Social networking Web site Facebook has announced that they will begin accepting registrations for the 2011 Hacker Cup, the first annual programming and puzzle solving contest open to software engineers, programmers, puzzle solvers and assorted hackers from around the world.Facebook said this week that registration for the multi-round contest, which was first announced in August, would begin on December 20. The company is planning three online rounds of puzzle solving in January, on the way to the world finals taking place at Facebook Headquarters in Palo Alto, California in March.
According to a FAQ about the contest, the first round of the contest will consist of three, 3-hour sub-rounds lasting from January 15, 2011 to January 16. The goal will be to winnow the participants down to 3,000 competitors who will advance to Online Round 2 (and win a T-shirt) on January 22. In that round, the participants will have three hours to solve a number of problem sets. The top scoring 300 participants get a T-shirt with the top 25 scorers winning cash prizes and advancing to the final round at Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto on March 11.
Facebook hasn’t announced what its challenges will look like, but refers the curious to a Puzzles page on the Facebook network that provides some warm up exercises – all logic, programming and math challenges of varying complexity.
The first place finisher will receive a cash prize of $5,000, the Hacker Cup trophy, and the glory that comes along with being crowned the first ever Facebook Hacker Cup world champion. Second and third place will receive $2,000 and $1,000 respectively. The remaining final round contestants will receive a $100 cash prize.
