https://uwf-fang.github.io/competitive-programming/ Recent content in Competitive Programming on Ian Fang Hugo en-us https://uwf-fang.github.io/competitive-programming/seusa2025/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 https://uwf-fang.github.io/competitive-programming/seusa2025/ <span id="southeast-regional-contest-2025"></span> <h2 id="event-details">Event Details</h2> <ul> <li>Date: Nov. 8, 2025</li> <li>Location: University of West Florida, Pensacola, FL</li> <li>Hosted by: University of West Florida</li> <li>Results <ul> <li>Two UWF teams participated in Division 2.</li> <li>Both teams solved 5 problems.</li> </ul> </li> </ul> <h2 id="contest-and-solutions">Contest and solutions</h2> <p>Visit the <a href="https://nasouth25.kattis.com/contests">Southeast Regional 2025 contest on Kattis</a> for the scoreboard and full problem set. The combined <a href="../seusa2025-solutions/">2025 solution notes</a> cover the selected problems with explanations, code, and links to their original statements.</p> <h2 id="related-material">Related material</h2> <ul> <li><a href="../seusa2026/">2026 Southeast Regional Contest</a> </li> <li><a href="../icpc/">ICPC Division 2 preparation guide</a> </li> </ul> https://uwf-fang.github.io/competitive-programming/icpc/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 https://uwf-fang.github.io/competitive-programming/icpc/ <span id="international-collegiate-programming-contest"></span> <h2 id="introduction">Introduction</h2> <p>The International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) is a team programming competition. This guide helps UWF students prepare for <strong>Division 2 (D2) of the Southeast USA Regional</strong>. Start with problems you can solve using a scan, a frequency count, sorting, or a small search. Practice turning a correct idea into an accepted submission on a shared workstation.</p> <h3 id="levels-of-competition">Levels of competition</h3> <p>Students can start with local practice contests. The ICPC competition progresses through regionals and regional championships to the World Finals. This guide focuses on the Southeast Regional.</p> https://uwf-fang.github.io/competitive-programming/seusa2025-solutions/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 https://uwf-fang.github.io/competitive-programming/seusa2025-solutions/ <span id="southeast-regional-solutions-2025"></span> <p>The problem statements are linked from Kattis. The explanations below preserve the full solution notes and code for the selected UWF problems.</p> <h2 id="problem-a-snakeystring">Problem A — Snakey String</h2> <p><a href="https://open.kattis.com/problems/snakeystring">Open the original problem on Kattis</a> .</p> <p>Here is a <strong>simple explanation</strong> and a <strong>clean Python 3 solution</strong>.</p> <h3 id="a-solution">Solution</h3> <h4 id="a-explanation">Explanation</h4> <ul> <li>You are given an <strong>r × c</strong> grid.</li> <li><strong>Each column contains exactly ONE uppercase letter</strong> (the others are dots).</li> <li>To recover the original string, you just: <ol> <li>Look at <strong>each column from left to right</strong>.</li> <li>Find the <strong>uppercase letter</strong> in that column.</li> <li>Append it to the result.</li> </ol> </li> </ul> <p>That’s it—no actual snake traversal is needed because the puzzle guarantees exactly one letter per column.</p> https://uwf-fang.github.io/competitive-programming/trd/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 https://uwf-fang.github.io/competitive-programming/trd/ <p>Keep the Team Reference Document (TRD) open beside this guide. Find the topic in the PDF, work through the example here, then adapt the PDF&rsquo;s listing to a small problem. During timed practice, try finding the same listing from the PDF index alone. <a href="https://uwf-fang.github.io/downloads/icpc/icpc-d2-trd.pdf">Download the 25-page TRD</a> · <a href="../icpc/">ICPC Division 2 preparation guide</a> </p> <h2 id="page-1--read-the-index-and-notation">Page 1 · Read the index and notation</h2> <p>The page numbers below match the PDF&rsquo;s printed numbers. A listing often shows just the function or loop you need. Put it into the page 3 starter, declare and read the inputs it expects, and decide what to print. For example, a function that returns an index may need you to print that index plus one if the problem numbers positions from one.</p> https://uwf-fang.github.io/competitive-programming/seusa2026/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 https://uwf-fang.github.io/competitive-programming/seusa2026/ <span id="southeast-regional-contest-2026"></span> <h2 id="event-details">Event Details</h2> <ul> <li>Date: Nov. 7, 2026</li> <li>Location: Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL</li> <li>Hosted by: Florida State University</li> <li>Results <ul> <li>Two UWF teams participated in Division 2.</li> <li>The top UWF team solved 8 problems, earned gold in the FSU Division 2 section, and placed fourth in the regional Division 2 standings.</li> <li>Three teams solved 9 problems; UWF was the only team to solve 8, while every other team solved fewer than 8.</li> <li>The second UWF team solved 3 problems.</li> </ul> </li> </ul> <h2 id="contest-and-solutions">Contest and solutions</h2> <p>Visit the <a href="https://nasouth26.kattis.com/contests">Southeast Regional 2026 contest on Kattis</a> for the scoreboard and full problem set. The combined <a href="../seusa2026-solutions/">2026 solution notes</a> cover the selected problems with explanations, code, and links to their original statements; they are not a complete set of contest solutions.</p> https://uwf-fang.github.io/competitive-programming/seusa2026-solutions/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 https://uwf-fang.github.io/competitive-programming/seusa2026-solutions/ <span id="southeast-regional-solutions-2026"></span> <p>Each section connects a selected contest problem to its algorithm, explains why the algorithm works, and includes the provided Python implementation. Follow the Kattis link for the complete statement, input format, and constraints.</p> <h2 id="problem-a-whatisicpc">Problem A — What Really Is ICPC?</h2> <p><a href="https://open.kattis.com/problems/whatisicpc">Open the original problem on Kattis</a> .</p> <p><strong>Goal.</strong> Four words are proposed as an expansion of the acronym <code>ICPC</code>. Determine whether their first letters, read in the given order, form that acronym.</p>