Google Code Jam, European regional finals
On Monday I was at Google's London offices to see the European regional finals of . In cities across Europe developers were given mind-bending algorithmic problems to solve over an intense period of two hours. As the tension mounted they sat waiting in front of laptops watching the countdown, meanwhile webcams beamed live images of competitors in Munich, Krakow, Zurich and St Petersburg. Competitors came from Lithuania, Russian Federation, Krakow, London, Netherlands, Denmark, Spain, Portugal, France and Malaysia to take part.
The finalists were given 30 minutes to access any tools they required before having the internet disabled from their machines, also no speaking or communication tools were allowed. At the sound of a gong the problems flashed up on the screens and battle commenced! It was a serious business as around 40 guys had their hearts set on winning a trip to Mountain View, CA for the world finals on the 14th of November, the possibility of a very nice cash prize and recruitment opportunities.
Google say it's all about giving something back to the community and also talent spotting to recruit new developers into the Google fold. Code Jam has been running for 5 years and last year's winner, who now works in Google's Moscow office, designed this year's competition tool. The platform for the competition is not presently open source, but is being reviewed for open source release. Although no female developers made it into this round, Google say they have seen a significant increase in female registration from Code Jam 2006.
There were seven successful Code Jammers who will going through, good luck to them for the final in Mountain View in November!
