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TopCoder, Math, and Game Programming

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the racking-his-brain dept.

reiners writes "DevX.com has an interesting interview with David Arthur (dgarthur), the 2003 TopCoder Collegiate Challenge winner. Arthur discusses many interesting topics: the similarities between TopCoder problems and math problems, why TopCoder performance is positively correlated with 'real-life' programming performance, and why game programming is where the action is."

10 of 236 comments (clear)

  1. beh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny
    game programming is where the action is
    Then why do I always have rendering operations rather than second dates in my pipeline?
  2. True "Top" Coders Dominate the "Bottom" Coders by Nova+Express · · Score: 4, Funny

    Top Coder: "What? This isn't done yet?"

    Bottom Coder: "No, your Code Mistressness!"

    Top Coder: "You pathetic little worm! Get back in there and code until your hands bleed!"

    Bottom Coder: "Right away your worshipfulness!"

    Expect to see more ads for "Dominatrix" pop up in Silicon Valley...

    --
    Lawrence Person (lawrencepersonh@gmailh.com (remove all "h"s to mail)

    http://www.lawrenceperson.com/

  3. good thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    I guess all this experience will really pay off when someone is looking for a coder to solve mundane problems over and over really really super fast. Or maybe they make game shows out of perl hacking. Oh wait, he says he may get a math career when he graduates. Those certainly are plentiful. Maybe there is some kind of speed math problem think tank that secretly controls the world around us. Well, lord knows whatever happens super fast programming competitions sure are great things, i mean, wow!

  4. Re:Language of Choice by larry+bagina · · Score: 5, Funny
    TopCoder cofirms it: functional programming is dieing. You don't need to be Eliza to predict functional programming's future: functional programming is dieing. Scheme is the most endangered of them all, having suffocated under a deluge of ()s. It was auctioned off to gnu/emacs, anoter charnel house, with an equally precarious future. Induction proves that the downward spiral will continue until termination.

    Fact: functional programming is dead.

    --
    Do you even lift?

    These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.

  5. Re:programming 3D rendering engine by RabidOverYou · · Score: 4, Funny

    I would rather have majored in Glass Chewing than Linear Algebra. Numerical Analysis was bad, but Linear Algebra ... ooh I get the shakes.

  6. Why am I not surprised ... by 1in10 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Wow, someone who won top coder is saying it's a good indication of real world ability.

    In other news, Microsoft says Windows is the most reliable, and George Bush says America is the best.

  7. Translation... by Duncan3 · · Score: 4, Funny

    In other words he's smart enough to know even he can't get a job programming, and so it's a waste of his time to try.

    A friend of mine hired two AMERICAN programmers for 6$/hr last week. I told him he could get them for $4/hr in India, but he doesn't like remote workers.

    The party is over. Move along.

    --
    - Adam L. Beberg - The Cosm Project - http://www.mithral.com/
  8. First day on the job: by eidechse · · Score: 1, Funny

    DevLead: Make a dialog with a tab control.

    SuperFastAlgorithmProblemSolver: Huh?

    ;)

  9. Re:how about encryption? by plierhead · · Score: 4, Funny
    Hah, encryption, I spit in your face !

    Payroll processing is where the action is. COBOL rocks! And you'll score loadsa chicks.

    --

    [x] auto-moderate all posts by this user as insightful

  10. Re:how about encryption? by grazzy · · Score: 2, Funny

    and not just that! you have a raise every month!