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I don't think raw number explains the Chinese performance. India has a comparable population, arguably better positioned to do well in ACM (English-speaking cou

I don't think raw number explains the Chinese performance. India has a comparable population, arguably better positioned to do well in ACM (English-speaking country with a strong IT sector). However you don't see many Indian universities here. On interesting thing to note is the ACM World Final ranking usually doesn't correlate perfectly with perceived ranking of the school, even the ranking of its CS department. Another point is, ACM is fun, but if you purposefully train for it, you reach the point of diminishing return quickly. Being a former Olympiad in Informatics contestant (high school equivalent of ACM), I find these kind of competition absolutely not helpful in real world programming. It does help me pass the interviews. In China at least, ACM is perceived a way to prove oneself to potential graduate schools in America and employers. And I do know employers give very high priority to these students - even Google. So, the reason the Chinese is good at it is mostly, this is not a hobby, but a high stake exam. It is a way to land at prestigious graduate program or job. Why isn't the US, and why aren't top universities doing as well as we may think they would be? Because they have better options than ACM.

LiweiZ 10y ago
Totally got what you mean as a Chinese. I wish we had more truly skilled explorers than overwhelming number of ladder climbers.
- ignoramous 10y ago
  The Chinese will get there, if they haven't already. They have got top universities, the economy rivals Japan and Germany and soon the US; the tech powress is on display with giants like JW, Baidu, Ali Baba, Tencent making mockery of the competition. Not to leave out the hardware sector-- Lenovo, Acer, Asus, Xiaomi and countless other companies gaining market share from their US counterparts world wide... Are an overwhelming number of Chinese ladder climbers? I don't think so.
  - LiweiZ 10y ago
    Posting nice sales numbers does not equal to organic strength. On the other hand, numbers alone do not provide insights. I know many Chinese are feeling strong with just numbers since we did not have that kind of numbers for a long time. But we are still playing games invented by other explorers mainly in our backyard. We are so used to playing existing ones that numbers became the only thing matters. What is invention? Never thought of it. Sure, current Chinese elites can enjoy high life while having a decent way out. A nation not wanting to face its true weakness and strength is going nowhere.
blue11 10y ago
As a former participant in these types of competitions, I can confirm. The teams that win are the teams that practice extensively. Universities like St.Petersburg care a lot and have official programs for preparing for the ACM competition. The students care a lot too as the competition is a way for them to distinguish themselves. US universities, at least the top ones, don't care that much. American students have better things to do, as you said. If you look at a typical US university team, you'd see a lot of Chinese and Eastern European students that have done IOI in high school. Their advisor would be a professor who typically just signs the paperwork.

LiweiZ 10y ago

Totally got what you mean as a Chinese. I wish we had more truly skilled explorers than overwhelming number of ladder climbers.

ignoramous 10y ago
The Chinese will get there, if they haven't already. They have got top universities, the economy rivals Japan and Germany and soon the US; the tech powress is on display with giants like JW, Baidu, Ali Baba, Tencent making mockery of the competition. Not to leave out the hardware sector-- Lenovo, Acer, Asus, Xiaomi and countless other companies gaining market share from their US counterparts world wide... Are an overwhelming number of Chinese ladder climbers? I don't think so.
- LiweiZ 10y ago
  Posting nice sales numbers does not equal to organic strength. On the other hand, numbers alone do not provide insights. I know many Chinese are feeling strong with just numbers since we did not have that kind of numbers for a long time. But we are still playing games invented by other explorers mainly in our backyard. We are so used to playing existing ones that numbers became the only thing matters. What is invention? Never thought of it. Sure, current Chinese elites can enjoy high life while having a decent way out. A nation not wanting to face its true weakness and strength is going nowhere.

blue11 10y ago

As a former participant in these types of competitions, I can confirm. The teams that win are the teams that practice extensively. Universities like St.Petersburg care a lot and have official programs for preparing for the ACM competition. The students care a lot too as the competition is a way for them to distinguish themselves. US universities, at least the top ones, don't care that much. American students have better things to do, as you said. If you look at a typical US university team, you'd see a lot of Chinese and Eastern European students that have done IOI in high school. Their advisor would be a professor who typically just signs the paperwork.