Greetings, CodeCheffers!

We have our Programmer of the Month for October: Hiroto Sekido.

Most of you may know him as laycurse. He has been a part of CodeChef since November 2010. Since then, he has solved 65 problems. He currently ranks 2nd in the short contest format, and 80th in the long contest format. He has recently joined the CodeChef problem setting panel as well, something we’re quite happy about.

Here’s some first-hand information about him…

Name: Hiroto Sekido
Age: 26
University: Kyoto University
User id: laycurse

- Brief introduction about yourself.

I live in Kyoto, and I am a doctoral student of Kyoto University.
My hobby is, of course, programming.
I have a great time at CodeChef, TopCoder, CodeForces and some other online judges.
Other than programming, I bought a digital single-lens reflex camera recently.
Sometimes I enjoy taking photos with the camera.

- What got you into programming?

ACM/ICPC.
It made me realise there is much pleasure in solving problems with programming.

- Have you ever wanted to be something else, apart from a programmer?

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a “HERO”.
A HERO is strong.
A HERO can survive the world.

- What would we find you doing on a Saturday evening?

if( there is a programming competition ){
go to the competition;
} else if( I am sleepy ){
go to sleep;
} else if( rand()%2 == 0 ){
go to sleep;
} else {
do something; /* for example, playing video games or a short trip in
Kyoto with new my camera */
}

- How long have you been participating at CodeChef? What brought you here?

chaemon told me about CodeChef in November 2010.
Since then, I have been participating consistently.

- Preferred language(s)?

C, C++, and Japanese.

- Programming is to you as… ? e.g. water is to life.

Programming is a part of my soul.

- Any advice you’d like to offer for other programmers?

I have only one advice.
Have fun:)

- What are your plans for the future?

I would like to attend more onsite programming events (like
TopCoder Open or Google Code Jam) as a competitor.

Cheers!
Team CodeChef.