Minnesota Computer Club

Winter Coding Challenge (WCC)

Minnesota Computer Club

Our Winter Coding Challenge (WCC) starts with the first puzzle release at 11:00:00 PM CST/UTC-6 on December 1st and ends at 12:00:01 AM CST/UTC-6 on January 1st. This allows for some extra time to complete as many puzzles as possible. After our competition ends the leaderboard will be frozen, but you can continue to work on the Advent of Code puzzles! Our competition is only based on the number of problems completed (stars acquired), unless there is a tie that needs to be broken.

Register

The 2023 Winter Coding Challenge has officially ended. The leaderboard for this year's competition has been frozen as we review the results. Thank you to everyone for your interest and participation!

Rules and Guidelines

Below are the few rules that we have for our competition.

  • Students may enter this competition as individuals, or as a team, but not both. It is up to the honor of the individual students not to cheat in this regard.
  • Teams can be up to three people only. No exceptions, not even for besties.
  • You can use any programming language you like. This competition is set up to be language-agnostic.
  • You may not share your solutions with anyone outside of your group. Again, it is up to the honor of the individual to maintain the integrity of the tournament.
  • Ties in the number of stars will be settled with AOC score (shortest time to complete puzzle).
  • Competitors may not use AI to solve problems for them.
    • The official Advent of Code (AoC) competition added a new rule this year about not using AI to get on the global leaderboard. You can read more about this new rule here.
    • Our Winter Coding Challenge is going to also add this new rule to the competition starting this year. We cannot stop you from using AI to help you understand components of a puzzle, but we ask that you do not use it to solve the puzzle for you. It is up to the honor of the individual students not to cheat in this regard. This challenge is all about learning and becoming a better programer with other students - using AI to solve puzzles for you doesn't achieve that.

Prizes

All students and teams with at least one star will also be entered for random prizes.

Top three competitors in each of the following categories (with at least 10 stars) will earn a prize.

  • High School Students
  • Middle School Students
  • High School with the Most Cumulative Stars (Sum of all Individuals & Teams for that school.)

There will be additional prizes for high school competitors.

  • 1st Place Individual: $100 Cash
  • 2nd Place Individual: $75 Cash
  • 3rd Place Individual: $50 Cash
  • 1st Place Team: $50 Cash (Split Between the Team Members)
  • 1st Place School: An engraving on a perpetual trophy to be displayed at their school.

Sponsors

This competition would not be possible without our generous sponsors! If your business would like to donate a prize and be listed as a sponsor of this competition below, please email [email protected].

Advent of Code Disclaimer

Every December the Rochester Computer Club hosts a programming competition for middle and high school students. There are 25 puzzles for students to solve. These puzzles are from the well-known Advent of Code. A puzzle is released at midnight EST/UTC-5 (11:00:00 PM CST/UTC-6) once per day starting on December 1st and continuing through December 25th.

Minnesota Computer Club is not associated with Advent of Code. All puzzles are property of Advent of Code.

View Advent of Code