Performance and Test, Fall 2007 : The Contest
Instead of the lecture we launch a programming contest today. In the contest we ask you to solve two problems: Jolly Jumper (problem no. 110201) and Erdos numbers (problem no. 110206). The first of the problems is very easy, and it is meant to serve as a warm-up prequalification round, so that you can get used to the infrastracture. The second problem is the actual task. Performance of your solution to the second problem affects your ranking.
In order to participate in the contest your must solve both of the listed problems in Java code before 10:00 am Monday the 22th of October(!). Solved means that you have submitted a solution in Java and received a 'Solved' result.
The winner is chosen among the users(=groups) which have submitted a valid solution to both programs, based on the fastest solution to the 'Erdos Numbers' problem (the speed on Jolly Jumper does not count as long as it is good enough to pass the deadlines). The number of submission attempts and the time of the first successful submission has no effect on this ranking. The winner will receive a printed proof of everlasting fame and voucher of modest value that can be used at the ITU bookstore.
Even if you do not run for the prize, you should submit a solution to one of the given problems by 22th of October (10:00 am) (in some programming language)!. In order to run for the prize, you have to fullfil the requirements of the contest system.
We will be using the website Programming Challenges in order to evaluate the correctness and performance of your solutions. You need to register in order to read the task specification. Warning: Unfortunately the website has problems with firefox, so please try to use other browsers.
Please follow the above link and register a single user (of type 'Student') for your group. A group may consist of 1 or 2 students, and we encourage you to form groups of size 2. Since the system is designed for one person per user, you can simply use the first and last name fields for the full names of the first and second person in the group respectively.
Once you are logged in, click 'All classrooms' and locate and join the classroom named 'ITU-SPT-F07'. This classroom should now be available under Classrooms -> My classrooms. When you enter the classroom you will be presented with a list of the users in the classroom on the left and the problems to be solved on the right.
In order to be executed by the online judge, your code has to constructed for the purpose, by following the following rules:
The code must be Java 1.2 compliant (so no generics etc)
The input is to be read via System.in
The output is to be written to System.out
You may not use any public classes
The program must not make use of any file or network access java packages.
The entry point must be 'public static void main(String[] args)' in the class 'Main'.
All classes should be placed in the default package (since you can only submit a single file)
We have supplied a template Java file which can be obtained here. Another similar template is available on the programming challenges site but it relies on a very slow way to read the input from System.in and should therefore not be used unless you run into problems.
You cannot participate in the contest by submitting solutions in C/C++/Pascal (even though the website allows this) due to the problems in comparing benchmarks.
In order to submit your solution to a problem simply click submit next to the problem in question, fill out the form, and hit submit.
The result of a (Java) submission is one of the following judgments. Solved simply means that your submission acted as expected on the inputs tested (Congratulations!). Wrong Answer means that the program did not produce the expected output. This can be caused by a bug on your part giving a wrong answer, it can mean that your program threw an exception or even that your program did not have the correct entry point! It is important to understand that if you program compiles correctly and terminates within the time limit without giving the expected output, the judgement will always be 'Wrong Answer' no matter what caused the problem! Compilation error means that the judge couldnt compile your program, please read 'How to code your submission' carefully and then examine the compile error by clicking the submission number on 'STATS'. Finally you can receive Time Limit Exceeded, meaning that your program was terminated because it was too slow.
Regardless of the judgement the submission is added to your list of submission for the problem as can be viewed under 'STATS'. This is also the place to examine the time your program required as well as get details on compile errors etc.
Please work in two person groups. Keep your ethical standards at the highest possible level: work independently of other teams and sources of information (using the textbook, various notes, and Java literature is fair). Use our newsgroup (it-c.courses.SPT) to communicate with other groups and with Andrzej and the teaching assistants. We will monitor the group to answer questions. Please do not publish solutions or hints in the newsgroup! Publishing your time results and some test cases is allowed.
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Last updated Oct 05, 2007 12:05Peter Tiedemann, Andrzej Wąsowski |