On and off affair with server crash continues in August Cook-Off 2014

3 min read

We thoroughly enjoyed our comparatively smooth and prolific Cook-offs till the June Cook-Off. But since then it has been a different story altogether. The server crashes have been frequently associated with our Cook-Offs. There even have been a couple of memes associated with it floating among the community. Now, while we appreciate good humor, let us tell you that we have been constantly working towards negotiating that initial load in our small contests, to get you all the glitch-free contests that you all wanted. Sadly, August Cook-Off 2014 was not it. But we will get there for sure. For now, let us relive the memories of August Cook-Off 2014, the good ones & the not-so-good-ones.

The problem set for the came from Vitaliy Herasymiv, who is a Cook-Off veteran with loads of experience to pour into the problem set. And putting all his experience, he cooked up a testing problem set for the contest, which was further tested for crispiness by our tester & Russian translator, Sergey Kulik. The Mandarin variant of the problem set came from the duo of Minako Kojima & Gedi Zheng. And the final toppings on the contest in the form of the editorials came from the kitchen of Kostya Sokol. Let us thank our problem setters for always being there for us all.

With all those ingredients we cooked up an appetizing contest and served it when the clock hit 09:30 pm on Sunday, August 24th, 2014. And at 09:33 pm all our preparations went in vain with the server crash. It was third time in a row that we had a Cook-Off marred by the server problems. Hence, it was a tad annoying. But putting all our exasperation aside we braced ourselves to deal with it and get it sorted out. Our team of engineers was onto it right from the very first moment, and without leaving any stone unturned they brought the contest back on track in a tad over 20 mins. Although we were back up, the damage was done. To make up for the lost time at the start, we extended the contest by 20 mins to make sure that everyone gets a fair shot at the problems. However, we still are apologetic about these constant crashes and can assure you that we have been working towards eradicating them completely.

While the technical glitches made it hard for the early birds to access the problems, it was not easy for the users with the access of the problems to get past them as well. The initial sights from the showed plethora of red crosses in the result column. However, there were eventual green ticks hidden somewhere in the crowd of overpowering red crosses. It hinted towards the problem set being on the tougher side, which meant that the participants will have to work really hard to get through them.

The green ticks, though were few in numbers, they were rather pleasing. It also meant that all the ACM ICPC aspirants were nicely tested ahead of the impending competitive programming season. The residents on the top of the rank table, as always were very cautious about their submissions. After making his first submission in the first 15 mins on SHOOTING, even gennady.korotkevich took some time before making his next submission. Unlike Gennady, uwi started his adventure with the easy problem PERMSUFF by cracking it inside the first half an hour of the contest.

The scene outside the rank table was not different, with submissions coming in at a leisurely pace. This made it apparent that the number of submissions & participants in this contest is not going to be in the high range. Although it was a tad disheartening, we were pleased to see the competition among the contestants. The tough problem set was a good exercise for the participants’ brain and to see who stood above all in the competition, let us walk you through the rank tables.

We start with the non-Indian top ten:

Now, the Indian top 5:

Congratulations to all our wonderful participants for their brilliant performance.

The final stats for the contest were:

  • Total Users: 1968
  • Total Submissions: 7885
  • Number of distinct users with correct submissions: 525
  • Total users from India: 1738
  • Total users not from India: 230

The numbers might not match to the figures we have had in some of our previous Cook-Offs, but the contest was as good as any other we have had in the past. So, once again a big round of applause for everyone associated with the contest.

We are sure by now, you all would have pleased your code buds for any missing pinch from the contest through the editorials for August Cook-Off 2014, but with ACM ICPC 2014 – 2015 just around the corner, we suggest you through them once more. It will strengthen your preparations greatly.

That brings us to the end of yet another delayed blog post for the contest. But without making any excuses we will bluntly apologize to you all for the delay and will try to make up for it by publishing the pending blog posts in coming days.

So, without further adieu we would like to move towards our next blog post on August LunchTime 2014 covering the tale of our young wizards’ adventures. So, stay tuned and keep watching this space.

For all your queries and feedback, you can always reach us at: [email protected]

Or can call us at: (022) – 30797709

Regards,
Rudreshwar
Team CodeChef

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