Google Code Jam 2003 is a programming contest open to people around the world. Participants has a limited time to solve problems using one of these programming languages, C++, Java, C# or VB.NET. Correct solutions submitted soonest get the highest score.
From now to October 17 is a practice period. Several hundred participants have already tried to solve the sample problems. I collected some interesting statistics from the practice arena. Java was the top language choice used by almost half of the entries. Others chose C++ and C#. A few used VB.
Language | Used |
C++ | 26% |
Java | 48% |
C# | 20% |
VB | 6% |
However, the number for the top 20 scorers is quite different.
Language | Used |
C++ | 60% |
Java | 20% |
C# | 20% |
VB | 0% |
C++ programmers dominated the top 20. Java programmers shown disappointed result, while C# programmers got a fair share of top scorers.
Some of the best C++ solutions are great example of generic programming. STL is also lot more powerful than Java's collection utilities. While STL and template can be dauntingly complex, the C++ wizards show that they can be very productive tools.
2003.10.02 comments -