International Collegiate Programming Contest

Worldwide competitive programming contest for university students From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

International Collegiate Programming Contest

The International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) is an annual multi-tiered competitive programming competition among the universities of the world.[1] Directed by ICPC Executive Director and Baylor Professor William B. Poucher, the ICPC operates autonomous regional contests covering six continents culminating in a global World Finals every year. In 2018, ICPC participation included 52,709 students from 3,233 universities in 110 countries.

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Logo of the ICPC Foundation

The ICPC operates under the auspices of the ICPC Foundation and operates under agreements with host universities and non-profits, all in accordance with the ICPC Policies and Procedures.[2] From 1977 until 2017 ICPC was held under the auspices of ACM and was referred to as ACM-ICPC.[3]

History

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Perspective

The ICPC traces its roots to a competition held at Texas A&M University in 1970 hosted by the Alpha chapter of the Upsilon Pi Epsilon Computer Science Honor Society (UPE). This initial programming competition was titled First Annual Texas Collegiate Programming Championship and each university was represented by a team of up to five members. The computer used was a IBM System/360 model 65 which was one of the first machines with a DAT (Dynamic Address Translator aka "paging") system for accessing memory. Teams that participated included Texas A&M, Texas Tech, University of Houston, and five or six other Texas University / Colleges. There were three problems that had to be completed and the cumulative time from "start" to "successful completion" determined first-, second-, and third-place winners. The programming language used was Fortran. The programs were written on coding sheets, keypunched on Hollerith cards, and submitted for execution. The University of Houston team won the competition completing all three problems successfully with time. The second- and third-place teams did not successfully complete all three problems. The contest evolved into its present form as a multi-tier competition in 1977, with the first finals held in conjunction with the ACM Computer Science Conference.

From 1977 to 1989, the contest included mainly teams of four from universities throughout the United States and Canada. ICPC Headquarters was hosted by Baylor University from 1989 until 2022, with regional contests established within the world's university community, the ICPC has grown into a worldwide competition. To increase access to the World Finals, teams were reduced to three students within their first five academic years.[citation needed]

From 1997 to 2017, International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) was the sponsor of ICPC. During that time contest participation has grown by more than 2000%. In 1997, 840 teams from 560 universities participated. In 2017, 46,381 students from 2,948 universities in 103 countries on six continents participated in regional competitions. Organized as a highly localized extra-curricular university mind sport and operating as a globally-coordinated unincorporated association operating under agreements with host universities and non-profits, the ICPC is open to qualified teams from every university in the world.[citation needed]

UPE has provided continuous support since 1970 and honored World Finalists since the first Finals in 1976. The ICPC is indebted to ACM member contributions and ACM assistance from 1976 to 2018. Baylor University served since 1985, hosting ICPC Headquarters from 1989 until 2022. The ICPC operates under the auspices of the ICPC Foundation which provides the ICPC Global Headquarters to service a globally-coordinated community whose events operate under agreements with host universities and non-profits to insure that participation in ICPC is open to qualified teams from every university in the world. See ICPC Policies and Procedures.[2]

The ICPC World Finals (The Annual World Finals of the International Collegiate Programming Contest) is the final round of competition. Over its history it has become a 4-day event held in the finest venues worldwide with 140 teams competing in the 2018 World Finals. Recent World Champion teams have been recognized by their country's head of state. In recent years, media impressions have hovered at the one billion mark.[citation needed]

From 2000 to 2022, only teams from Russia, China, and Poland have won the ICPC world finals.[4] Participation in North America is much smaller than in the rest of the world, which is partially attributed to the perceived low payoff of participating.[5]

Contest rules

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ICPC contests are team competitions. Current rules stipulate that each team consist of three students. Participants must be university students, who have had less than five years of university education before the contest. Students who have previously competed in two World Finals or five regional competitions are ineligible to compete again.[6][7]

During each contest, the teams of three are given 5 hours to solve between eight and fifteen programming problems (with eight typical for regionals and twelve for finals). They must submit solutions as programs in C, C++, Java, Ada,[8] Python[9][10] or Kotlin[11] (although it is not guaranteed every problem is solvable in any certain language, the ICPC website states that "the judges will have solved all problems in Java and C++" for both regional and world finals competitions). Programs are then run on test data. If a program fails to give a correct answer, the team is notified and can submit another program.

The winner is the team which correctly solves the most problems. If necessary to rank teams for medals or prizes among tying teams, the placement of teams is determined by the sum of the elapsed times at each point that they submitted correct solutions plus 20 minutes for each rejected submission of a problem ultimately solved. There is no time consumed for a problem that is not solved.[12]

Compared to other programming contests (for example, International Olympiad in Informatics), the ICPC is characterized by a large number of problems (eight or more problems in just 5 hours). Another feature is that each team can use only one computer, although teams have three students. This makes the time pressure even greater. Good teamwork and ability to withstand pressure is needed to win.

2004–2025 finals

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2004 World Finals

The 2004 ACM-ICPC World Finals were hosted at the Obecni Dum, Prague, by Czech Technical University in Prague. 3,150 teams representing 1,411 universities from 75 countries competed in elimination rounds, with 73 of those teams proceeding to the world finals. St. Petersburg Institute of Fine Mechanics and Optics from Russia won, solving 7 of 10 problems.[13] Gold medalists were St. Petersburg Institute of Fine Mechanics and Optics, KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden), Belarusian State University, and Perm State University (Russia).

2005 World Finals

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Opening Ceremony in 2005

The 2005 world finals were held at Pudong Shangri-La Hotel in Shanghai on April 6, 2005, hosted by Shanghai Jiao Tong University. 4,109 teams representing 1,582 universities from 71 countries competed in elimination rounds, with 78 of those teams proceeding to the world finals. Shanghai Jiao Tong University won its second world title, with 8 of 10 problems solved.[14] Gold medal winners were Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Moscow State University (Russia), St. Petersburg Institute of Fine Mechanics and Optics (Russia), and University of Waterloo (Canada).

2006 World Finals

The 2006 ACM-ICPC World Finals were held in San Antonio, Texas, and hosted by Baylor University.[15] 5,606 teams representing 1,733 universities from 84 countries competed in elimination rounds, with 83 of those teams proceeding to the world finals. Saratov State University from Russia won, solving 6 of 10 problems.[16] Gold medal winners were Saratov, Jagiellonian University (Poland), Altai State Technical University (Russia), University of Twente (The Netherlands).

2007 World Finals

The 2007 ACM-ICPC World Finals were held at the Tokyo Bay Hilton, in Tokyo, Japan, March 12–16, 2007. The World Finals was hosted by the ACM Japan Chapter and the IBM Tokyo Research Lab. Some 6,099 teams competed on six continents at the regional level. Eighty-eight teams advanced to the World Finals. Warsaw University won its second world championship, solving 8 of 10 problems. Gold Medal Winners were Warsaw University, Tsinghua University (China), St. Petersburg Institute of Fine Mechanics and Optics (Russia), and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (United States). Silver Medal Winners include Shanghai Jiao Tong University (China) and 3 other universities.

2008 World Finals

The 2008 ACM-ICPC World Finals were held at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, in Banff, Alberta, Canada, April 6–10, 2008.[17] The World Finals was hosted by the University of Alberta. There were 100 teams in the World finals, out of 6700 total teams competing in the earlier rounds.[18] The St. Petersburg Institute of Fine Mechanics and Optics won their second world championship. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Izhevsk State Technical University, and Lviv National University also received gold medals.

2009 World Finals

The 2009 ACM-ICPC World Finals were held in Stockholm, Sweden, April 18–22, at the campus of the hosting institution, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, as well as at the Grand Hotel, the Radisson Strand, and the Diplomat Hotel. There were 100 teams from over 200 regional sites competing for the World Championship. The St. Petersburg Institute of Fine Mechanics and Optics defended their title, winning their third world championship. Tsinghua University, St. Petersburg State University, and Saratov State University also received gold medals.[19] The 2009 World Finals pioneered live video broadcasting of the entire contest, featuring elements such as expert commentary, live feeds of teams and their computer screens and interviews with judges, coaches and dignitaries. The event was broadcast online, as well as by Swedish television channel Axess TV.

2010 World Finals

The 2010 ACM-ICPC World Finals were held in Harbin, China. The host is Harbin Engineering University. Shanghai Jiao Tong University won the world championship.[20] Moscow State University, National Taiwan University, and Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University also received gold medals.

2011 World Finals

The 2011 ACM-ICPC World Finals were held in Orlando, Florida and hosted by main sponsor IBM. The contest was initially scheduled to be held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt in February, but was moved due to the political instability associated with the Arab Spring. Zhejiang University took first place with the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, Tsinghua University, and Saint Petersburg State University taking 2nd, 3rd, and 4th respectively each receiving gold medals.[21] China (2G) United States (1G) Russia (1G, 2S, 2B) Germany (1S) Ukraine (1S) Poland (1B) Canada (1B)

2012 World Finals

The 2012 World Finals were held in Warsaw, Poland. They were inaugurated on 15 May and hosted by University of Warsaw.[22] St. Petersburg Institute of Fine Mechanics and Optics won their fourth world championship, the most by any University at the time. University of Warsaw, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University took 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place respectively each receiving gold medals. Russia (2G, 1B) China (1G,1S) Poland (1G) United States (1S) Hong Kong (1S) Belarus (1S, 1B) Canada (1B) Japan (1B)

2013 World Finals

The 2013 World Finals were held in Saint Petersburg, Russia. They were inaugurated on 3 July and were hosted by NRU ITMO.

2013 top thirteen teams that received medals are:

Japan (1G) Russia (1G, 1S, 2B) China (1G, 1B) Taiwan (1G) Poland (1S, 1B) Ukraine (1S) Belarus (1S) United States (1B)

2014 World Finals

The 2014 World Finals were held in Ekaterinburg, Russia on June 21–25, hosted by Ural Federal University. The final competition was held on June 25.[25] 122 teams participated in the competition and St. Petersburg State University became the world champion.[26]

Following teams were awarded medals in ICPC 2014:[26]

Russia (2G, 2B) China (1G, 1S, 1B) Taiwan (1G) Japan (1S) Poland (1S) Croatia (1S) Slovakia (1B)

Gold

Silver

  • University of Warsaw
  • Shanghai Jiao Tong University
  • The University of Tokyo
  • University of Zagreb

Bronze

  • St. Petersburg National Research University of IT, Mechanics and Optics
  • National Research University Higher School of Economics
  • Tsinghua University
  • Comenius University

2015 World Finals

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ITMO team 2015

The 2015 World Finals were held in Marrakesh (Morocco) during May 16–21, hosted by Mohammed the Fifth University, Al Akhawayn University and Mundiapolis University. The final competition took place on May 20. 128 teams competed to be World Champion. Saint Petersburg ITMO emerged as the winner, having solved all problems (13) for the first time ever. Other medalists included teams from Russia (2G), China (1G, 1B, 1S), Japan (1G), the United States (1B, 1S), Croatia (1S), Czech Republic (1S), Korea (1B), and Poland (1B).

Gold

Silver

Bronze

2016 World Finals

The 2016 World Finals were held in Phuket (Thailand) during May 16–21. The final competition was on May 19. 128 teams competed to be World Champion. The winners were Saint Petersburg State University, solving 11 out of 13 problems. The first runners-up were Shanghai Jiao Tong University, also solving 11 problems, but 7 minutes behind the winning team.

Gold

Silver

Bronze

2017 World Finals

The 2017 World Finals were held in Rapid City, South Dakota (United States) during May 20–25, hosted by Excellence in Computer Programming. Due to visa issue, several teams were unable to present onsite, in which the affected schools are allowed direct qualifications for ICPC 2018 besides the usual qualification spots.

The winner was ITMO University. Teams of the following countries were awarded medals in ICPC 2017: Russia (2 Gold, 1 Silver, 1 Bronze), Poland (1 Gold), South Korea (1 Gold, 1 Bronze), China (3 Silver), Sweden (1 Bronze), Japan (1 Bronze).

Gold

Silver

Bronze

2018 World Finals

The 2018 World Finals were held in Beijing (China), during April 15–20, hosted by Peking University.

Archived at the Wayback Machine (archived April 24, 2018)

More information Rank in Final, Country ...
Rank in FinalCountryInstitutionFirst to Solve Problem Number of solved problems
01 1 RussiaMoscow State UniversityPanda Preserve & Single Cut of Failure 9
02 2 RussiaMoscow Institute of Physics and TechnologyGetting a Jump on Crime8
03 3 ChinaPeking UniversityGem Island8
04 4 JapanThe University of Tokyo8
05 5 South KoreaSeoul National UniversityComma Sprinkler7
06 6 AustraliaUniversity of New South WalesWireless is the New Fiber7
07 7 ChinaTsinghua University7
08 8 ChinaShanghai Jiao Tong University7
09 9 RussiaITMO UniversityGo with the Flow7
10 10 United StatesUniversity of Central Florida7
11 11 United StatesMassachusetts Institute of Technology7
12 12 LithuaniaVilnius UniversityCatch the Plane 7
13 13 RussiaUral Federal University7
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In 2018 World Final, problems "Conquer the World" and "Uncrossed Knight's Tour" were not solved.

2019 World Finals

The 2019 World Finals were held in Porto (Portugal) from March 31 to April 5, 2019, hosted by the University of Porto and the City of Porto.[28]

Gold

Silver

Bronze

World Finals Moscow (2020)

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 World Finals were postponed.[29] The finals took place in Moscow (Russia) from October 1 to October 5, 2021, hosted by Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.[30] To avoid confusion with dates, in all official materials it was called "World Finals Moscow" instead of 2020 or 2021.

"ICPC World Finals Moscow final standings". ICPC World finals. Archived from the original on 2021-10-05. Retrieved 2021-10-16.

More information Rank in Final, Country ...
Rank in FinalCountryInstitutionFirst to Solve Problem[31] Number of solved problems
01 1 RussiaState University of Nizhny NovgorodB (The Cost of Speed Limits); H (QC QC) 12
02 2 South KoreaSeoul National UniversityF (Ley Lines)11
03 3 RussiaITMO UniversityI (Quests)11
04 4 RussiaMoscow Institute of Physics and Technology11
05 5 PolandUniversity of WroclawG (Opportunity Cost)11
06 6 United KingdomUniversity of CambridgeA (Cardiology)11
07 7 BelarusBelarusian State University11
08 8 RomaniaUniversity of BucharestD (Gene Folding); O (Which Planet is This?!)10
09 9 United StatesMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyE (Landscape Generator); J (’S No Problem)10
10 10 UkraineKharkiv National University of Radio Electronics10
11 11 United StatesUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign10
12 12 RussiaHigher School of Economics 9
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In 2020–2021 World Final, problems K (Space Walls) and L (Sweep Stakes) were not solved.

World Finals Dhaka (2021)

The 45-th World Finals initially scheduled for 2021, was held in Dhaka (Bangladesh) from November 6 to November 11, 2022, because of schedule changes due to COVID-19 pandemic, hosted by the University of Asia Pacific.[32] To avoid confusion about dates, it was called World Finals Dhaka in all official materials.

Source:[33]

World Finals Luxor (2022 & 2023)

To synchronize with the schedule after all rescheduling because of Covid-19 pandemic both 46-th and 47-th world finals were scheduled to take place in the same time in November 2023 in Sharm El Sheikh. Because of Gaza war and related safety concerns, it was rescheduled once again and finally happened in Luxor in April from 14th to 19 April 2024. To avoid confusion about dates, the event was referred to as World Finals Luxor (World Finals Sharm before rescheduling), with two competitions as 46th and 47th separately, if needed, in all official materials.

Two competitions were held in parallel, with intersecting problem sets. In 47-th finals, due to very close results (less than 40 penalty minutes difference between 12 and 16 place), additional bronze medals were awarded at the next finals in Astana.

Source:[34][35]

World Finals Astana (2024)

The 48th World Finals was held on 15–20 September 2024 in Astana, Kazakhstan hosted by The Kazakhstan Competitive Programming Federation.

Source:[36]

More information Rank in Final, Country ...
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World Finals Baku (2025)

The 49th ICPC World Championship will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, from August 31 to September 5, 2025, hosted by ADA University in partnership with the Central Bank of Azerbaijan.[37][38]

Winners

More information Year, Country ...
Winner by year
Year Country Institution Host Country Host City
2024  China Peking University  Kazakhstan Astana
2023  Russia National Research University Higher School of Economics  Egypt Luxor
2022  China Peking University  Egypt Luxor
2021  United States Massachusetts Institute of Technology  Bangladesh Dhaka
2020  Russia Nizhny Novgorod State University  Russia Moscow
2019  Russia Moscow State University  Portugal Porto
2018  Russia Moscow State University  China Beijing
2017  Russia ITMO University  United States Rapid City, South Dakota
2016  Russia St. Petersburg State University  Thailand Phuket
2015  Russia ITMO University  Morocco Marrakech
2014  Russia St. Petersburg State University  Russia Ekaterinburg
2013  Russia ITMO University  Russia Saint Petersburg
2012  Russia ITMO University  Poland Warsaw
2011  China Zhejiang University  United States Orlando, Florida
2010  China Shanghai Jiao Tong University  China Harbin
2009  Russia ITMO University  Sweden Stockholm
2008  Russia ITMO University  Canada Banff, Alberta
2007  Poland University of Warsaw  Japan Urayasu, Chiba
2006  Russia Saratov State University  United States San Antonio, Texas
2005  China Shanghai Jiao Tong University  China Shanghai
2004  Russia ITMO University  Czech Republic Prague
2003  Poland University of Warsaw  United States Beverly Hills, California
2002  China Shanghai Jiao Tong University  United States Honolulu, Hawaii
2001  Russia St. Petersburg State University  Canada Vancouver, British Columbia
2000  Russia St. Petersburg State University  United States Orlando, Florida
1999  Canada University of Waterloo  Netherlands Eindhoven
1998  Czech Republic Charles University  United States Atlanta, Georgia
1997  United States Harvey Mudd College  United States San Jose, California
1996  United States University of California, Berkeley  United States Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1995  Germany Albert-Ludwigs-Universität  United States Nashville, Tennessee
1994  Canada University of Waterloo  United States Phoenix, Arizona
1993  United States Harvard University  United States Indianapolis, Indiana
1992  Australia University of Melbourne  United States Kansas City, Missouri
1991  United States Stanford University  United States San Antonio, Texas
1990  New Zealand University of Otago  United States Washington, DC
1989  United States University of California, Los Angeles  United States Louisville, Kentucky
1988  United States California Institute of Technology  United States Atlanta, Georgia
1987  United States Stanford University  United States St Louis, Missouri
1986  United States California Institute of Technology  United States Cincinnati, Ohio
1985  United States Stanford University  United States New Orleans, Louisiana
1984  United States Johns Hopkins University  United States Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1983  United States University of Nebraska - Lincoln  United States Melbourne, Florida
1982  United States Baylor University  United States Indianapolis, Indiana
1981  United States University of Missouri–Rolla  United States St Louis, Missouri
1980  United States Washington University in St. Louis  United States Kansas City, Missouri
1979  United States Washington University in St. Louis  United States Dayton, Ohio
1978  United States Massachusetts Institute of Technology  United States Detroit, Michigan
1977  United States Michigan State University  United States Atlanta, Georgia
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More information Wins, Country ...
Country wins
WinsCountryMost Recent WinNo. of Years Participated
18 United States202147
16 Russia202328 (since 1996)
6 China2024
2 Poland2007
2 Canada1999
1 Czech Republic1998
1 Germany1995
1 Australia1992
1 New Zealand1990
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See also

References

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