Pycoder – Python Coding Contest

The Software Development Club, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, MVJCE, organized the Club Event ‘Pycoder – Python Coding Contest’, on 19.10.2019. The event aimed to test the students’ python programming ability, and its application in solving a problem with minimum number of characters, by using appropriate data structures and in-built functions.

‘Pycoder – Python Coding Contest’ took place at CSE Lab 255, in the presence of Mrs. Santhiya M (Head of Department, CSE), Mrs.Sindhuja K (AP, CSE, SDC Coordinator), Mrs. Deepa Acharya (AP, CSE) and Student Coordinator Mr. Saurav Mishra (VII semester, CSE).

The event began at 10:30 am, on 19.10.2019. 85 participants took part in the event as individuals and teams of 2 members in each team. The event had 2 rounds, one was an elimination round, and the other one was a programming round conducted in the HackerRank platform.

Round 1 (MCQ):

This round was conducted online, using google forms. There were 15 Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ), which the teams had to solve within 20 minutes. Out of the 15 questions, 5 were on quantitative aptitude, 3 on technical GK, 2 on logical reasoning and 5 on the basics of python. There was no negative marking. 43 teams participated in this round which was held in the CSE Department Classrooms 251 and 252. 18 teams who got the highest scores in this round were selected for Round 2. In case of a tie, those who submitted the answers first qualified for the next round.

Round 2 (Coding Round – HackerRank Platform):

The top 18 teams from Round 1 entered this round. They had to write programs for 3 easy problems in Python language, online, in the form of Code Golf, on the HackerRank platform. Code Golf is a type of programing competition where participants try to achieve the shortest possible source code (by counting the number of characters).

Since HackerRank  doesn’t support these types of contests, a special judging system was written, by which the participant’s code was evaluated and a score between 0 and 100 was given, based on the number of characters in their program.

Winners: Chethan N (VII semester, CSE) and Ashoka A (VII semester, CSE) took 273 characters to write all the 3 programs.

Runners-up: Agnivo Neogi (III semester, CSE) and Aditya Raj (III semester, EEE) took 274 characters to write all the 3 programs.

Outcome: The event was a good platform for the students to showcase their python programing skill, as well as their competing sprit in using the minimum number of characters. The students got a clearer picture of how to write a code with minimum number of characters. They also understood the importance of code optimization.