Algorithm competitions aren't like playing Rachmaninov's second piano concerto. It's more like playing a simpler piece that everyone knows, like Canon in D. Ex

Algorithm competitions aren't like playing Rachmaninov's second piano concerto. It's more like playing a simpler piece that everyone knows, like Canon in D. Except you learn to play it faster than anybody else. You're giving advice on how to be a better programmer, which is significantly different from being a programmer who implements algorithms. In a programming competition, I don't go back and optimize my code. I test to see if it works, and go on to the next question.