Rules
The EGOI Team Formation Test is 4-hour practical test. Contestants who do not show up by the reporting time will be disqualified. Early leave is not allowed.
The paper shall consist of 4 programming tasks, each carrying 100 points. The full mark of the paper is 400 points. Each task will be further divided into one or more subtasks. Each subtask may carry different points.
The paper will be in English language only. Verbal instructions will be given in Cantonese and English.
Contestants are not allowed to use any written or electronic resources (e.g. dictionaries, calculators) in the competition, except software provided (e.g. built-in calculator utility).
Submission of Solutions and Judging
Contestants should solve the tasks by writing programs using one of the allowed programming languages. They should submit their solution source codes through the Online Judge during the competition time. Contestants may submit at most once per task per 60 seconds, and at most 50 times per task.
Once the submission is received, the Online Judge will compile the source codes submitted by contestants, and then assess the compiled programs by testing them with a set of data unknown to the contestants. When judging is completed, usually within a few minutes, the contestant will receive feedback about the submission, including the type of error first encountered (if any) for each subtask. To score points for a subtask, contestants’ programs must be correct for all test cases in that subtask. A contestant’s final score will be the sum of points received from solved or partially-solved subtasks.
There is a small chance that the scores may change due to change of tests, or indeterminacy of the contestant’s submission. Indeterminacy may arise intentionally due to the use of random number generators, or unintentionally due to programming bugs or marginal running time. The Adjudicators reserve the right to re-evaluate submissions, and the final score will be that yielded by the final evaluation.
No extra time will be given even if the judging feedback is delayed or cannot be provided.
Programming Languages and Environment
Contestants shall implement their solutions in C++ (C++20).
Workstation
Each contestant will be assigned a workstation to connect to the competition Virtual Machine. Contestants must not exit the Virtual Machine environment to interact with the workstation.
While keyboard and mouse will be provided, contestants are recommended to bring one personal keyboard and one mouse for use in the competition. Wireless devices or devices that contain programmable keys, require installation of drivers, and mechanical keyboards fitted with “blue” switches (or equivalent) are not allowed. The adjudicators reserve the right to examine and disallow any device.
Virtual Machine
CPU: 4 vCPUs (implemented as 4 hyperthreads on 2 physical cores). Base frequency 2.5 GHz or higher.
Memory: 8 GB or higher
Disk space: At least 2 GB free space on local disk
Installed software
– Operating System: Debian 13 “Trixie”
– Display Manager: XFCE4
– Google Chrome for accessing the Online Judge and the built-in “Code” IDE
– Visual Studio Code (with C++, Python and Code Runner plugins)
– g++14 (default) and g++12
– python3.13
– gdb, vim, nano, zip, unzip
– C++ reference
– Python reference
The specific versions of the applications in the Virtual Machine may differ from the ones used for judging. Submitted programs will be compiled using the compilers and compilation flags specified in the Help page of the Online Judge.
Queries
During the competition, contestants are allowed to seek clarifications by using the Questions / Announcements feature. The invigilators will answer the clarification questions with one of the following:
– “No Comment/Please refer to task statement”
– “Invalid Question (not a Yes/No Question)”
– “Yes” or “No” – only when the task statement indeed contains an error or critical ambiguity. In such cases, the clarification will be announced to all contestants.
Assistance
If contestants wish to go to the toilet during the test, they must make a request using the Questions / Announcements feature. Contestants may only go to the toilet upon approval by the invigilators. The invigilators may reject any request that is deemed excessive, or if another contestant is visiting the toilet. It will be regarded as cheating if you leave the seat without the invigilator’s approval.