The SA Computer Olympiad has announced the 2018 Coding Olympiad, It is a problem solving contest for learners who can write code.
The Olympiad aims to influence learners to grow their coding skills.
Participation is free, and incentives include certificates – and for the finals there are prizes and medals.
Accommodation and travel will be arranged and paid for by the Olympiad office.
The first round is at school in the week 13-17 August. Learners solve three problems in an hour.
The top 50% per age group nationwide receive certificates – gold, silver and bronze. Achievement is recognised at three ‘age’ levels.
Those who perform well are invited to a second round on 5 September. This round is also at school and participants have one-and-a-half hours to write programs to solve four problems. In this round certificates are awarded to positions one, two and three per province.
The top 10 to 15 finalists will then compete at the Standard Bank Global Leadership Centre in Johannesburg on 29 and 30 September, with a gala awards dinner on 1 October, with all expenses paid.
Four of this year’s finalists will be sponsored to compete internationally in Azerbaijan in 2019.
Olympiad manager Michael Cameron says: “All who enter can have fun working out the answers. The challenge is to write a simple program to make the computer do the hard work.
“To succeed you first solve a logic problem (read carefully, and plan clearly) and then code up a program to solve the problem (any computer language for the first round).”
Any school can enter via the website www.olympiad.org.za.