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I participated in a few programming competitions in college where paper programming is a must. There are typically 3 members on each team but only one computer
by Cyph0n 9y ago
I participated in a few programming competitions in college where paper programming is a must.
There are typically 3 members on each team but only one computer.
Our strategy involved first finding the easiest problem in the set and handing it over to our fastest typer to solve. In parallel, the other 2 members ranked and categorized (graph search, DP, arithmetic, etc.) the remaining problems. We then proceeded to split the problems based on our strengths and difficulty.
Obviously, while the computer was occupied, the rest of the team had to design and type out their solutions on paper. Once a solution is ready, that member gets priority to use the computer.
In my experience, at least in a competitive setting, writing code on paper tends to minimize common mistakes, especially once you get used to it. By the time you type it out, you'll have addressed most of the issues, so the code should (hopefully) compile and run with little modification.
- taeric 9y agoI'm highly interested to know what class of "common mistakes" you are referring to here. This sounds like a very fun environment/method to do things.
- Cyph0n 9y agoOver time, I got used to catching off-by-one errors in loops as well as assignment to incorrect variables of the same type. But when I write code in an editor, these errors always pop up. I guess it's because the feedback loop is so small, whereas every second counts in a competition environment. Yes, it was pretty fun. I wish I took it more seriously though: we never really practiced much and just attended competitions for the experience. We did manage to get 5th place twice in a row in a regional competition (Gulf), so we weren't terrible :P
- edaemon 9y agoI would think you'd catch more errors since you're reading through your own code in it's entirety, as well. Mistakes like mis-assigned variables are easy to make while you're actively thinking about your code but they stand out when you're just reading it.
- taeric 9y agoMy question is what sorts of shorthands do you develop? In assuming you don't build up the full syntax?
- leighflix 9y agoWas this UIL for computer science by any chance? My team and I have to do the exact same process!