Welcome to the Macalester Site
On Saturday, October 31, 2009, Macalester will host 10 teams from 5 schools participating in the North Central Regional Programming Contest. This website is for those teams and their coaches, as a repository for information you might want or need about the contest environment and Macalester. Please contact the Site Director if you have questions not addressed here.
Contest Environment at Macalester
Contestants will use iMac computers running Mac OS X Leopard, not Snow Leopard!. Judging will also be done on Mac computers running Leopard, and with identical or compatible compilers.
Macalester supports Java, C, and C++, NOT Pascal
Contest computers will have the following environments or editors available:
- Eclipse, for Java, version Galileo 3.5.0
- Eclipse for C++, version Galileo 3.5.0
- BlueJ 2.5.0
- jEdit, version 4.3
- From within the terminal:
- emacs
- vi/vim
- nano
In addition to the compilers within Eclipse and BlueJ, the following compilers are available in the terminal:
- g++, gcc, version i686-apple-darwin9-gcc-4.0.1 and i686-apple-darwing9-g++-4.0.1
- javac version 1.5.0_16
We will provide a copy of JavaDocs on each contestant's computer.
Communication between judges and contestants will take place through the PC^2 software designed for programming contests like this one. Contest computers will be isolated from the Internet, and students will need to turn all cell phones, mp3 players, flash drives, CDs, and other electronic equipment over to their coaches before the contest.
NOTE: program submissions will be compiled and judged using g++, gcc, javac, and java, not Eclipse or BlueJ!
Directions to Macalester
I recommend that you use Google Maps to plan driving directions. Just bear in mind that you will most likely end up on Snelling Avenue, which runs north-south past the eastern edge of campus. You want to take Snelling to the southern end of campus.
Below is a campus map. On this map I have marked with green ovals parking areas you may use. The building marked with a blue oval is the Olin-Rice Science Center, where the contest will be held. There are doors on all four sides of the building, but some may not be unlocked on the weekend. The main doors on north and south sides of the building should be open.
The image below shows a floor plan of the main level of Olin-Rice, the 2nd floor. The building's entrances are marked with blue arrows, and most of the rooms we will be using during the contest are labeled.
Schedule for Contest Day
- Arrival and registration: 9:00am-9:30am, Smail Gallery, Olin-Rice Hall Teams should arrive before 9:30am. We will be assigning teams to rooms as they arrive, and handing out t-shirts and information sheets.
- Pre-contest meeting: 9:30am-10:15am, Smail Gallery, Olin-Rice Hall
At this meeting we will discuss the contest rules and procedures, and assign each team to a contest space. We will then run a very short practice contest, so every team can try out the computers and the PC^2 software. From the end of this meeting until the end of the contest, there must be no contact between coaches and their teams. - Lunch break: 10:15am to 11:15am
Students and coaches will have lunch provided for them in Olin-Rice. - Contest run: 11:30am to 4:30pm
Students should finish lunch by 11:15am so that they are ready for the contest to start promptly at 11:30am. During the contest snacks will be available at a central location. - Post-contest pizza: 4:30pm, Smail Gallery, Olin-Rice
Following the contest, any teams who wish can remain to have pizza and wait for the final results.