[Inpycon] [PyCon 2013] Programming Challenges, Hackathons & Sprints, in Python at PyCon

Mon Jul 8 08:45:28 CEST 2013

@krace: Well I would very much agree to your opinion on contribution to
communities. But I have some points in order:

(1)
I was NOT talking about organizing such an event "during" PyCon, but before
it as an associated event. So it does not bother any employee of a company
who is not interested in it.

(2)
Its about catering to interests of different people in a great way to make
PyCon better along with making Python more demotic.
There are many students, Computer Science people who love algorithms,
mathematics & puzzles. There are people who love Open Source contribution.
There are people who love both. Thats the way it is. I am personally a FOSS
contributor, but equally love solving programming challenges.

(3) Talks on Python & Algorithms is interesting. I liked the talk which
Anand gave last year on solving Puzzles using Python (having gone through
its slides)

On Mon, Jul 8, 2013 at 11:55 AM, me kracekumar <me at kracekumar.com> wrote:

>
> Why I feel algorithm solving doesn't help community?
>
> 1. Algorithm problems aren't interesting for everyone. It feeds
> intellectual hunger. Why should I come to pycon india to do that when I can
> do it online?
>
> 2. How does solving algorithm help python community in india? If more
> people using python is the answer, then there are different easier ways to
> achieve the same goal.
>
>
> On Jul 8, 2013 11:16 AM, "pranjal mittal" <mittal.pranjal at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > [Algorithmic Sprint at PyCon - Discussion / Details : Lets call it
> "PyCode 2013"]
> >
> > I agree with @Noufal that Online competitions do have good internet
> connection as a bottleneck. But many colleges, & even small college
> departments are running Algorithmic competitions on-line successfully. So,
> I think it doesn't take much in giving a nice Algorithmic Challenge a try.
> > It works out best, if it can be managed by some volunteer or a company
> with a strong history in hosting such competitions. The competition can
> strongly associate itself with PyCon India 2013 and Python should be the
> de-facto programming language for this. (ie. Only Python solutions accepted)
> > It would be a great way to learn and compete using Python.
> >
> > Merits:
> > PyCon India 2013 reaches out to more people than who actually attend it.
> > Python becomes more popular as a language in solving algorithmic
> problems,also in campus interviews,etc
> >
> > How to host such a competition:
> >
> > It is not so hard to manage such a competition. Even teams of 2-3 people
> at college-departments are able to host such algorithmic competitions
> during technical festivals; so for the number of volunteers PyCon has seen
> this should not be hard.
> > I would love to do it personally, but already have too much
> responsibilities in hand, (have also volunteered in PyCon for other bit).
> Nevertheless, I can help setting up new problems and testing solutions if
> such a competition is hosted. I would need helping hands for arranging for
> such competition with partner organizations by talking to them and there
> could be a need for more problem setters too.
> >
> > Just as an example: Codechef offers simple guidelines on how non-profit
> organizations can host your their competition (without any cost)
> > http://www.codechef.com/hostyourcontest/apply/
> > Its just an example. There are more possibilities. Problem setters can
> restrict challenges to particular languages, set time limits (Option
> offered by most programming portals)
> >
> >
> > Encouraging Students, Programmers - Prizes:
> > PyCon India 2013 Smart-Coder Award / Certificate, T-Shirts can be
> awarded to people who lead such a competition, prizes can be shipped to
> winners. (Might need logistic / shipping partner companies for that)
> > I think a Logistics / Shipping partner would be required for more stuff
> too (Or not)?
> > Don't know much on this side. But if anyone can help in here would be
> great.
>
> I would be happy to give away prize to few individuals or college students
> who fixes a bug in open source projects like Flask, Django or core python
> which gets merged to upstream, helps the community growth and individual
> contribution to the community. This creates better community where there is
> a motivation for open source contributors. For example In algorithm
> challenge 30 people try to solve 3 algorithm problem, but if 30 people try
> to fix 10 bugs atleast or add new feature to open source project there is
> more measurable value for community.
>
> One use case for conducting algorithm or problem solving session in pycon
> is where sponsors want to hire. Here volunteers tie with business to make
> the process easier.
>
> I would love to here a talk how to solve algorithm problems with python
> effectively with tips like using itertools etc..
>
> >
> >
> > Best Regards,
> > - Pranjal
> >
> > P.S:
> > Maybe, I will write something more formally on this soon, giving further
> details on how to well organize such an event.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Jul 8, 2013 at 10:09 AM, Noufal Ibrahim <noufal at nibrahim.net.in>
> wrote:
> >>
> >> Sayan Chowdhury <sayan.chowdhury2012 at gmail.com> writes:
> >>
> >> >>
> >> >> Secondly, there could be some nice algorithmic challenges during
> PyCon
> >> >> itself, that would be interesting for school and college students.
> Since
> >> >> its PyCon, the only allowed language could be Python. Such
> challenges could
> >> >> be created with Spoj [2] or Codechef [3], etc
> >> >>
> >> >
> >> > HackerEarth[1] can conduct the online based algorithmic challenges
> during
> >> > the PyCon.
> >> >
> >> > [1] http://www.hackerearth.com/
> >>
> >> Online things usually depend on a solid internet connection. We always
> >> try to get this right but its a problem with too many variables and
> >> hence prone to be a disaster.
> >>
> >> --
> >> Cordially,
> >> Noufal
> >> http://nibrahim.net.in
> >> _______________________________________________
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> >> Inpycon at python.org
> >> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/inpycon
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Best Regards,
> > Pranjal Mittal
> > B.Tech.  2014
> > Indian Institute of Technology,BHU
> > Varanasi, U.P,
> > India
> >
> > GITHUB | LINKEIN | BLOG
> >
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> >
>
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-- 
Best Regards,
Pranjal Mittal
B.Tech.  2014
Indian Institute of Technology,BHU
Varanasi, U.P,
India
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