5/21/2015 (1)PradeepGeorgeMathias'sanswertoCodeChef:FromwhichsourcesdidRudradevBasak,PradeepGeorgeMathiasandNikhilGarglearnalgo

CodeChef:FromwhichsourcesdidRudradev
Basak,PradeepGeorgeMathiasandNikhilGarg
learnalgorithms?

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Morespecifically,didtheyuseonlinetutorialsfromsourceslikeTopcoder,
CodecheforbookslikeCormenandKnuth?!Iftheyanswerthisquestionthenit
wouldbebetter.Curioustoknowaboutthis!

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37,266

Iwanttoaddonemorequestiontothisquestionabouttheirplan?
MOREIMPORTANTLY,HOWTHEYSTRUCTUREDTHEIRTIMETABLE
DURINGCOLLEGETIMEFORPRACTICINGINOPC's?
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PRADEEP'SANSWER

ANSWERAUTHOR

PradeepGeorgeMathias
IOI2008,ICPCWF2011,12
FollowedbyVishalGupta,ChetanGupta,
and96more
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MOREFROMPRADEEPGEORGE
MATHIAS

Whatarethebestxkcdcomics?
Absolutelylovethesimplicityofthisone.
http://xkcd.com/221/...(more)
VIEWQUESTION

PradeepGeorgeMathias,IOI2008,ICPCWF2011,12
913upvotesbyPiyushKumar,SamyakDatta,BalajiganapathiSenthilnathan,
(more)

Ourstorybegins,andends,withpractice.Practice,passionandmutual
motivation.
Letsbeginwithalittlebackground.
Year2007and2008,IattendtheIMOTC(InternationalMathematics
OlympiadTrainingCamp),thecampfromwhichsixstudentsarechosento
representIndiaattheIMO.Rudyalsoattendsthesametwoyears,andinfact
goesontotheIMOin2008.In2008,NikhilattendsthePhysicscamp,sowe
knoweachotherexistevenbeforecollege.

Whatarethemostimportantdata
structuresneededtoreachtheACM
ICPCWorldFinals?
TheanswervariesfromRegionto
Region.Inmypersonalexperience(with
IndianRegionals),themostimportant
are:...(more)
WhatwerethepointersgivenbyAjay
SomanitoNikhilGargregarding
preparationforICPC?
ItjustsohappensthatIhaveacopyin
myemailofthechatbetweenNikhiland
Ajay.I'mnotgonnapostthewholet...
(more)

MyforayintoalgorithmscamethroughtheIOITC(InternationalOlympiadin
InformaticsTrainingCamp)in2008.There,Ilearntprettymuchmost
standardalgorithmsaswellashadpracticeimplementingthem.All
inall,agreatearlystart.AsIOIprep,IdiddoafewchaptersofCormen(but
inhindsight,precollegematuritywasnotenoughtoreallypickupandbenefit
fromit).
NikhiljoinsourICPCteaminfirstyear(wearewithaseniorofoursatthis
point)andinitially,hefeelscompletelyoutclassed.IlendhimmyIOITC
LectureNoteswhichcoveralargepartofgroundwork.Thetwoofus,
batchmates,takeourownsweettimepracticingonlinesiteshalfheartedlyfor
thenexttwoyears.Nikhildoesspojafairbitduringsemesterholidaysinthis
time.
Meanwhile,Rudy,ourresidentIMOmedallist,iscontentedlysmashingallthe
standardCScoursework.Ishouldsayhere,thatourIITDCompScfaculty
aredefinitely(oneof)thebestinthecountry.Thethinkingrequiredfor,and
thelevelofproblems/tutorialsaregoodenoughtoensurethatabrightperson
flourishes.Finally,towardstheendof2ndyear,RudybeginsTopCoder
MarathonMatches(TopCoderMemberProfile )learningvarioustricks
throughTopCoderForums .
Wenowenterourthirdyear,andformourteam.Fromhereon,wepractice
largelythroughTopCoderDiv1500pointproblems,readingEditorials,
discussingtrickswelearn,andparticipatingineveryintercollegeOPC
wefind.Insome,wearebeatenbyIIITH("ANYDream"),somebyIITM,and
somewewinbutwekeeptheenthusiasmandsetasidethetimefrom"other
collegestuff"(mostoftheseareanywayonsundays,sotheydon'tclashwith
"lectures").
Wheneverwecameacrosssomethingnew,mostlythroughaproblemonline,it
wouldbetackledby
(a)"Ooh,guys,checkthisout!..."
(b)Puttinginsomelibrarycodeforitandsharingthecode
(c)Findingabunchofotherproblemsthatusethetechnique,and
consequentlyvalidatingthewrittencode.
Therewouldalsobeanumberofmomentswhereoneofuswouldgo,"Hey,
youknowhowwegenerallyimplementXasABCD?Well,ifyoulookatit

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5/21/2015 (1)PradeepGeorgeMathias'sanswertoCodeChef:FromwhichsourcesdidRudradevBasak,PradeepGeorgeMathiasandNikhilGarglearnalgo
likesonso,theimplebecomesaseasyasPQ?"Iterativelygettingcleanerand
shorterimplescomesalotoutofreadingothers'code.

Attheendoftheday,whenlookingatwhatwe'veaccomplished,itseemsthat
wehavelearntalotfromaloadofresourcesetc.Butreally,thenumberof
thingsthatthewholeofcomp.programmingboilsdownto,isratherlimited.A
vastmajorityoftheworkliesinreducingtheproblemfromitsgivenstateinto
oneofthevariousformsthatareavailableoutthere.Andwe'vegottengoodat
that,throughpractice.

Search

Asfor"findingtime",letsjustsaythatwhenyouarepassionateabout
something,youdon'treallyhavetogooutofyourwaytofindtimeforit.We
practicedourhardestduringthe5monthsfromAugust2010,toDecember
2010.Onesemester.Bepassionateaboutcodingforonesemester,and
1
Home
Write
Notifications
you'regoodenoughtocompetewiththebest!(psst,here'sali'lsecret,got
throughobservationsnotonlyofourteam,butalsokidspracticingfortheioi:
giveyourselfabouttwoweeksoftrulyintense(58hrs/day)codingpractice,
andyou'llbesogoodthatyouwon'tevenrecognizeyourselfattheendofit).
Written26Jun,2013.37,266views.

Upvote 913

Downvote Comments 5+

Krutarth

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AkshatBubna9votes(show)
"Giveyourselfabouttwoweeksoftrulyintense(58hrs/day)codingpractice,
andyou'llbesogoodthatyouwon'tevenrecognizeyourselfattheendofit".
Thatdidhappenwithme.Butyouneedtoknowwhattopractice.
Reply... UpvoteDownvoteShareReport28Jun,2013
TarunKumar1votebyThangavelRamasamy
Canyoupleasegivesomepointers?
Reply... UpvoteDownvoteShareReport30Jun,2014
VarunAgrawal1votebyPiyushChauhan
Youranswerisfilledwithloopholes:
1.Youareoneof35studentsinacountryofmorethan10lacengineering
aspirantstogettopqualityproblemsolvingtrainingfromthebestinthecountry
thankstoIMOTCandIOITC.Noteveryoneisfortunateenoughtohavethisas
their1ststep.
2.YouarefromIITDwhichboastsoneofthebestCompScdeptsinIndia.Again
thinkaboutallthosewhobysomebadluckhavehadtosettleforlesser
institutionsandespeciallythosethatdonothavegoodfaculty.
WhileIagreethatonlypracticemakesperfect,youareonlyansweringthe
questionwiththeassumptionthateveryonehashadyourkindofbackground.
Reply... UpvoteDownvoteShareReport28Jun,2013
PradeepGeorgeMathias4votes(show)
BothyourpointsarevalidIcan'tandwon'tdenythem.
However,everyonehasfeltrathermediocreatsomepointintheirlivesfor
meincomp.prog.,thiswasinmyfirsttwoyearsofcollege(Iremember
spending36daystryingtocyclebetweenoptimizinganddebugginga
codechefmediumproblemin2ndyear).Icanrelatetobeatingmyhead
againstthewall!
IfIansweraquestiononhowdoesanaveragepersonbecomegoodat
coding,ImaywellhavetogoAnonymousjustforcredibility.
Buthere,thequestionaskedforwhattheresourceswere:someofthem
wereprivileged(IOITC/IMOTC/IITDenvironments),therestwasmotivation
andpractice(therearealotofothersinIITDwhoaregreatatcomingup
withalgorithms,buttheyaren'tintothecodingpartofit.Ohwell,thatstheir
choice).
Reply... UpvoteDownvoteShareReport28Jun,2013
VarunAgrawal
Icanrelatetothelastpoint.Theirbadluck.
Reply... UpvoteDownvoteShareReport29Jun,2013
PradeepGeorgeMathias
Isaiditwastheir"choice"nothingaboutbadluck:P...
although,tobehonestjustbetweenyouandmethatwasalso
mygoodluck)

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5/21/2015 (1)PradeepGeorgeMathias'sanswertoCodeChef:FromwhichsourcesdidRudradevBasak,PradeepGeorgeMathiasandNikhilGarglearnalgo
Reply... UpvoteDownvoteShareReport29Jun,2013
VarunAgrawal
By"badluck"Iwasjustmakingatinyjoke.:)Iknowthey
madetheirchoicesanditturnedoutgoodforthem,
fortunately.
Andhaha,yousuregotluckymate.:P
Reply... UpvoteDownvoteShareReport3Jul,
2013
SiddharthBhattacharya
Ihavespentmyentirecollegelife3doorsawayfrom
PGM,andbyfarhisIITDexperiencethoughhelpful
comparedtoanaveragecollegedoesprovidehim
benefits,mostofus(atleastinourdepartment)
goofedoff,merelypassedourexamsandthat'sit.
IITDcanbenefit,butifonedoesn'twillthereisn't
muchitcando.Addtoit,hedidn'tgraduatefromCS
departmentwherethebestprofsare,butfrom
mediocreMathsDep,whichwasreallymuchmore
noisethanonewouldwish.PGMwascrazy,and
everyonethoughthewasfromadifferentplanet.
Reply... UpvoteDownvoteShareReport15
Nov,2014
AnkeshAnand1votebyTarunKumar
"Puttinginsomelibrarycodeforourown."Actually,wearealsotryingtodevelop
someformofinternallibrarytoo,couldyouexplainthestructureofyourlibrary
andhowyouwentaboutbuildingit?
Reply... UpvoteDownvoteShareReport27Jun,2013
NitinGarg3votes(show)
PradeepGeorgeMathiasCanyoushareyourLecturenotes?
Reply... UpvoteDownvoteShareReport26Jun,2013
PradeepGeorgeMathias17votes(show)
They'vebeencompiledonlinehere:http://www.iarcs.org.in/inoi/onl... by
thetrainingfacultyfortheioitc.
Reply... UpvoteDownvoteShareReport27Jun,2013
GouthamHarsha
Manythanksmate:)
Reply... UpvoteDownvoteShareReport9Jul,2013
GautamSingh
Thanksman!!forsharing!!
Reply... UpvoteDownvoteShareReport28Oct,2013
NitinGarg
Thnxalot....
Reply... UpvoteDownvoteShareReport27Jun,2013
KrishnaOza
thankspradeepfornotes
Reply... UpvoteDownvoteShareReport3Jul,2013
GauravPathak1votebyRahulGandhi
PradeepGeorgeMathiasyes,pleasecanyoushareyourlecturenotes
Reply... UpvoteDownvoteShareReport26Jun,2013

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5/21/2015 (1)PradeepGeorgeMathias'sanswertoCodeChef:FromwhichsourcesdidRudradevBasak,PradeepGeorgeMathiasandNikhilGarglearnalgo
Giveamanamaskandhewilltellyouthe
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