience - latter may already have several advantages like knowing some algorithmic stuff useful for interviews, knowing other contestants who already work in these companies and can refer him etc. And, what’s most important - knowing how to become good at something :) I’m serious - if a person was good enough to reach top level in competitions, I expect this person to be capable of doing basic things like reading documentation, going through guides, asking people for advice etc., and learning what he needs to learn over time. I’d expect him to know how to grasp things, instead of complaining “This stuff is complicated, we didn’t learn it in university” or even rejecting to do work because he is not familiar with this particular technology/language/tool (Yes, I know more than one person joining companies like Google and Facebook and then acting like that; I’ve even met some such guys in person, and also heard a lot of stories about such cases).

I got my job at Google through internship: I got referred for an internship by a googler who I first met several years earlier during programming competitions, during interviews I did well enough to get an internship, during internship and conversion interviews I did well enough to get full time offer. I’m not really “programming competitions Champion” (though I won a few local events, but that’s just because of stronger contestants not participating), and I actually fit under the pattern from your question well on skill-related part - I don’t have any prior work experience or open source contribution or anything like that, and I don’t really know programming outside of competitive programming area - except of some basics which I learned after joining Google.

Competitive programming isn’t indicator of your general programming abilities, and doing competitive programming for sole purpose of getting a job is rather stupid, yet if somebody is reaching top levels there - it’s probably a good sign.

If you have to ask, probably it is not important for you.

It is a fun way to get the following benefits:

• learn how to solve difficult algorithmic problems
• learn how to write programs without any bugs
• learn a programming language (usually C++) very well
• be a member of the world-wide community focused on learning (most of the best competitors are very happy to share their insights)

If you find competitive programming fun, great, if not, there is probably some other way to learn most of these things that will be more fun for you.

One great thing about competitive programming is that it is judged objectively, which is a rare thing. If X people (e.g. from some specific place) achieve good results in competitive programming, the world learns that X people are good — which opens the opportunities both for X people who do competitive programming, and their friends who decided to spend their time on something else.

As Quora User said, stop thinking about it for 15 minutes. (Did Asimov actually invent that, or did he learn it from someone else?) Watch cartoons on TV. (It takes your conscious mind off the problem - off everything, really.)

But if you still have no idea of how to go about solving it after 15 minutes of “stupidification”, go on to the next problem - you’re not going to solve it.

(If you’re doing something as thoughtless as watching children’s cartoons, your conscious mind is occupied [with stupidity, but it’s occupied], so no “constraints” you put on the problem matter - your subconscious is working on it. And some problems are just things you have no experience with, so you aren’t going to solve them.)

I took some Computer Science classes back when I was at university. Not in one did I learn anything about coding.

At least in Germany, there are two very different approaches to Computer Science.

If you study it as Applied Science, then you will learn how to code.

If you study it at an University with a more theoretical approach, then you will not really learn how to code (at least not in class). You will learn a lot about Mathematics(given that Computer Science is actually applied Mathematics), logic, problem solving. In short: the theory behind coding. This will give you a far deeper understanding about the actual Science in Computer Science. But if you want to learn how to code in a certain language, you have to learn in your free time.

How do Champions of programming competitions get a job with just one skill?

Well, their skill is “programming”. That would appear to be the skill required for employment as a programmer. Some companies don’t expect you to have any more specific skills, such as MapReduce—it is assumed that you will be able to pick up this sort of domain-specific knowledge on the job. Some of those companies are quite famous (Google, Facebook, etc.) so competitive programming tends to get overemphasized on Quora. There are plenty of other companies that will not hire a competitive programmer who lacks other qualifications.

There are many “careers” that you can take with a Computer Science Degree. However, not know the basis of coding in several languages, won’t get you too far in any of the those said careers.

Computer Science is a broad termed degree that can take you in many directions. Before you started this educational choice, my question back would be “why did you want to get a Computer Science Degree?”

Computer Science encapsulates a lot of fields such as:
- Hardware: Server Farms like Google, Rackspace, etc.
- Middleware (Hardware): Cellphone companies like AT&T and Satellite companies.
- Software: Has a ton of fields. Database, Front-end, Back-end, Website, Graphical, Sales, Project Management, and on and on.

I had to take Digital Electronics my first year and I questioned why? I had no desire to learn the hardware side of things. However, it helped me understand programming at a much more detailed level. I learned how processors, motherboards, and networks really work which in turn makes me think about what I am writing and how efficient it will run.

Competitive Programming is more of a challenge to see how much or how fast you develop/solve a problem. This is required in most fields at some point in your career. Especially if you make a mistake and have to fix it. I personally had to do this about a month ago (a stupid mistake with 20+ years of experience).

Think of it as learning challenge, not as what the real world is like. If you get good at it, some software companies don’t require you to work by time, but by project. If you can complete your work in 1 day while others take 5 days, it allows you to either take your time doing the project, or being able to go have fun while the rest of the team is crunching keys…

My first assumption. You are someone either setting up the competition or tasked to write a problem. Your role in the two paragraphs below is first as a customer with a business need. Then your role is that of a vendor getting more specific, in requirements until you have an acceptable amount of detail for the competitors.

I would use an approach where the customer identifies a business need for some type of system or product. The customer identifies their requirements and then issues a Request for Proposals, which includes their desired requirements, scope, and boundaries. Or they go to a specific vendor and provide them the requirements, scope, and boundaries.

The vendor or vendors then break down the stated requirements further and submit their proposals and/or estimates to the customer. Their proposed solutions include a description of the solution, completion estimates, the cost of labor, hardware, software, etc.

In the case of a Computer Science competition, organizers might have a theme. Sometimes it is a simple problem that needs solved. Algorithms may exist. Depending on the nature of the composition, the algorithms might be provided to the competitors. In other cases, the competition might require development of the algorithm and coding.

Consider the expertise level of your competitors. The FIRST and other robotics competitions are a good example. The lower the expertise (elementary and middle school) the more certain elements are defined and/or provided. High school competitions might require the students to write the code necessary for operating the robots in the competition.

I find that themes and project based learning are great methods to drive learning. Develop competitions based on current events. For example, using valid data (which you might provide) require competitors to develop code that predicts the spread of infectious diseases based on the user providing a variety of predefined variables.

Additional complexity could be added by including more requirements. Such as encrypting some or all of the variables, building security in so that if the code or model is hacked, it would let the owners know that the model was tampered with. And so on.

Hope this helps.
PRSTN

Undoubtedly, Yes.

Coding is just a skill, It doesn’t matter you are a Bsc grad, BE , BA or what ever. If you are interested to learn the skill you definitely can.

To code is actually simple, you just have to analyze the problem logically and break down to find a solution.

All you need is to begin, gear up and start learning how to code from now.

Some of the tips which I would suggest you is,

1. Read Let Us C book, by yashwant kanetkar.
2. Start writing programs, write as many as possible. How ever simple it is like Pallindrome, Prime number, Factorial etc (which are easy to start).
3. There are lots of websites for competitive coding, Signup and take the challenges.
   
   Tip: Instead of writing the code in the first step, understand the problem. Find the solution write it in simple english. Then try to convert it to the code you will feel a lot easier.

You don’t have to be a genius to know how to code, you just have to be determined.

Hope it helped. Thank you :)

Yes, it's necessary that you be good in core subjects of computer science. At the end…what all we do in competitive programming should be applied to solve the real world problems and to be able to solve real problems you need to have a deep understanding of computer science along with being good at programming.

For example, if you want to build a compiler for any language, it is a must that you know the phases of a compiler and how a compiler works and how it is designed. All this, you will learn in compiler design course. So, at the end…to build a compiler you need to have the knowledge about it and you should be able to reproduce that into code.

And the core subjects in computer science are quite interesting and fascinating. I am sure you will enjoy them too!

Happy coding!