TCO Program
Transcript of TCO Program
TOURNAMENT PROGRAM
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Table of Contents
TCO12 Information TCO12 Competition Tracks
Founder’s Letter 4
2012 TopCoder Open Credits 5
Tournament Schedule 6 – 7
Meet the Bloggers 28
2012 TopCoder Open Trip Winners 43
TopCoder Admins 44 – 45
Sponsors
DeNA 2
Das Keyboard 8
Facebook 9
Pocket Gems 29
Two Sigma 46
Google 47
Design
Overview 10
Champion 10
Finalists 11 – 13
Mod Dash
Algorithm
Overview 24
Bracket 24
Finalists 25 – 27
Overview 30
Bracket 31
Finalists 32 – 37
Marathon
Overview 38
Bracket 39
Finalists 40 – 42
Development
Overview 14
Champion 14
Finalists 15 – 17
Studio
Overview 18
Judges 19
Bracket 20
Finalists 21 – 23
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Founder’s Letter
Wow! It seams like yesterday that we were completing the 2011 TCO. How fast a year goes!
This year we are particularly and extremely excited to have you here. There are many changes underway at TopCoder and we really couldn’t be more excited about where we are and where we’re headed. Of course, as always, we are here because of you and our excitement is around where you will bring us. So, welcome! We’re glad you’re here!
As the TCO progresses this year you will see many changes and expansion of what we do with the community. From a personal perspective, it is gratifying to me to see how far we have come. Yet, I know, we have only just begun.
2012 was a great year for TopCoder with signi�cant new growth for the business and what has been produced while the community enhanced and extended the platform itself into entire new directions for the bene�t of clients – mobile, cloud, analytics and new technologies. The platform itself has become something of a wonder of engineering that has received many accolades from clients and industry pundits. A platform, though, is only as good as the community that underlies it. I remain – as I do most every year –
simply in awe of what the community can do. I know that sounds a little surprising come from the founder, but, in true open innovation fashion, I’ve have learned a great deal from our community. Not just in the great ideas and approaches to solving problems and creativity, but in the professional-ism and pride that shines through in everything our community does. Is there anything you cannot do? At this point, I don’t think so.
With all of this growth, activity and general busyness we never want to forget who we are or where we came from. TC started as a place where people could learn and assess their progress in a warm, helpful and welcoming community. This is still very important to me and others at TopCoder. We will continue this tradition by expanding our capabilities to help children and adults expand their leaning of technology, logic and analytical thinking.
Our continued growth and scale open new opportunities. These are at once exciting and daunting. We need to be smart about how we deploy the resources of TopCoder and our community for the bene�t of the community and our clients. Of course, we have no better sounding board than the community itself. Expect to hear us reaching out quite often.
For me, being at the TCO is a great thrill. I’m sure it will be no di�erent this year. So many smart people with such intensity during competition and such grace interacting with each other is
truly special. I am honored to be part of it. To all of you who participate in competition, reviewers and members who without whom we couldn’t put the event on, Thank You!
Our clients and sponsors are the engine that drives our creativity. Both are growing rapidly and many of you are here. In di�cult economic times, being able to talk to you about ideas, the future and how to make it better are truly refreshing and engaging. Your ideas to change your business and, indeed, the world – yes, we have more and more government clients trying to solve very di�cult problems - are energizing. Thank you for being here!
And, what to say, we love our community and our clients – we exist for them – but, what of the glue that holds this together? I simply don’t have the words to describe the dedication, skill and caring that come from TopCoder employees. Without them, we are nowhere. I will simply say thank you for all you have done and do. You have built something really special. As you attend and enjoy the event, thank a sta� member – though my associates make it look easy, it is anything but.
Again, to all: Welcome! We’re glad you are here!
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2012 TopCoder Open Credits
[ quesks ] [ lunarkid ]
[ vkromm ]
[ ujazz ]
[ babyfox ]
[ mahestro ]
[ oninkxronda ]
[ gogocrow ]
[ fairy_ley ]
[ joker_arif ]
[ CoralBlue ]
[ Zoe2102 ]
[ dileepa]
[ prabhathtopcode ]
[ AlexHuang ]
[ ChristinaLi ]
[ reaganlee ]
The 2012 TopCoder Open was not possible without the help and dedication from our talented TopCoder and Studio members. All the graphics you see onsite and the amazing TCO12 website were done by the TopCoder and Studio community. Thank you to all the members who helped make the TCO12 great!
A special thanks to our two copilots, quesks and lunarkid, neither of whom were able to make the trip to Orlando but worked tirelessly for the year making everything you see look amazing!
Website & Graphics:
Copilots:
Onsite Graphics:
Logo Design
Storyboard Design
UI Prototype
Web Banner Design
Sponsor Banner
Wordpress Theme Development
Table Top Graphic
Program Cover Page Design
Program CompetitorPage Design
Program Admin Page Design
T-Shirt Design
Competitions DescriptionPage Design
Competitions DescriptionUI Prototype
Certi�cate Design
UI Prototype Reviewers
Reviewers:
[ pajdo ]
[ AlexHuang ]
[ topmxm ]
Wordpress Theme Reviewers
[ ujazz ]
[ fairy_ley ]
Thanks to the following members for the great TCO12 website and graphics
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2012 TopCoder Open Tournament Schedule
Please note all competition rounds here include 30 minute set up time.
All times are listed in Eastern Daylight Time or EDT UTC -4.
*Schedule subject to change with or without notice.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Monday, October 1, 2012
6:00 p.m. — 7:30 p.m. Welcome Reception Caribbean 3/4
Caribbean 5
Caribbean 3/4
Caribbean 3/4
Caribbean 5
Caribbean 3/4
Caribbean 3/4
7:30 a.m. — 9:00 a.m. Breakfast
8:30 a.m. — 12:00 a.m. Studio Design Competition Semi�nal 1
9:30 a.m. — 10:00 p.m. 12 Hour Marathon Championship
12:00 p.m. — 1:30 p.m. Lunch
12:30 p.m. — 2:00 p.m. Mod Dash Competition Final 1
2:30 p.m. — 6:00 p.m. Studio Design Competition Semi�nal 2
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Tuesday, October 2, 2012
7:30 a.m. — 9:00 a.m. Breakfast
8:30 a.m. — 11:00 a.m. Algorithm Semi�nal 1
11:00 a.m. — 12:30 p.m. Mod Dash Competition Final 2
12:00 p.m. — 1:30 p.m. Lunch
12:30 p.m. — 3:00 p.m. Algorithm Semi�nal 2
1:30 p.m. — 6:00 p.m. Studio Design Competition Championship
5:00 p.m. — 7:00 p.m. Dinner
5:30 p.m. — 8:00 p.m. Algorithm Wild Card Round
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
7:30 a.m. — 9:00 a.m. Breakfast
10:30 a.m. — 12:00 p.m. Mod Dash Competition Final 3
12:00 p.m. — 1:30 p.m. Lunch
12:30 p.m. — 3:30 p.m. Algorithm Championship
3:00 p.m. — 3:30 p.m. Winner Announcements and Awards Ceremony
6:15 p.m. Closing Reception Bus Pick Up
7:00 p.m. — 10:00 p.m. Closing Reception
Caribbean 5
Caribbean 3/4
Caribbean 3/4
Caribbean 5
Caribbean 3/4
Caribbean 3/4
Caribbean 5
Caribbean 3/4
Caribbean 5
Caribbean 3/4
Caribbean 5
Caribbean 3/4
Caribbean 3/4
Hotel Front Entrance
Howl at the Moon
Ship code daily,even in your first week.
Apply today at www.facebook.com/careers
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Design Competition
OverviewThe 2012 TopCoder Open Design Competition brought together competitors from many of our design-oriented tracks: Architecture, Component Design, Conceptualization, Speci�cation, and Testing Scenarios.
Designers were required to document their solutions to varying problems, from system design down to test case implementation. Competition was �erce, with 12 competitors earning over 10,000 placement points. Our most proli�c designers submitted on a huge number of contests – BLE turned in 48 submissions, while argolite turned in a whopping 78!
This year saw impressive TCO debuts from our new designer – iSpartan, who broke into the advancers bracket on his �rst major outing! However, this year was dominated by heavy hitting veterans – past winners vangavroche, albertwang and BLE all made strong runs at the top spots.
Our frequent �nalist argolite took the championship by submitting 78 contests for over 44,000 points. He became the �rst double TopCoder Open Design Competition Champion – he was also the TCO10 Design Champion!
Overall Winners of the Design Competi-tion:
1. argolite2. BLE3. vangavroche4. albertwang5. MiG-296. zsudraco7. kurtrips8. nikolay839. moonli10. AleaActaEst11. iSpartan12. winter�ame
2012 TopCoder Open
Design Champion
Favorite Movie: Die HardFavorite Book: InceptionFavorite Fictional Character: BatmanFavorite Color: BlueFavorite Game Outside of TopCoder: BilliardsFavorite Food: Italian
If you were to guess that I don’t have a regular job, you would be right, I don’t. If you were to say that I don’t get enough sleep, you would be right, I don’t. But if you were to ask whether I like what I do, I would say that that I get to work for the best company in the world, right out of my apartment, on my hours. I could say that this makes my life more �exible, with more time for everything else, but I would say that I still work too much. I know others would.
Michael Paweska
Canada[ argolite ]
Winner of $15,000
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Design Finalists
Favorite Movie: The Brave HeartFavorite Book: N/AFavorite Fictional Character: N/AFavorite Color: YellowFavorite Game Outside of TopCoder: NBA 2012Favorite Food: Chinese Food
I am a developer, designer, and have tried almost all of TopCoder software tracks.
Favorite Movie: MatrixFavorite Book: To Live
Favorite Fictional Character: Jack O'NeillFavorite Color: Blue
Favorite Game Outside of TopCoder: Need For SpeedFavorite Food: Dumplings
I’m a guy who desperately loves coding and sci-�.
Favorite Movie: A beautiful mindFavorite Book: 1984 George OrwellFavorite Fictional Character: Scrat from Ice Age :)Favorite Color: GreenFavorite Game Outside of TopCoder: VolleyballFavorite Food: Backed vegetables
My typical working day involves teaching some courses and lab at the University where I work. I try to spread the about TopCoder by explaining the methodology and give homework from the problem archive. In my free time, I read about technical developments and am fascinated about patents and technical inventions in general.
Favorite Movie: Inception, Shawshank RedemptionFavorite Book: "Dandelion Wine" Ray Bradbury
Favorite Fictional Character: Batman! :)Favorite Color: Red
Favorite Game Outside of TopCoder: Settlers of CatanFavorite Food: Potato cakes
First of all, I'm Ukrainian and proud to be. I'm still a student and �nd competitions as kind of hobby with good reward. I
enjoy travelling and having fun :)
China
Meng Wang
[ albertwang ]
Ye Wujian
China[ BLE ]
Oleksandr Stashuk
Ukraine[ faeton ]
Romania[ Indemar ]
Ioanitescu Radu Cristian
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Design Finalists
Favorite Movie: GuideFavorite Book: Catcher in the ryeFavorite Fictional Character: GodFavorite Color: WhiteFavorite Game Outside of TopCoder: BadmintonFavorite Food: Maghz (Brain curry)
I am from New Delhi, the land of smoke, dust, blaring horns and abusive language. So forgive me for being numb and neurotic at the same time. Other than that I am quite easy to get along. I spend most of my time aimlessly sur�ng the internet or just simply day dreaming. In the
Favorite Movie: O�ce SpaceFavorite Book: The 4-Hour Workweek
Favorite Fictional Character: Charlie KellyFavorite Color: Blue
Favorite Game Outside of TopCoder: Trail RunningFavorite Food: Tacos
I'm easygoing, enjoy learning new things, and try to have fun in everything I do. When I’m not working for TC or my business, I love to be outdoors. Trail running has become
my latest passion, and often times I’ll spend hours running and exploring the mountains and trails in New England
(Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont mostly).
Favorite Movie: King of ComedyFavorite Book: Into the white nightFavorite Fictional Character: Gar�eldFavorite Color: BlueFavorite Game Outside of TopCoder: SoccerFavorite Food: Spicy Fish
I am from China, very interested in technology, a little shy, and am looking to meet more friends at TCO12.
Favorite Movie: Star WarsFavorite Book: The Chronicles of Narnia
Favorite Fictional Character: Snow MaidenFavorite Color: Blue
Favorite Game Outside of TopCoder: Table tennisFavorite Food: Bulgogi (Korean marinated barbecued beef )
I am from St. Petersburg, the most western large city of Russia. I am a professional software developer and designer with origins in industrial automation at aerospace facilities. Then I relocated to eastern Asia and used to work at a large
computer manufacturing company where I heard about TopCoder. Now I am competing at TopCoder for a living.
Dana Duncan
USA[ iSpartan ]
Sergey Andreev
Russia[ MiG-29 ]
Jun Li
China[ moonli ]
Aiman Ashraf
India[ kurtrips ]
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Design Finalists
Favorite Movie: The Lord of the RingsFavorite Book: Water MarginFavorite Fictional Character: Lu JunyiFavorite Color: BlueFavorite Game Outside of TopCoder: RunningFavorite Food: Sushi
I live in Guangzhou, China. I am a freelancer since 2010 and compete on TopCoder mainly in the Design track.
Favorite Movie: InceptionFavorite Book: History
Favorite Fictional Character: DoraemonFavorite Color: Black
Favorite Game Outside of TopCoder: FIFAFavorite Food: Rice
I like playing soccer, and I like the way the Barcelona team plays soccer. I like traveling around, reading, and watching
movies. I love my family.
Favorite Movie: noneFavorite Book: Logic of Market in Chinese, written by Zhang
Wei YingFavorite Fictional Character: none
Favorite Color: Black, BlueFavorite Game Outside of TopCoder: King of Fighters 97
Favorite Food: Simple rice
I am a little shy. I like walking in parks, watching �owers, trees, lakes, and stars. And I like co�ee.
Diao Weihong
China[ vangavroche ]
Peiyong Guan
China[ zsudraco ]
Zhengbin Dong
China[ winterflame ]
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Development Competition
OverviewThe 2012 TopCoder Open Development Competition brought together competitors from our development contests: Assembly, Component Development, Prototypes, and Testing Suites.
Developers were required to implement designs in each of these tracks, over a broad variety of technology platforms including cutting-edge web and mobile o�erings.
Overall winners of the Development Competition:
1. Yeung2. j3_guile3. mohamede19454. subchap5. Zulander6. sparemax7. GreatKevin8. minhu9. jiaruipu10. babyfox11. isv12. namanhams
2012 TopCoder Open
Development Champion
Favorite Movie: noneFavorite Book: noneFavorite Fictional Character: noneFavorite Color: BlueFavorite Game Outside of TopCoder: CivilizationFavorite Food: Seafood, Sushi
My name is Yang Li and I am from China. I become the active member of TopCoder since 2007. Right now, ToCoder is my main income resource.
Yang LI
China[ Yeung ]
Winner of $15,000
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Development FinalistsFavorite Movie: Forest GumpFavorite Book: The Old Man and the SeaFavorite Fictional Character: NoneFavorite Color: BlueFavorite Game Outside of TopCoder: DotaFavorite Food: Seafood
The �rst project I won at TopCoder was posted at Studio in 2008. Later Studio created two new tracks, i.e., UI Prototype and RIA, for early Studio developers, and I mainly focused on RIA tracks in the past 3 years. This year I switched to Assembly tracks, and learned a lot from all kinds of projects. Thanks to ESC series contests, I earned a lot of TCO points from them to luckily be the trip winner of TCO12 Development Period 3.
Favorite Movie: The MatrixFavorite Book: Fountain Head
Favorite Fictional Character: NeoFavorite Color: Black
Favorite Game Outside of TopCoder: TennisFavorite Food: Crab
I am a curious adventurer with passion for travel.
Favorite Movie: RenShengGuoFavorite Book: XiYouJiFavorite Fictional Character: SunWuKongFavorite Color: BlueFavorite Game Outside of TopCoder: WalkFavorite Food: Fish
At TopCoder, I made some assembly submissions last year and some component development submissions last several years.
Favorite Movie: The usual suspectsFavorite Book: Wikipedia :)
Favorite Fictional Character: BatmanFavorite Color: Blue
Favorite Game Outside of TopCoder: SporcleFavorite Food: Everything
I'm a stay at home person. Some food, a computer, and a fast internet connection, and I'm all set.
India
Thilak
[ evilisneo ]
Yuli Hu
China[ frozenfx ]
Franklin Guevarra
Philippines[ j3_guile ]
China[ minhu ]
Minhu Chen
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Development Finalists
Favorite Movie: Forrest GumpFavorite Book: Steve JobsFavorite Fictional Character: N/AFavorite Color: GreenFavorite Game Outside of TopCoder: Angry birdsFavorite Food: Chicken
Hi, my name is Zhijie Liu. I like music, movies, swimming, table tennis, and reading, and so on. Now I live in Changsha, China. In Changsha, there are many famous scenes such as Yuelushan, Orange Island, Yuelu College. There are also lots of snacks. Besides, I can see the beautiful �reworks every Saturday. So, welcome to Changsha.
Favorite Movie: Toy StoryFavorite Book: Holy Quran
Favorite Fictional Character: Alaa El DinFavorite Color: Red
Favorite Game Outside of TopCoder: SportsFavorite Food: Fish
My name is Mohamed Ebrahim, graduated 2 years ago from Faculty of Engineering Cairo University, being a regular
employee or even a TA in college didn't work for me. I like being a competitor at TopCoder much more. I just got
engaged 10 days ago. I really love my �ancée too much.
Favorite Movie: N/AFavorite Book: N/AFavorite Fictional Character: N/AFavorite Color: WhiteFavorite Game Outside of TopCoder: StarcraftIIFavorite Food: Steak
I'm Kun Yang from China. I just graduated from Zhejiang University and joined Google in Beijing.
Favorite Movie: AvatarFavorite Book: Steve Jobs
Favorite Fictional Character: GandalfFavorite Color: Blue
Favorite Game Outside of TopCoder: Halo (xbox)Favorite Food: Seafood
I'm from Suzhou, a beautiful city in east China. I'm currently a computational biochemist, and my main work is to solve
biochemistry problems using simulations and other computational methods. Besides that, I also spend a lot of time in TopCoder contests. In my spare time, I like reading,
playing video games, watching TV shows and movies.
Mohamed Ebrahim Afifi
Egypt
[ mohamede1945 ]
Shihao Wang
China[ subchap ]
Kun Yang
China[ yext ]
Zhijie Liu
China
[ morehappiness ]
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Development Finalists
Favorite Movie: Forest GumpFavorite Book: "Founder" by Qiang Wang
Favorite Fictional Character: Ziv Zulander from "The Bots Master"
Favorite Color: PurpleFavorite Game Outside of TopCoder: Pro Evolution Soccer
Favorite Food: Rice
I’m a trustworthy software engineer from one of the world's most beautiful city, Guilin. I love the computer, a big fan of
soccer and Internazionale football club at Italy.
Jinghua Hu
China[ Zulander ]
November 10 – 14, 2013 at the Capital Hilton, Washington D.C.http://community.topcoder.com/tco13/
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Studio Competition
OverviewTopCoder Studio challenges top creative talent from around the world to present their best concepts to clients searching for new design solutions. Designers compete in engaging design contests for cash prizes, along with placement points that accumulate for the opportunity to win larger cash awards in our monthly Studio Cup and annual TCO tournaments. Competi-tions include logo design, web design, software front-end UI, print design and more.
By tapping into a pool of creative people with multiple specialties, our clients bene�t from new approaches and innovative concepts from a global community. Our competitors are here not just to win prizes, but to learn new skills, consult with peers, and earn the chance to be called one of the best designers in the world.
TCO12The 2012 TopCoder Open Studio online round included three 10-week “Periods” of design competitions covering a wide range of web, mobile app, software UI and graphic design challenges. There were more than 200 online TCO-eligible competitions that awarded points to the top �ve placements. At the end of each Online Round Period, the top 4 competitors with the most points were eligible to compete at the onsite TCO12 Championships.
This year, the Studio Championships will consist of three design Rounds in which all Finalists will compete. Unlike last year, the Rounds will not be scored as semi�nal rounds, but will rather be a series of progressive rounds leading up to the Final Championship Round, where all Finalists will again compete.
At the start of each Round, the Finalists are given the same design challenge speci�cations and select tools they need to complete their designs. Once each Round of the competition ends, the �nal designs are judged and scored.
The judges will also provide feedback to each Finalist after the �rst and second Round so that they may improve their designs in the next round. (This is the same process our contest holders and competitors go through in most Studio contests.) The feedback will be available in the forum for each competitor to review.
At the beginning of Round 2 and the Championship Round, the Finalists and the spectators will also be shown the placements chosen by the judges from the previous Round. These placements are not used in determining the Final Championship Round, but are merely a way to show who is ahead based on the designs from the previous Round. These scores are not carried over to the Final Round. The Finalist with the most points from the Final Championship Round will be the 2012 TopCoder Open Studio Champion.
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Studio Guest Judges
Melissa Foetsch is a User Experience Design practitioner based in the Greater New York City area. She is currently the lead Information Architect for IBM's Global Cloud Computing Innovation team. Prior to joining the Cloud team, Melissa was key member of the ibm.com visual design and information architecture standards team.
In addition to working within technology organizations, Melissa spent many years working at a digital branding agency working her way up the ranks from designer to interactive design director.
Melissa earned her degree in Graphic Design from the Hartford Art School in Hartford Connecticut.
Nathan McClain has been working in the creative arts for nearly 15 years with experience in digital media, advertising, print making, and photography. Nathan's favorite pastimes are engaging in conversation beyond his capacity and setting land speed records.
In his spare time he has a rewarding career at Arc Worldwide as a creative director. Arc believes "that everything that matters begins and ends with People and Behavior. We seek to identify a human behavior at the root. We believe creativity has the power to transform that human behavior. Or simply - we move people." Arc Worldwide is the marketing arm of the Leo Burnett Corporation with clients ranging from Coca-Cola. Procter & Gamble, Allstate, Blackberry, Miller-Coors, and many others.
Christina Hamlin is a Project Manager at a large consult-ing �rm focusing on Mobile innovation. She is currently immersed in developing tools for tablets and mobile devices with a focus on design and user experience. Christina holds degrees in graphic design and art history, and has spent many years in both the software and design agency industries.
Melissa Foetsch New York City, USA
Nathan McClain Chicago, USA
Christina Hamlin Michigan, USA
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Studio Competition Bracket
Final
Studio Champion
[ Darak ]
[ djackmania ]
[ fairy_ley ]
[ FxStudio ]
[ iamtong ]
[ oninkxronda ]
[ thinkcreeper ]
[ Trial_and_Error ]
[ yoki ]
Grand Prize : $15,000
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Studio Finalists
Favorite Movie: Lion KingFavorite Book: - Favorite Fictional Character: Anakin SkywalkerFavorite Color: BlackFavorite Game Outside of TopCoder: NFSFavorite Food: Sego Pecel (Javanese Salad)
I’m a Javanese man with two kids, easy going and cool :) and I LOVE INDONESIA.
Favorite Movie: La Vitta e BellaFavorite Book: "Sophie's World" by Jostein Gaarder
Favorite Fictional Character: Luke SkywalkerFavorite Color: Blue
Favorite Game Outside of TopCoder: Assasin's CreedFavorite Food: Pizza
Hello, my name is Daniela. I live in Transylvania, Romania. I am an engineer who loves to design 2D and 3D art. I am
usually a funny and curious person, like to read about lots of things: philosophy, science, mythology and psychology. As
a true vampire from Dracula's land, I like to party and explore other territories.
Favorite Movie: Pursuit of happinessFavorite Book: Object Oriented ProgrammingFavorite Fictional Character: SupermanFavorite Color: GreenFavorite Game Outside of TopCoder: D.O.T.A.Favorite Food: Pollo con Panna e Funghi
I`m Rares, 27 y.o, born and raised in a beautiful city in Romania called Sibiu. I`m a friendly person, and when I`m not glued to the front of my computer I do anything that makes me feel like I’m ALIVE. As a true geek, my main passions are split in the areas of design (2D/3D CG Graphics ), photography, and programming; but don't be fooled, when at night - I can be quite the party-animal
Favorite Movie: Happy Feet, Ratatouile and other 3d animation movie
Favorite Book: Glass MaskFavorite Fictional Character: Masumi Hayami
Favorite Color: Sky blue, baby pink, and other bright colorsFavorite Game Outside of TopCoder: Monopoly
Favorite Food: Moslem food or Halal food
I'm an ordinary girl who lives in Medan Indonesia and I’ve been interested to art since I was child. I don't talk too much
because I’m too busy doing my hobby.
Daniela Praţia
Romania[ DaraK ]
Faridah Amalia Mandaga
Indonesia[ fairy_ley ]
Rareş Neamţiu
Romania[ FxStudio ]
Tri Joko Rubiyanto
Indonesia[ djackmania ]
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Studio FinalistsFavorite Movie: AvatarFavorite Book: Simplify And Live the Good LifeFavorite Fictional Character: Sherlock HolmesFavorite Color: (Humana) Core GreenFavorite Game Outside of TopCoder: NBA 2KFavorite Food: Asian Dishes
I am a nice and friendly person and easy to get along with. I am very passionate about creative design and how it evolves with the latest technology. I can consider myself as a hardworking and a positive person. I'm enjoying life and grateful for all these blessings. I have faith in God and am compassionate to others. I love to play with my kids and I'm TRYING to spend more of my time with my family than on my computer.
Favorite Movie: Shawshank RedemptionFavorite Book: The Vinci CodeFavorite Fictional Character: SupermanFavorite Color: OrangeFavorite Game Outside of TopCoder: NBA2k12Favorite Food: Shrimp and Squid
I am a quiet and simple guy from Manila. My passion for the arts started as early as 8 years old when I used to draw comic strips at the back pages of my school notebook. This led me to decide on taking a Bachelor of Science degree in Fine Arts during college. I have also a great passion in Music. I play the guitar and I am a self-confessed hard rock, heavy metal fan.
Favorite Movie: PonyoFavorite Book: South of the border, West of the sun
Favorite Fictional Character: Bear BrickFavorite Color: Ferguson Blue :P
Favorite Game Outside of TopCoder: PS3 Winning ElevenFavorite Food: Thai Dishes
I'm a designer from Chiangmai, Northern Thailand.... though I'm not getting any younger, I keep my designs fresh &
modern.
Favorite Movie: Spiderman 3, Inception, The Dark Knight Rises
Favorite Book: -Favorite Fictional Character: Max Payne, Bruce Wayne
Favorite Color: Black, Blue, GreyFavorite Game Outside of TopCoder: Scrabble, Tic Tac Toe
Favorite Food: Moslem food or Halal food
My name is Subhansyah Yushan, i came from Indonesia and I live in Medan, the capital city of North Sumatera Province.
TCO12 is my 2nd onsite competition and I'm very excited.
Teeraporn Sriponpak
Thailand[ iamtong ]
Subhansyah Yushan
Indonesia[ thinkcreeper ]
Nino Rey Ronda
Philippines[ oninkxronda ]
Paul Emerson Guevara
Philippines
[ Trial_and_Error ]
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Studio Finalists
Favorite Movie: The SimpsonsFavorite Book: Never Ending Story
Favorite Fictional Character: SupermanFavorite Color: Blue
Favorite Game Outside of TopCoder: Resident EvilFavorite Food: Kupang Lontong
"Hi, Nice to meet you".. I'm an easy going person, friendly, I like to hear stories, and love to hear jokes. Basically I really
like get to know someone I've never met.
Yoki Tyas Riesmana
Indonesia[ yoki ]
Vote for the 2012 TopCoder Open Spirit Award!
The Spirit Award, started in memory of TopCoder member [ victor_lxd ], who passed away unexpectedly in September 2006, and lives on in memory of all TopCoder members we
have lost. The Spirit Award is voted on by all onsite TCO12 members and will be presented to the onsite competitor who best exemplifies the spirit of cooperation, respect, support,
and overall positive contribution to the TopCoder community.
At the TopCoder registration booth, please nominate the member you believe should be awarded the 2012 Spirit Award. All nominations are anonymous and should be submitted
by noon on Wednesday, October 3, 2012. The winner will be announced on Wednesday, October 3, 2012 during the awards ceremony.
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Mod Dash Competition + Bracket
Final
Mod Dash Champion
OverviewThe 2012 TopCoder Open Mod Dash Competition ran online from March through July. Competitors completed more than 300 tasks and earning over 6,000 TCO points. The top twelve competitors with the highest points after the online round get to compete in the onsite Championship!
The onsite Mod Dash Championship will consist of three rounds. In each round competitors will be presented with a series of problems to solve, including bug �xes, enhancements, and test case generation. All competitors will compete on the same task, and the �rst Onsite Mod Dash Competitor to successfully complete the task will win the points for that task.
All competitors will then move on to compete on the next task. The process will continue until there are no more tasks, or the Round ends. At the end of the three rounds, the competitor with the most points will be the 2011 TopCoder Open Mod Dash Champion!
[ Fanazhe ]
[ FireIce ]
[ flexme ]
[ hohosky ]
[ izhari ]
[ LieutenantRoger ]
[ notpad ]
[ PE ]
[ supercharger ]
[ wz12 ]
[ Yeung ]
[ Zulander ]
Grand Prize : $10,000
25
Mod Dash Finalists
Favorite Movie: Still To FindFavorite Book: Romance of the Three Kingdoms)Favorite Fictional Character: Monkey D. Lu�yFavorite Color: BlueFavorite Game Outside of TopCoder: Diablo IIIFavorite Food: Chinese Food
The �rst time I heard about TopCoder was when I was in college. I tried several SRMs, but it turns out my algorithm skill is poor. Then I fell in love with software competitions, I joined Component development contests, then Design, Architecture, etc. Currently, I am involved in the Copilot role to help the success of every project I am copiloting.
Favorite Movie: SunshineFavorite Book: Three Body Trilogy
Favorite Fictional Character: Olivia DunhamFavorite Color: Green
Favorite Game Outside of TopCoder: MinesweeperFavorite Food: Dumpling
I'm a student from Zhejiang University, China. I'm also a retired member and a coach of my school's ACM/ICPC team.
I love playing piano, singing songs, and listening to many kinds of music. And I usually play football, go hiking and bicycling, because I think that sports can light up my life.
Favorite Movie: TrainspottingFavorite Book: The SnowballFavorite Fictional Character: Harry PorterFavorite Color: BlackFavorite Game Outside of TopCoder: SoccerFavorite Food: Ramen
I live in China, and am working in a company I cofounded as CTO. The company focuses on the stock market and algorithm trading. In my spare time, I played soccer, swimming, and computer games for fun. I also like traveling.
Favorite Movie: TransformersFavorite Book: The song of ice and �re
Favorite Fictional Character: Strike freedom GundamFavorite Color: Blue
Favorite Game Outside of TopCoder: SwimmingFavorite Food: Potato
I started competing in TopCoder Software tracks two years ago, and this is my third time going to TCO. Because I will
graduate next year this year was a hard time for me to advance as a TCO �nalist. I didn’t have much time so I
focused on the Mod Dash in the second session. Finally I succeeded. :)
China
Yuzhe Fan
[ Fanazhe ]
Guiqiang Zhang
China[ FireIce ]
Kun Chen
China[ flexme ]
China[ hohosky ]
Kan Luo
26
Mod Dash Finalists
Favorite Movie: The Lord of the RingsFavorite Book: Hacker and PainterFavorite Fictional Character: NARUTOFavorite Color: PurpleFavorite Game Outside of TopCoder: Defence Of The AccentFavorite Food: Shrimp
I'm an easy going person, love the feeling of achieving something, and I like to communicate with all of you. It will be nice to meet you. :)
Favorite Movie: Pursuit of HappynessFavorite Book: Design Patterns Elements of Reusable
Object-Oriented SoftwareFavorite Fictional Character: Wolverine
Favorite Color: WhiteFavorite Game Outside of TopCoder: Football Manager
Favorite Food: Sate Matang
I'm from Peureulak, a small town in Aceh, Indonesia. I'm pursuing my master degree at University of Sumatera Utara
majoring Computer Science and my concentration is in algorithms. My favorite activities are competing on online
programming contest including SRMs, playing badminton, watching football match, and spend time with my friends.
Favorite Movie: The Shawshank RedemptionFavorite Book: Arsène LupinFavorite Fictional Character: DoraemonFavorite Color: BlueFavorite Game Outside of TopCoder: Playing CardsFavorite Food: Noodle
I’m a bit fat, responsible, patient, hard working, and optimistic. I was a champion 3 times and have earned second place 3 times in the past 6 onsite events.
Favorite Movie: Forrest GumpFavorite Book: The Count of Monte Cristo
Favorite Fictional Character: GumpFavorite Color: Blue
Favorite Game Outside of TopCoder: PopkartFavorite Food: Scrambled Egg with Tomato
I am not a clever guy, but I believe in two things that will lead me to success -- curiosity and persistence.
Izhari Ishak Aksa
Indonesia[ izhari ]
Weixuan Liu
China[ notpad ]
Ninghai Huang
China[ PE ]
Deng Jun
China
[ LieutenantRoger ]
27
Mod Dash Finalists
Favorite Movie: InceptionFavorite Book: Romance of the Three KingdomsFavorite Fictional Character: WukongFavorite Color: WhiteFavorite Game Outside of TopCoder: Outward BoundFavorite Food: Chicken
I come from Wenzhou, study in Hangzhou and now live in Beijing (^_^ a little complicated). I have just completed my postgraduate study in Hangzhou Dianzi University, China. Now, I'm employed by Baidu Inc. I love traveling, music, and sports.
Favorite Movie: Top GunFavorite Book: Lord of the Rings
Favorite Fictional Character: BatmanFavorite Color: Violet
Favorite Game Outside of TopCoder: SoccerFavorite Food: Hyderabadi Biriyani
I am from Hyderabad, India. I constantly try to learn new things and do new things. I like reading, playing poker,
beaches, traveling and competing at the TopCoder. I love to do kart racing and watch movies in my free time.
Favorite Movie: noneFavorite Book: none
Favorite Fictional Character: noneFavorite Color: Blue
Favorite Game Outside of TopCoder: CivilizationFavorite Food: Seafood, sushi
My name is Yang Li and I am from China. I become the active member of TopCoder since 2007. Right now,
TopCoder is my main income resource.
Favorite Movie: Forest GumpFavorite Book: "Founder" by Qiang WangFavorite Fictional Character: Ziv Zulander from "The Bots Master"Favorite Color: PurpleFavorite Game Outside of TopCoder: Pro Evolution SoccerFavorite Food: Rice
I’ve been competing in the TopCoder development track for years; creating software solutions for various famous companies. Most of them are web based and others are mobile client applications. It's a pleasure that the clients love our software.
Jinghua Hu
China[ Zulander ]
Pratap Koritala
India[ supercharger ]
Yang LI
China[ Yeung ]
Li Zhuang
China[ wz12 ]
28
Meet the Bloggers
Do you have a nickname (not TC handle)? What does it mean?The closest thing I have to a nickname is vexorian. It was invented randomly and does not really have an intentional meaning, but the v comes from my real name. I guess I like the letter x.
What did you do in TC before becoming a blogger? What were (are, why not?) your usual activities in the community?I just started with algorithm contests. The very �rst time, I was lucky to actually earn a (small) money prize and it got me hooked for life. Later I kept trying to improve and get better in algorithm skills.At one point, I found out that people were getting paid for writing problem sets. Some how I loved the idea. I worked hard to reach 1500 rating (the requirement to write problems). So I signed up as a problem setter. I waited a whole year before being approved and more months before actually being the writer of a match. But it was fun. So I kept trying to write more contests. Eventually, I also found out I like to write editorials - articles explaining how to solve a contest. That has become my main role in this community as there are many times in which I am the only one available to write them.
What are the things you like about blogging for TCO? your favorite ones.I like algorithms, thus my favorite blogger task is to talk about the algorithm rounds and try to explain the problems as well as how I tried to approach them.
Do you think you have faced challenges for doing the blog? Why?As the algorithm tracks become more scarce, I am running out of ideas to do in the blog and there is an expected amount of posts per month. Will need to be more creative.
Do you have a nickname (not TC handle)? What does it mean?Uncle Buttkicker. Apparently, this is hilarious to an eight year-old. Now that I think about it, that would not be a bad TopCoder handle either.
What did you do in TC before becoming a blogger? What were (are, why not?) your usual activities in the community?I have been a member for nearly ten years. I have competed in over 200 Algorithm matches, about 50 Marathon matches and one Studio idea generation contest. I have written problems for four algorithm matches and one marathon match. I have been problem tester and editor for many algorithm and a few marathon matches including many of the member SRMs and several on-site problems. I think I have attended eight previous TopCoder on-site events. This is my third time blogging for TopCoder, I think that is a record.
What don't you like about blogging for TCO? (yeah, besides having a lot of spam in comments)It takes a lot of time. It is hard to do everything in a timely manner (I still haven't done the requested introduction post!). Once you get on site, it keeps you very busy. There is little time to relax. I like to watch the screens of the contestants when on-site and try to keep track of everything happening in the contest, but that is much harder when you also are writing about it at the same time.
Do you think you have faced challenges for doing the blog? Why?I pretty much have one foot in the grave so everything is a challenge.
You have been at TCOs before, describe this event using only three words Eurekalicous, Futuretastic, Competicitement
Do you have a nickname (not TC handle)? What does it mean?Is “nice guy” a nickname? I don’t think so, but many people keep saying that to me, must be a nickname or something.
What did you do in TC before becoming a blogger? What were (are, why not?) your usual activities in the community?I started at TopCoder as most of registrants, as a competitor. I started with algorithms, since I wasn’t super fast like those top ranked super talented algo writers I moved to a brand new track named Studio (2007). I fell in love with it, especially after attending my �rst onsite TCO. I had the chance to compete three years in a row onsite and transform all of that experience into good knowledge for then becoming a Studio copilot. Nowadays I compete when I have some spare time and keep a consistent copilot performance since this year.
What are the things you like about blogging for TCO? your favorite onesThere are so many things; blogging is very fun and entertaining to me, it’s like a way to release some ideas using words, and hopefully inform the readers catching their attention through fun facts. I like to share any interesting stu� with the TC community. I like to think that the readers enjoy learning new things with my posts. It’s really nice to write for TopCoder, I’m very thankful for that.
You have been at TCOs before, describe this event using only three wordsYes, this would be my �fth time. TopCoder Open is: fantastic, superb and repeatable
Do you have a nickname (not TC handle)? What does it mean?It is "Abu Abdurrahman" - it is called "Kunya" in arabic, it is an honori�c name, as the father or mother of certain persons (usually the eldest son), in my case I have one 6-months old son "Abdurrahman" so they call me "Abu Abdurrahman".
What did you do in TC before becoming a blogger? What were (are, why not?) your usual activities in the community?I started to do TC as full time job in summer of 2007, I started to compete in development tracks, then in late of 2010 I switched to do Copiloting, and I do it as full-time job as well.
What are the things you like about blogging for TCO? your favorite onesTo interview top designers and developers. And getting the chance to attend TCO onsite ;)
If you were a conscious zombie who in the world would you eat �rst and why?This is a bloody question :) I would assume Zombies will be everywhere during that times, so I think I would eat anyone trying to harm or eat any member of my family :).
What would you do if you win one million dollars? Would you spend it? How?I would buy a house near the beach, buy a boat, then start up a software development company in the middle east and use TopCoder platform to manage my projects! Oh yeah, I am TC addict.
If you had the chance to pick your own super powers what would they be and why?I'd have to say Cloning, Teleporting and teaming up with a tailed beast, I am a Naruto Fan! :)
Victor Soliz [vexorian]Bolivia
TopC
oder
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200
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TopC
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mem
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200
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TopC
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mem
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Chuck Grant[Rustyoldman]USA
Luis Millán [mahestro]Venezuela
Ahmad Alkhawaja [elkhawajah]Jordan
30
Algorithm Competition
TopCoder Algorithm Competitions are fast-paced contests designed to �nd and reward the fastest and most accurate coder. Each round is broken into three main parts: the Coding Phase, the Challenge Phase, and the System Testing Phase.
The Coding Phase tasks competitors with solving 3 problems of increasing di�culty in 85 minutes. Competitors gain points for their submissions based on how fast they solve each problem.
During the Challenge Phase coders can submit inputs that attempt to “break” another coder’s submission by looking for potential bugs. Successful challenges reward the challenger with extra points.
Once the Challenge Phase is over a series of System Tests is run on each program to determine correctness. After System Tests are �nished the results are displayed on the Arena scoreboard and the winners are declared.
The Algorithm Completion has long been the heart of the TCO for most members. "Algorithms" was the �rst competition track established and the only track available for many years at TopCoder. Each year, thousands of competitors enter the grueling multi-stage on-line elimination process that selects the competitors for the onsite �nals. This year's competition was a mixed and surprising combination of problem types: some problems solved quickly by many, some solved slowly by a few, and one problem was even too tough for any to �nish correctly. We have seen problems with very high (more than 85%) success rates as well as pretty tricky problems with over 100 submissions where approximately each 2 out of 3 solutions failed. With all the uncertainty, the challenge phase has been an important factor in success. The onsite rounds this year are expected to be every bit as exciting as the online rounds were, as we �nd who among the 24 �nalists will be the 2012 TopCoder Open Algorithm champion.
Overview
31
Algorithm Competition Bracket
[ Burunduk1 ]
[ Dmitry_Egorov]
[ dzhulgakov ]
[ kalinov ]
[ Kankuro ]
[ marcina007 ]
[ marek.cygan ]
[ meret ]
[ pieguy ]
[ shangjingbo ][ wata ]
[ andrewzta]
Final
Semi�nal 1 Semi�nal 2
Wildcard
Algorithm Champion
Top 3 from each Semi�nal, Top 2 from Wildcard
Placings 4 through 7 from each Semi�nal
[ [[iwi]] ]
[ ACRush ]
[ Dlougach]
[ dolphinigle]
[ Egor ]
[ exod40 ]
[ PaulJefferys ]
[ RAVEman]
[ sdya]
[ SergeiFedorov ][ theycallhimtom ]
[_Romka_ ]
Grand Prize : $15,000
32
Algorithm Finalists
Favorite Movie: Back to the futureFavorite Book: Harry PotterFavorite Fictional Character: Harry PotterFavorite Color: BlueFavorite Game Outside of TopCoder: BilliardsFavorite Food: Chicken
I am a student of the Belarusian State University. I like to play board games, sports and programming. I like Python programming language very much. I work at the Yandex and enjoy my job.
Favorite Movie: The Fast and the Furious �lm seriesFavorite Book: Algorithm C
Favorite Fictional Character: Battle Programmer ShiraseFavorite Color: Dark blue
Favorite Game Outside of TopCoder: Unreal Tournament (UT99)
Favorite Food: Sushi
I became a programming-contest addict when I entered university, and that is how I spent almost all my free time of
the �rst two years at my university. I'm a 2nd year master's degree student at the University of Tokyo and belong to the
same laboratory as wata.
Favorite Movie: Back to the FutureFavorite Book: Lord of the RingsFavorite Fictional Character: GandalfFavorite Color: GreenFavorite Game Outside of TopCoder: Settlers of CatanFavorite Food: Steak
I started participating in TopCoder in 2005. My best year was 2007 when I advanced to TCO and TCCC and participated in both �nals. Then I had a brief decent and now I'm excited to attend TCO again.
Favorite Movie: God of GamblersFavorite Book: Romance of Three Kingdoms
Favorite Fictional Character: Xu Jia(In Romance of Three Kingdoms)
Favorite Color: GreenFavorite Game Outside of TopCoder: Texas hold'em Poker
Favorite Food: Dumplings
I'm Tiancheng Lou, from China. Currently, I'm a Ph.D student at IIIS, Tsinghua University supervised by Professor Andrew
Chi-chih Yao. My research interests lie in the area of social network. I will join Google this October.
Takuya Akiba
Japan[ [[iwi]] ]
Tiancheng Lou
China[ ACRush ]
Andrew Stankevich
Russia[ andrewzta ]
Roman Udovichenko
Belarus
[ _Romka_ ]
[[iwi]]
33
Algorithm Finalists
Favorite Movie: Scoop (by Woody Allen)Favorite Book: Labyrinths of Echo (by Max Frei)Favorite Fictional Character: Severus SnapeFavorite Color: Dark red and light blueFavorite Game Outside of TopCoder: Diablo 3 Favorite Food: - Northern Italian and Swiss
After school, I thought I liked Physics, but in my �rst year at university I realized I was mistaken. However I studied physics for 4 years though I studied Computer Science myself all that time. Now I am starting my second year on Master's degree in mathematics. For over 2 years I have been singing in an amateur university "Theatre of Early Music", and taking singing lessons.
Favorite Movie: Groundhog DayFavorite Book: Waves Extinguish Wind (authors are brothers
Strugatsky)Favorite Fictional Character: Harry Potter
Favorite Color: Blue, OrangeFavorite Game Outside of TopCoder: Volleyball
Favorite Food: Chocolate
Hello, I'm from Russia, from Saint-Petersburg. I've learned mathematics and computer science for some years. I like to
dance and to play volleyball.
Favorite Movie: Head in the cloudsFavorite Book: War and peace
Favorite Fictional Character: Sherlok HolmesFavorite Color:Black
Favorite Game Outside of TopCoder: UltimateFavorite Food: Borsch
I was born on February 23 in St.Petersburg, national Defender of the Fatherland Day. I have lived in this
magni�cent city all my life. I study at St.Petersburg State University, degree in mathematics. I like di�erent active
forms of recreation, for example, paintball.
Favorite Movie: NoneFavorite Book: One PieceFavorite Fictional Character: Sherlock HolmesFavorite Color: BlackFavorite Game Outside of TopCoder: Dance Dance RevolutionFavorite Food: Salmon Sushi
I performed quite well in TopCoder, once I reached 2970 here. But I'm more proud of my accomplishments as a writer, as I try to achieve perfection in every of my sets. I've never been to TopCoder Open, so this is my �rst and I'm quite excited! I love the community and this is where I got my Facebook o�er from.
Irvan Jahja
Indonesia[ dolphinigle ]
Sergey Kopeliovich
Russia[ Burunduk1 ]
Dmitry Egorov
Russia[ Dmitry_Egorov ]
Jacob Dlougach
Russia[ Dlougach ]
34
Algorithm Finalists
Favorite Movie: Election day (День выборов)Favorite Book: Lord of the ringsFavorite Fictional Character: Rand Al'TorFavorite Color: GreenFavorite Game Outside of TopCoder: Football (soccer)Favorite Food: Steak
Born in Yaeoslavl, I graduated from Moscow State University and now work for Yandex in St. Petersburg. Aside from work I play football, chess and, of course, participate in programming competitions
Favorite Movie: Pulp FictionFavorite Book: Lord of the Rings
Favorite Fictional Character: Sherlock HolmesFavorite Color: #7FB000
Favorite Game Outside of TopCoder: Codeforces :)Favorite Food: Napoleon cake
I am from Kharkiv, one of the main educational and scienti�c centers in Ukraine. This year I obtained Master’s
degree in Applied mathematics at Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute. Now I am Software Engineer at Facebook in Menlo
Park, California. As for hobbies, I really enjoy travelling and photography – so thanks to TCO, I can visit Florida!
Favorite Movie: Forrest GumpFavorite Book: Introduction to AlgorithmsFavorite Fictional Character: GandalfFavorite Color: GreenFavorite Game Outside of TopCoder: StarcraftFavorite Food: Sarma
Hello, I'm Luka and I come from a small country on the Mediterranean coast. I'm a software engineer by profession and currently work at Google in Zurich, Switzerland. My hobbies include cycling, traveling, guitar, singing, eating and sleeping.
Favorite Movie: Forrest GumpFavorite Book: The Little Prince
Favorite Fictional Character: JesusFavorite Color: Green
Favorite Game Outside of TopCoder: TennisFavorite Food: Patatnik
I am the youngest honorary citizen of my town and I've been a candidate for the city council of my town. I also like
sports and hanging out with my friends.
Dmytro Dzhulgakov
Ukraine[ dzhulgakov ]
Rumen Hristov
Bulgaria[ exod40 ]
Luka Kalinovcic
Croatia[ kalinov ]
Egor
Russia
[ Egor ]
35
Algorithm Finalists
Favorite Movie: Requiem for a DreamFavorite Book: Farewell to AutumnFavorite Fictional Character: Winnie-the-PoohFavorite Color: YellowFavorite Game Outside of TopCoder: Total AnnihilationFavorite Food: Pancakes
I'm �nishing a master's degree in Computer Science at the University of Warsaw. I'm interested in algorithmics and cryptography. In my spare time I like hiking, snowboard-ing and travelling.
Favorite Movie: The Dark Knight RisesFavorite Book: A Song of Ice and Fire
Favorite Fictional Character: SpidermanFavorite Color: Green
Favorite Game Outside of TopCoder: DotA 2Favorite Food: Beef Jerky
My name is Vladislav Epifanov. I am 20 years old. I am a student of Nizhny Novgorod State University, Mechanics
and Mathematics Faculty. I like programming contests, football, movies and computer games.
Favorite Movie: TakenFavorite Book: Misery
Favorite Fictional Character: Bryan MillsFavorite Color: it depends
Favorite Game Outside of TopCoder: Sport activities in general
Favorite Food: Polish cuisine
My name is Marek Cygan. I have recently received my PhD at the University of Warsaw, Poland and currently I am a postdoc at the Universtity of Lugano, Switzerland. I am
married to my wonderful wife Agata and we are both coming to Florida.
Favorite Movie: KilerFavorite Book: SteppenwolfFavorite Fictional Character: GedFavorite Color: BlueFavorite Game Outside of TopCoder: SoccerFavorite Food: Spaghetti
I started competing in TC at the beginning of 2008. However, I only participated in a few TC and TCHS competitions before 2010. In TCHS 2010 I took 6th place and I became a target during TCO10. Now is the �rst time I quali�ed for the TCO onsite �nals.
Jakub Pachocki
Poland[ meret ]
Vladislav Epifanov
Russia[ Kankuro ]
Marek Cygan
Poland[ marek.cygan ]
Marcin Andrychowicz
Poland[ marcina007 ]
36
Algorithm Finalists
Favorite Movie: Avatar (though I must admit, I haven't actually seen Avatar)Favorite Book: KnuthFavorite Fictional Character: Stephen ColbertFavorite Color: targetFavorite Game Outside of TopCoder: Chip's Challenge (TopCoder is a game???)Favorite Food: PIE!!!
Last year's TCO had a surprising impact on my life. I was not looking for a job, but I met the CEO of MemSQL at the onsite �nals, and he convinced me to meet and have lunch with the team. The same day I interviewed and then signed.
Favorite Movie: MatrixFavorite Book: Harry Potter
Favorite Fictional Character: Harry PotterFavorite Color: Blue
Favorite Game Outside of TopCoder: GCJFavorite Food: Fajitas
I’m 25 and having the time of my life. I graduated from Cambridge with a degree in Mathematics and now live in
London solving cool Math problems for my day job. I’m dating a beautiful young lady who is even smarter than me
and happens to think that spending occasional weekends doing programming contests is totally cool.
Favorite Movie: InceptionFavorite Book: Gulliver's TravelsFavorite Fictional Character: Harry PotterFavorite Color: BlackFavorite Game Outside of TopCoder: BasketballFavorite Food: Potatoes
I like to participate in di�erent kinds of programming competitions. I study math at Kharkiv National University and will get Bachelor's degree in spring 2013. So I spend most of my time studying or programming, but when I have free time I like to play basketball and spending time with my friends.
Favorite Movie: The Lord of the RingsFavorite Book: Deception Point
Favorite Fictional Character: House M.D.Favorite Color: Green
Favorite Game Outside of TopCoder: BasketballFavorite Food: Meat
My biggest accomplishment is advancing to the Marathon Finals last year, after competing in just 3 matches (all
quali�cation rounds). On the other hand it took me more than 6 years to �nally advance to the Algorithms Finals.
Paul Jefferys
United kingdom[ PaulJefferys ]
Anton Raichuk
Ukraine[ RAVEman ]
Dmytro Soboliev
Ukraine[ sdya ]
David Stolp
USA
[ pieguy ]
37
Algorithm Finalists
Favorite Movie: InceptionFavorite Book: - The art of programming LanguageFavorite Fictional Character: PrimeFavorite Color: RedFavorite Game Outside of TopCoder: DotAFavorite Food: Fish
I am interesting in algorithm and math, also sports. I am glad to meet new friends from the world
Favorite Movie: PrestigeFavorite Book: Fahrenheit 451
Favorite Fictional Character: Sherlok HolmesFavorite Color: Green
Favorite Game Outside of TopCoder: FootballFavorite Food: Co�ee
Hi! My name is Sergey Fedorov. I am from Russia. I was born in the Saratov, it is rather small city on the river Volga. After high-school I moved to Moscow to study math in Moscow State University. I like sport, football and volleyball mostly.
Also I enjoy watching movies, this is one of my favorite hobbies.
Favorite Movie: The Dark KnightFavorite Book: Childhood's End
Favorite Fictional Character: Havelock VetinariFavorite Color: Green
Favorite Game Outside of TopCoder: SoccerFavorite Food: New York Pizza
I'm extremely competitive. Almost all of my hobbies are some form of competition. I'm usually the guy yelling at the
referee in a soccer game, but I'm laid back outside of a competition.
Favorite Movie: HolmesFavorite Book: TopCoder CookbookFavorite Fictional Character: SherlockFavorite Color: RedFavorite Game Outside of TopCoder: CodeforcesFavorite Food: Sushi
I am a master's student of the University of Tokyo. I wrote a book for programming competitions with my friends [[iwi]] and kita_masa two years ago.
Yoichi Iwata
Japan[ wata ]
Sergey Fedorov
Russia[ SergeiFedorov ]
Tom Conerly
United States[ theycallhimtom ]
Jingbo Shang
China
[ shangjingbo ]
38
Marathon Competition
OverviewMarathon Match events are tests of endurance as competitors are tasked with submitting and re�ning solutions to problems with no optimal answer. These competitions last weeks, during which people are constantly submitting new solutions for scoring.
Each round works in the same way. The competitors are given a description of the problem to solve and several example test cases. Competitors may submit their solutions against the example cases for debugging and analysis as well as comparison with the results of local tests. Once they are happy with a submission they may submit it against a series of unknown test cases. Their solution is scored against these cases and is added to the leader board. Competitors will know where they stand on the leader board, but not how they did on individual test cases.
Once the submission phase is over the competitor solutions are run against a new set of test cases, often numbering into the thousands. The scores are then calculated and a winner is declared. It is not uncommon for a competitor to move up or down the leader board on the more exhaustive system tests so the �nal results can be very exciting as competitors �nally learn how they did.
This year TCO participants had:
- to make tiles on a board form a connected �gure using the fewest amount of row/column shift operations;- to construct the longest chain in a certain tile game where each next tile was available only after the previous one was placed;- to divide a set of cakes between a number of guests according to their preferences by cutting the cakes into pieces and maintaining the connectivity of each piece.
Yet the most thrilling part of the competition waits for them in the �nal round, where the pressure increases since the competitors will be given only 12 hours to solve a problem.
39
Marathon Competition Bracket
Marathon Champion
Final
[ ACRush ]
[ ainu7 ]
[ blackmath ]
[ chokudai ]
[ colun]
[ hirosegolf ] [ wleite ]
[ Mojito1 ]
[ nhzp339 ]
[ Psyho ]
[ tomerun ]
[ wata ]
Grand Prize : $15,000
40
Marathon Finalists
Favorite Movie: Harry Potter SeriesFavorite Book: Sword Art OnlineFavorite Fictional Character: -Favorite Color: YellowFavorite Game Outside of TopCoder: TribalwarsFavorite Food: Ramen
I'm a programmer who likes to compete. If I was born more than 20 years ago, I don't know what I was to be.
Favorite Movie: God of GamblersFavorite Book: Romance of Three Kingdoms
Favorite Fictional Character: Xu Jia(In Romance of Three Kingdoms)
Favorite Color: GreenFavorite Game Outside of TopCoder: Texas Hold'em Poker
Favorite Food: Dumplings
I'm Tiancheng Lou, from China. Currently, I'm a Ph.D student at IIIS, Tsinghua University supervised by Professor
Andrew Chi-chih Yao. My research interests lie in the area of social network. I will join Google this October.
Favorite Movie: NoneFavorite Book: Programming Contest Challenge bookFavorite Fictional Character: JoteiFavorite Color: RedFavorite Game Outside of TopCoder: BaseballFavorite Food: Sushi
I'm chokudai. I love programming contests. I manage a website of programming contests.
Favorite Movie: Forrest GumpFavorite Book: Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid
Favorite Fictional Character: Sherlock HolmesFavorite Color: #EE0000
Favorite Game Outside of TopCoder: ChessFavorite Food: Italian
My name is Christoph and I'm looking forward to attending this year's TopCoder Open. Besides geek stu� (computer science, programming, math, playing board games) I like
photography, cooking, riding my bicycle and traveling. This is my �rst time going to Florida and I'm happy to spend a
few extra days there before and after the TCO.
Tiancheng Lou
China[ ACRush ]
Christoph Schwirzer
Germany[ blackmath ]
Naohiro Takahashi
Japan[ chokudai ]
Won-seok Yoo
South Korea[ ainu7 ]
41
Marathon Finalists
Favorite Movie: Back to the FutureFavorite Book: Permutation CityFavorite Fictional Character: EndoFavorite Color: all colorsFavorite Game Outside of TopCoder: Code golf by esoteric programming languageFavorite Food: Curry
I like mathematics, puzzles, games, and anything to make me think.
Favorite Movie: Back to the Future seriesFavorite Book: Comics
Favorite Fictional Character: Akemi HomuraFavorite Color: Red
Favorite Game Outside of TopCoder: Other Programming Competition
Favorite Food: Meat, Fish, Egg, Soybean, Milk, ... so I like high protein foods.
I am Web system engineer as a sole proprietor. I love programming contests as means of communication.
Favorite Movie: The 3Favorite Book: Encyclopedia
Favorite Fictional Character: Tsubasa OozoraFavorite Color: Fuchsia
Favorite Game Outside of TopCoder: FootballFavorite Food: Chicken
I started at TopCoder in 2004, but being too dumb for Algorithms I shifted to Marathons in 2008.
Favorite Movie: The Shawshank RedemptionFavorite Book: Three KingdomsFavorite Fictional Character: QiMing WangFavorite Color: BlueFavorite Game Outside of TopCoder: SoccerFavorite Food: Pancake
My daily life is quite simple besides work and study, some board games, sports and close friends. I am somewhat against the life style of mainstream in our country nowadays and think things are developing in incorrect directions. That's why it is quite indi�erent to me when more people around me think I'm a bit far from society.
Yasunobu Imamura
Japan[ colun ]
Mateusz Żotkiewicz
Poland[ Mojito1 ]
Xiaoshi Lu
China[ nhzp339 ]
Minoru Hirose
Japan[ hirosegolf ]
42
Marathon Finalists
Favorite Movie: I don't watch moviesFavorite Book: Fermat's Last Theorem : Simon SinghFavorite Fictional Character: Xin Shan Quan Favorite Color: Bluegreen #0090A8Favorite Game Outside of TopCoder: Rhythm Game Favorite Food: Japanese sweets
On TopCoder, I learned many things through algorithm competitions and communication with other contestants. Finally, I could be dual red coder and TCO �nalist after a challenging 4 years. On that long way, TopCoder has been my good teacher. Great thanks for continuous high-quality work of the TopCoder team.
Favorite Movie: Children of MenFavorite Book: I don't read :)
Favorite Fictional Character: Super Meat Boy!Favorite Color: Red
Favorite Game Outside of TopCoder: Diagram PuzzlesFavorite Food: Non-Vegetarian Fajitas
I've started competing 7 years ago and (...) here I'm now!
Favorite Movie: Black Hawk DownFavorite Book: The Lord of the RingsFavorite Fictional Character: Iron ManFavorite Color: BlueFavorite Game Outside of TopCoder: PokerFavorite Food: Pizza
I am a happy person because I can spend a lot of time doing what I like most: computer programming challenges, soccer (playing and watching), tennis and hanging out with my family and friends.
Favorite Movie: HolmesFavorite Book: TopCoder Cookbook
Favorite Fictional Character: SherlockFavorite Color: Red
Favorite Game Outside of TopCoder: CodeforcesFavorite Food: Sushi
I have participated in TCO for algorithm and marathon competitions since 2008. This year, I could become a �nalist
for both tracks.
Przemysław Dębiak
Poland[ Psyho ]
Yoichi Iwata
Japan[ wata ]
Wladimir Leite
Brazil[ wleite ]
Nobuaki Tanaka
Japan[ tomerun ]
43
2012 TopCoder Open Trip Winners
[ babyfox ]
[ soso0574 ]
[ babyfox ]
During the 2012 TopCoder Open we held a special opportunity for TopCoder Copilots, UI Prototype competitors, and Wireframe competitors. The top from each Period of the TCO12 won a trip to the onsite event.
Congratulations to our Trip winners!
2012 TopCoder Open Overall Point Winners
The following members won a trip to the TCO12 by scoring in the top 12 for the combined three periods of the Design and Development Competitions. Congratulations!
UI Prototype: Wireframe: [ systic ]
[ selvia_ettine ]
[ pichachui ]
Copilots: [ iRabbit ]
[ quesks ]
[ microwishing ]
[ nikolay83 ]
[ AleaActaEst ]
Design: Development: [ sparemax ]
[ GreatKevin ]
[ babyfox ]
[ isv ]
[ namanhams ]
TOPCODERADMINSThe TC member
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At our core, we’re a technology company applying our talents to the domain of investment management.
We’ve created a system that combines
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We’re a destination for the intellectually curious who want to learn, invent, create
Start a conversation. Please contact [email protected]
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