Call it Mavericks for geeks. But instead of surfing waves, hackers from all over the world will get a chance to show off their creative programming skills at Facebook's third annual Hacker Cup, which starts with a 72-hour online qualification round later this month.
"It's really a chance to compete against the world's best programmers," Facebook spokesman Jonathan Thaw said.
Registration is now open for the contest, which starts Jan. 20 with the first of four online elimination rounds. For the finals, Facebook will fly the 25 highest-scoring hackers to California on March 16-17 for the last, two-hour competition at its Menlo Park campus.
"It's very intense," Thaw said. "You're working against the clock, trying to come up with an elegant and correct solution. It's a challenge."
The top prize winner gets $5,000 and bragging rights; the second and third place finalists get $2,000 and $1,000, respectively. In addition to the free trip and a behind-the-scenes tour of Facebook's headquarters -- including tech talks with company engineers and meals at its famed cafeteria -- the other 22 finalists will each get a crisp $100 bill.
How tough is the competition? Last year, 11,768 people from across the globe attempted the contest's first round of algorithmic coding challenges. The top 25 finalists -- all men -- came from China, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Switzerland, Ukraine and the United States. In the end, 26-year-old
Advertisement.Russian developer Petr Mitrichev was declared the world champ.
While Thaw said he expects some of 2011's finalists will try again for the title this year, the growing popularity of hacking will entice some newcomers as well."There are some programmers that basically do these sorts of competitions as a sport," he said. "But we'll likely see some new faces too. Every year, there's a new supply of talented programmers.".Facebook employees and their immediate family members and roommates are not eligible to enter, according to the contest rules. Thaw said he doesn't know whether any former competitors ended up with jobs at Facebook.
"It's really a chance to compete against the world's best programmers," Facebook spokesman Jonathan Thaw said.
Registration is now open for the contest, which starts Jan. 20 with the first of four online elimination rounds. For the finals, Facebook will fly the 25 highest-scoring hackers to California on March 16-17 for the last, two-hour competition at its Menlo Park campus.
"It's very intense," Thaw said. "You're working against the clock, trying to come up with an elegant and correct solution. It's a challenge."
The top prize winner gets $5,000 and bragging rights; the second and third place finalists get $2,000 and $1,000, respectively. In addition to the free trip and a behind-the-scenes tour of Facebook's headquarters -- including tech talks with company engineers and meals at its famed cafeteria -- the other 22 finalists will each get a crisp $100 bill.
How tough is the competition? Last year, 11,768 people from across the globe attempted the contest's first round of algorithmic coding challenges. The top 25 finalists -- all men -- came from China, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Switzerland, Ukraine and the United States. In the end, 26-year-old
Advertisement.Russian developer Petr Mitrichev was declared the world champ.
While Thaw said he expects some of 2011's finalists will try again for the title this year, the growing popularity of hacking will entice some newcomers as well."There are some programmers that basically do these sorts of competitions as a sport," he said. "But we'll likely see some new faces too. Every year, there's a new supply of talented programmers.".Facebook employees and their immediate family members and roommates are not eligible to enter, according to the contest rules. Thaw said he doesn't know whether any former competitors ended up with jobs at Facebook.
source=www.facebook.com/hackercup
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