engine - 6:07 pm on Dec 10, 2010 (gmt 0)

Facebook Announces 2011 Hacker Cup [facebook.com]

Hacking is a central part of Facebook's culture. Whether we're building the next big product at one of our Hackathons or creating a smarter search algorithm, we're always hacking to find a better way of doing things. We're starting the Hacker Cup to bring engineers from around the world together to compete in a multi-round programming competition. Contestants will have to successfully solve algorithmic-based problem statements to advance and are ranked by accuracy and speed. What: An annual algorithmic programming contest open to hackers from around the world. Where: Three online rounds with the finals at Facebook's headquarters in California. When: Registration opens December 20th with the three online rounds occurring throughout January 2011. World finals to follow. Finals: We'll pay to fly and accommodate the top 25 hackers from the 3rd online round out to our campus. Prizes: Of course! $5,000 USD and title as world champion to the top hacker, $2,000 for 2nd place, $1,000 for 3rd, and $100 for 4th through 25th. Awesome t-shirts for the top 300 hackers coming out of the second online round.