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I joined TopCoder a couple of months ago but never really got how it works. Am I supposed to try all the challenges/quizes/exercises? Should I give past competi

I joined TopCoder a couple of months ago but never really got how it works. Am I supposed to try all the challenges/quizes/exercises? Should I give past competitions a try? Is it a significant measurement of how good a developer you are (in other words, do employers look at it)?

alexdias 15y ago
A few words in regard to the algoritm competition: you should give past competitions a try in order to get some practice. Your rating is determined by your performance in live challenges. I'm not sure if employers look at it. Of course, if you get into the higher ratings, it's a nice thing to have on your resume. It also depends on the employer as well, I remember for instance one of the founders of LikeALittle was a TopCoder India champion, so for a startup like that, TopCoder experience might be something that they find interesting.
- mattgreenrocks 15y ago
  Wouldn't it be more productive to create things for resume items?
  - alexdias 15y ago
    Generally, I'd say yes. Being high-rated in these competitions requires quite a high amount of practice and participation, so in that time, you could've been learning a lot of new skills and building things. However, knowing a lot about algorithms can be very useful in many situations as well. And for instance, Google has those (in)famous algorithms questions in their interviews, so I guess you'd be more confortable in them.
  - a3_nm 15y ago
    Algorithms are very useful to know, both for interviews and for real life coding, but a lot of the projects that you'd pursue for fun wouldn't have a lot of algorithmic content. Problems from this sort of contests force you to focus on tasks which make you learn about algorithmics instead of spending your time on ancillary issues.
sukuriant 15y ago
When I was still in college, the BEST general-purpose training I ever received was in my ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) training, and the contests that followed. Topcoder was one of the methods we used to train for the contests, among Usaco, old ICPC contests, Project Euler, UVa (another set of contest problems). Some people used SPOJ and other such places. From the years I was on the team, if I improved at anything, it was the ability to look at a problem, and solve it. I've gotten to use little bits of it in the year and a half I've been working, but it was more the experience I found profitable and would encourage anyone to do the same. Disclaimer: I was on the UCF programming team for 5 years.
- boxysean 15y ago
  Practicing at all of these contests you mentioned basically guaranteed all my future steps (employment, school). It's not everything but it's a lot that you won't be able to do past college. If you're in school and have the opportunity to participate in a club or practice by yourself, I definitely recommend it.
sltkr 15y ago
I think the most fun way to get into TopCoder is to just start competing in live events, which (for the algorithm matches) usually occur three times a month (though some might be at impractical times). You'll probably screw up the first few times you participate; that's pretty normal, so don't let that get you down! Of course you can do the archived problems for practice, but starting with live matches is much more exciting.

alexdias 15y ago

A few words in regard to the algoritm competition: you should give past competitions a try in order to get some practice. Your rating is determined by your performance in live challenges. I'm not sure if employers look at it. Of course, if you get into the higher ratings, it's a nice thing to have on your resume. It also depends on the employer as well, I remember for instance one of the founders of LikeALittle was a TopCoder India champion, so for a startup like that, TopCoder experience might be something that they find interesting.

mattgreenrocks 15y ago
Wouldn't it be more productive to create things for resume items?
- alexdias 15y ago
  Generally, I'd say yes. Being high-rated in these competitions requires quite a high amount of practice and participation, so in that time, you could've been learning a lot of new skills and building things. However, knowing a lot about algorithms can be very useful in many situations as well. And for instance, Google has those (in)famous algorithms questions in their interviews, so I guess you'd be more confortable in them.
- a3_nm 15y ago
  Algorithms are very useful to know, both for interviews and for real life coding, but a lot of the projects that you'd pursue for fun wouldn't have a lot of algorithmic content. Problems from this sort of contests force you to focus on tasks which make you learn about algorithmics instead of spending your time on ancillary issues.

sukuriant 15y ago

When I was still in college, the BEST general-purpose training I ever received was in my ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) training, and the contests that followed. Topcoder was one of the methods we used to train for the contests, among Usaco, old ICPC contests, Project Euler, UVa (another set of contest problems). Some people used SPOJ and other such places. From the years I was on the team, if I improved at anything, it was the ability to look at a problem, and solve it. I've gotten to use little bits of it in the year and a half I've been working, but it was more the experience I found profitable and would encourage anyone to do the same. Disclaimer: I was on the UCF programming team for 5 years.

boxysean 15y ago
Practicing at all of these contests you mentioned basically guaranteed all my future steps (employment, school). It's not everything but it's a lot that you won't be able to do past college. If you're in school and have the opportunity to participate in a club or practice by yourself, I definitely recommend it.

sltkr 15y ago

I think the most fun way to get into TopCoder is to just start competing in live events, which (for the algorithm matches) usually occur three times a month (though some might be at impractical times). You'll probably screw up the first few times you participate; that's pretty normal, so don't let that get you down! Of course you can do the archived problems for practice, but starting with live matches is much more exciting.