On 7th September two of our senior students took part in a programming competition at the University of Canterbury.

The contest was run country-wide with our talented coders earning points for programs that delivered the correct answers inside an acceptable time. This meant that they had to be reasonably skilled at creating efficient algorithms and checking for unexpected input.

Top competitors from this competition are invited to attend Code Camp, run in January of each year, where they are tutored further in the art of algorithm creation and good coding practice as well as how to wisely strategize which questions to answer first to give themselves the best chance of attaining a high score.

Such competitions are not for everyone. They do suit those students who work well under pressure and to a deadline. It does challenge them with three hours of constant thinking and problem solving.

Our boys had a good experience, although they did not place. They did, however, gain more experience in the art of writing good code. We congratulate them for their efforts and thank them for representing our school. They were certainly in good company on the day.

Pictures are Reuben Maddock and Emile Reiser-Fitzpartick – Year 12 DTP201 class

Ruth Davey