Frequently Asked Questions

Lower Division

Easier questions better suited for beginner programmers.

• FSU students who are enrolled in COP3014, COP3363, COP3330.
• Individuals with only an introductory programming background.

Upper Division

More difficult questions appropriate for experienced programmers.

• FSU students who have completed COP3330.
• FSU students who are enrolled in or have completed a CS course beyond those listed in Lower Division (typically Junior and Senior CS undergrads).
• Graduate CS students, CS Faculty, and experienced programmers

Those who qualify to register for the Lower Division are still welcome to register for the Upper Division.

Everyone is welcome! Most of our contestants are FSU students and teachers, but anyone with a valid email address may register and participate.

We recommend at least some early programming experience. You'll have access to official language documentation, but that's it. No Google, no StackOverflow.

A laptop and your charger for sure. We recommend some pens or pencils and paper to jot down your thoughts as you work to solve the questions.

In person contests are held in the Love Building (LOV) at FSU. The building's address can be found in this site's footer.

In Person Contests

The contest staff will direct you to a check-in station once doors open on contest day. Follow the on screen prompts at the check-in station to complete the process.

You will have the option of swiping your FSUCard or entering your registered email during check in. In order to use your FSUCard, you must complete the FSU number section of your profile in the Account Dashboard.

Virtual Contests

Check in is handled automatically by the contest staff.

No, team members must share a single computer, keyboard, mouse/touchpad, and display.

DOMjudge is an automated judge system to run programming contests. It has a mechanism to submit problem solutions, have them judged fully automatically and provides (web)interfaces for teams, the jury and the general public.

Teams are ranked by the number of questions they have solved. If multiple teams have answered the same number of questions, then they are ranked by a point system based on least total time to submit a correct solution for the questions, as well as fewest attempts to get the correct solution.

You receive points when you successfully solve a problem, and the amount of points is based on how many minutes since the contest has started. For every incorrect solution you submit, you receive a penalty of 20 minutes to your final score for that problem. You may submit as many times as you like, but EACH incorrect solution will add additional time penalties. For example, if you submit a correct solution to a problem 10 minutes after the contest has started, but submitted an incorrect solution beforehand, then your final score will be 30.

Teams who answer the same number of questions will be ranked on the lowest score, since it is based on time since the contest has started + time penalties per questions. This also means that you could have a "lower" score than another team who is ranked higher, however they solved more questions than your team, thus putting them ahead.

We allow solutions in C, C++, C#, Java, and Python 3.

Upon successful check in on contest day you will receive an email with your DOMjudge credentials. You may also view the credentials in the Team section of your Account Dashboard after checking in.

You can access the server by clicking on the 'Contest Server' link in the 'Resources' dropdown menu which is located in the top navigation bar above. Once the page loads, locate the 'Login' button in the top navigation bar, and enter the credentials you received upon check in.

In order to participate in the contest you must complete two steps:

• Create an account
• Join or create a team (solo teams are allowed)

Check out the Account and Teams sections of this FAQ for more information.

Nope! The contest is entirely free of charge to all participants.

Yes, there is a team registration deadline which appears on the homepage once it is set by the contest organizers. This deadline specifies the cut off for creating a contest team. Please refer to the I missed the registration deadline, can I still compete? question below for additional information.

Yes! You may do either of the following:

Join an existing (registered) team

You may join an already registered team even after the deadline and up until checking in to the contest. Simply follow the procedure in 'How do I join an existing team?'.

Join a walk-in team

We provide a limited number of walk-in teams for both divisions which are available on contest day on a first come first served basis.

• You can be assigned a walk-in team by selecting 'No' at the registered teams prompt during check in.
• If multiple people want to join the same walk-in team, one person must first check in and select 'No' at the registered teams prompt. After they are added to a walk-in team, they must then share the team's PIN, located in the Account Dashboard, with their group. The remaining individuals should follow the procedure outlined in 'How do I join an existing team?' before checking in.

Click the Register link in the top navigation bar. Once created, you will need to activate you account by following the instructions in the activation email sent to the address you provided.

If an account activation email does not show up in your inbox or spam/junk email folder within several minutes after creating your account, then reach out to the contest staff. Contact information is available here.

After creating your account and activating it, head over to your Account Dashboard. From there you first need to add your FSU ID to your profile by clicking 'Edit' in the Profile section. Then, locate the Courses section in your Account Dashboard, and click 'Add'. You will be presented with a list of courses which have been confirmed by the contest organizers. Click the selection box of any available course in which you are currently registered, and then click the 'Select' button.

Don't worry! We add courses only as we receive confirmation from the course instructor. If your course isn't listed, first confirm with your instructor that they are indeed offering extra credit for participation. If they are, and have sent our team a confirmation, then please be patient as our contest admin team is small! We will post annoucements as new courses are added.

Teams are used to generate the user accounts for our DOMjudge judging platform. In order to access DOMjudge and submit code solutions, your account must be tied to a team. Once your contest account is created and verified, you can choose to either create or join a team from the Account Dashboard.

In your Account Dashboard, locate the Team section. If you have not yet joined a team, you will see buttons to 'Join registered team' and 'Create new team'. Click the create button, and a form will load where you can enter a team name, and select the division in which your team will compete. Once you click Submit your team will be created, and you will be set as the team admin.

As the team admin, you will be able to see the team's PIN, which you can share with others you wish to join your team.

In your Account Dashboard, locate the Team section. If you have not yet joined a team, you will see buttons to 'Join registered team' and 'Create new team'. Click the join button, and a form will load where you can select a team name from a dropdown menu of all currently registered teams.

You will need to provide the team PIN which must be obtained from the team admin. Currently, you must coordinate with the team admin outside of the registration platform. Once you click Submit, assuming you have provided the correct PIN, you will be added to the team.

We allow teams of one, two, or three contestants.

In short, yes. We use a one to one mapping of contest teams to DOMjudge user accounts. Therefore a team with multiple members will share a single set of DOMjudge credentials. Additionally, the number of correctly answered questions in DOMjudge is mapped back to the contest team, which is then used in processing participation for extra credit.

A team admin is the member who is able to manage a registered team. The person who creates the team will automatically be assigned as its admin, and there is only one admin per team. They are able to:

• Update the team's name
• Change the team's division
• View the team's PIN
• Kick team members
• Delete the team

If the team admin decides to leave the team, the role will be assigned to another team member.

This optional extension of a contest registration is designed to help you connect with other registrants who are actively seeking teammates. Upon enrollment and verification you will be able to view other active LFG participants in your LFG dashboard, as well as use the ACM at FSU Discord server's dedicated LFG channels to chat with other LFG participants within your preferred division.

1. Log in and head over to your LFG Dashboard. You can find a link to the dashboard in the dropdown navigation bar menu under your name.
2. Add your full Discord username (username + discriminator), preferred division, and standing to your LFG profile.
   • The discriminator is the 4 digit number following the # in a Discord username.
   • All fields must be complete in order to use the LFG service.
3. Join ACM at FSU's Discord server, if you are not already a member.
   • You must be a member of the server in order to activate your LFG profile.
   • A link to join the server is on our Contact Us page.

Profile Incomplete

• At least one of the fields in your LFG Profile is blank.
• All fields must be completed in order to proceed to the verification step.

Verification Pending

• Your profile is complete and the Discord username you entered is pending verification by our server.
• The Discord account attached to the username you entered must be a member of ACM at FSU's Discord server. A link to join the server is on our Contact Us page.

Inactive, Verified

• Your profile is verified and you may begin participating by clicking the 'Activate' button.

Active

• You are currently participating in the LFG service.
• Your profile will be visible in the division table of the preferred division you selected, and you will be added to the relevant LFG channel in the ACM at FSU Discord server.
  • If you update your preferred division while your profile is active, you will automatically be reassigned both in the preferred division table and in the ACM at FSU Discord server.
• You can manually deactivate your profile by checking the 'Deactivate' button.
  • You can subsequently reactivate your profile.

It can take up to 45 minutes for your LFG profile to be verified, as we periodically check for new server members.

Your LFG Profile will become inactive once you are a member of a three person team. You can reactivate your profile if you leave the team or if the member total drops below three.

Additionally, your profile will be scheduled for reverification if you update your profile's Discord username or discriminator fields after completing an initial verification.

The preferred division you select determines which LFG Discord channel you will be able to access once your LFG Profile is verified and activated. You may select either division regardless of the standing you select.

If you intend to seek extra credit in your registered courses, it is strongly encouraged for you to select the division in which you will need to compete in order to receive those points. Please reference the Contest section of this FAQ for additional information regarding division selection.