ACM ICPC Asia Amritapuri Site Regional 2015 Sponsored by IBM, Directi

hosted by Amrita Schools of Engineering

Amritapuri

Bengaluru

Coimbatore

CONTEST COOKBOOK

Contents About ACM ICPC ...................................................................................................................................... 4

Regional Contests: .............................................................................................................................. 4

ACM-ICPC World Finals: ...................................................................................................................... 4

Regional Contest Attendance ............................................................................................................. 5

About IBM ............................................................................................................................................... 5

About Directi ........................................................................................................................................... 5

Amrita University (Regional Site for ACM ICPC since 2005) .................................................................... 7

Sri Mata Amritanandamayi - The Guiding Light Of Amrita University ................................................ 7

About Amrita University ..................................................................................................................... 8

Who is Who ............................................................................................................................................. 9

Amritapuri: .......................................................................................................................................... 9

Bengaluru: ........................................................................................................................................... 9

Coimbatore ......................................................................................................................................... 9

How to reach Amritapuri Campus .......................................................................................................... 9

How to reach Bengaluru Campus ......................................................................................................... 10

How to reach Coimbatore Campus ....................................................................................................... 10

Important Dates .................................................................................................................................... 11

Practice Session..................................................................................................................................... 11

Transportation ...................................................................................................................................... 12

Accommodation .................................................................................................................................... 12

Food ...................................................................................................................................................... 12

Onsite Registration ............................................................................................................................... 12

Opening Ceremony ............................................................................................................................... 13

Practice Session..................................................................................................................................... 13

Contest Control System ........................................................................................................................ 13

Contest Arena ....................................................................................................................................... 14

Awards Ceremony ................................................................................................................................. 15

Excursion ............................................................................................................................................... 15

About ACM ICPC The ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) provides college students with opportunities to interact with students from other universities and to sharpen and demonstrate their problem-solving, programming, and teamwork skills. The contest provides a platform for ACM, industry, and academia to encourage and focus public attention on the next generation of computing professionals as they pursue excellence.

The ICPC is a two-tiered competition among teams of students representing institutions of higher education. Teams compete in Regional Contests, from which top scoring teams advance to the ACM-ICPC World Finals. As determined by the ICPC Executive Committee, Regional Contests are grouped into Super Regions. Super Regional

Champions and the overall ICPC World Champions are recognized at the ACM-ICPC World Finals. Gold, Silver, and Bronze medal winners are also recognized.

The ACM-ICPC World Finals and Regional Contests are organized and directed by their respective directors. The Director of Judging is responsible for the oversight of past contest problems and defining the problem domain. The Finals Chief Judge supervises judging and resolves judging exceptions during the World Finals. The Director of

Judging and Finals Chief Judge recruit and recommend judges and work together with them to formulate problems and establish judging criteria for the ACM-ICPC World Finals. Super Regional Directors are responsible for recruiting and recommending the appointment of Regional Contest Directors and coordinating their efforts with the ACM-ICPC World Finals.

Regional Contests: Regional Contests are held each year according to the Regional Contest Rules, typically no later than the Sunday following the third Saturday in November. Each Regional Contest is organized and operated by a Regional Contest

Steering Committee, chaired by a Regional Contest Director who appoints the members. At least one of the members must be a faculty or staff member from another university willing to host a Regional Contest in the future.

ACM-ICPC World Finals: The ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest World Finals, hereinafter called the “World Finals," is an event held each year, typically during the month of March. Teams competing in the World Finals are selected from teams competing in Regional Contests. The World Finals is organized and administered by the ICPC Executive

Director who also negotiates and arranges for World Finals facilities, activity meeting space, and hotel room accommodations.

The language of the Contest is English. All written contest materials will be in English. Additional languages may be used in regional contests. Terms which have undefined or different meanings outside the United States must be defined or redefined appropriately in that region's Region-Specific Rules. Rules may vary at the regional level to accommodate these differences.

Regional Contest Attendance All team members must attend all contest activities as specified by the regional contest director for that region. The coach is expected to attend or be available by phone during contest activities. Failure to attend any of the designated contest events will result in automatic disqualification and forfeiture of any scholarships and prizes.

About IBM IBM is a global sponsor to this exciting contest. The contest challenges students, working in three-person teams, to rely on their programming skills and creativity during a five-hour battle of logic, strategy, and mental endurance. Students solve complex problems using both traditional and new software development tools.

About Directi Corporate Profile

• Established in 1998

• 1000+ employees

• 25+ Internet Software Products for a Global audience

• 1,000,000+ Customers and 50,000+ channel partners

Directi (http://www.directi.com) is a group of Businesses, that develop innovative mass-market Web Products serving millions of Customers worldwide.

The combined Product Portfolio of various Directi businesses includes - Communication and Collaboration apps, Social Networking software, Instant messaging, Context Analysis Engines, Antispam and Antivirus Solutions, Large scale Billing and Provisioning platforms, Traffic Monetization Solutions, Online Advertising Solutions, DNS Management Products, Linux and Windows Server Management Software, Web Hosting Control Panels and much more.

Vision

"Everything the BYTE touches is our kingdom"

Our Vision statement is encapsulated in its entirety in the above quote.

The IT industry has seen more paradigm shifts than all other industries combined. Change is the only constant, with each new wave following the other in accelerated rapid succession. IBM rode on the wave of mainframe computing, while

Intel and Microsoft made their mark in the era of desktop computing.

Our vision is based on the Internet wave. The ability to transmit information at a ZERO cost opens up possibilities that never existed before. Individuals and Entities worldwide must adopt and adapt to a new way of doing business, learn new lessons, evolve their processes and leverage on the advantages and opportunities presented by a connected globe, in order to increase efficiency, remain competitive, and enhance quality of life.

It is our goal to build unique software, applications and services that leverage the internet and assist individuals and entities to communicate, collaborate and stay in touch

Our vision manifests itself in the form of myriad products and services that we have created, and will create in our lifetime.

Amrita University (Regional Site for ACM ICPC since 2005) Sri Mata Amritanandamayi - The Guiding Light Of Amrita University A renowned humanitarian leader and spiritual teacher, Sri Mata Amritanandamayi is the guiding light of Amrita University. Amma’s concept of education, stress on research and commitment to instilling universal values have come together to shape Amrita University into an institution where the latest advancements and discoveries combine with compassion and service-mindedness. As Mata Amritanandamayi said in 2010 when the State University of New York honored her with an honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters: “It is Amma’s prayer that we develop the expansive-mindedness to embrace both scientific knowledge and spiritual wisdom. We can no longer afford to see these two streams of knowledge as flowing in opposite directions. In truth, they complement one another. If we merge these streams, we will find that we are able to create a mighty river—a river whose waters can remove suffering and spread life to all of humanity.”

Aside from serving as the Chairperson of Amrita University, Mata Amritanandamayi also runs the vast humanitarian mission known as the Mata Amritanandamayi Math, the headquarters of which is home to one of Amrita University’s five campuses. A world-renowned institution, the Mata Amritanandamayi Math has built more than 45,000 homes for the homeless poor throughout India, is currently providing scholarships for more than 46,000 impoverished children, and has helped more than one lakh poverty-stricken women form self-help groups, and much more.

Mata Amritanandamayi is also a spiritual guide and teacher to millions throughout the world, giving people through her teachings and emotional support the strength to face the challenges of life with peace and mental equanimity. Her days are spent receiving thousands, placing men, women and children on her shoulder, addressing their concerns and instilling in them the confidence and inner strength to move forward in life. In this manner, more than 34 million people have come to Amma for her darshan.

“There are two types of education: education for a living and education for life. When we study in college, striving to become a doctor, a lawyer, or an engineer, that is education for a living. But education for life requires an understanding of the essential principles of spirituality; it is about gaining a deeper understanding of the world, our minds, our emotions, and ourselves. – Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi (Amma)”

About Amrita University Amrita University is a multi-campus, multi-disciplinary research university that is accredited 'A' by NAAC and is ranked as one of the best research universities in India. The university is spread across five campuses in three states of India - Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, with the University headquarters at Ettimadai, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. The university continuously collaborates with top US universities including Ivy league universities and top European universities for regular student exchange programs, and has emerged as one of the fastest growing institutions of higher learning in India.The university is managed by the Mata Amritanandamayi Math.

Established 13 January, 2003

Number of Campuses

5 (Amritapuri, Bangalore, Coimbatore, Kochi and Mysore)

Number of Schools

15 in disciplines like medicine, biotechnology, engineering, business, arts & sciences, ayurveda, social work, communication

Accreditation

Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham was placed in the top category by the Ministry of Human Resource Development's Deemed University Review Committee. As such, it is considered as one among the ivy-league Indian Universities such as IISc, TIFR, NIMHANS and BITS.

Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham has been accredited with an ‘A’ grade by NAAC, the statutory quality assurance agency of the Government of India. This is the best possible grade and all campuses and programmes were evaluated.

The Amrita Health Sciences campus was given ISO 9002-2000, NABH and NABL accreditation. The Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences is the only university teaching hospital in India with NABH accreditation.

University Mission As a university, our quality goals and objectives are to consistently achieve and maintain excellence in student performance with respect to grades, discipline, placement, extracurricular activities and social work.

Mission

• Provide value based education.

• Mould the character of the younger generation.

• Have a system of wholesome learning.

NOTE: “Wholesome” is conducive to moral or general well being in such a way that there is a match between their (younger generation’s) earnest endeavour to achieve progress and prosperity in life, and their ardent desire to extend selfless service to the society.

Who is Who ACM ICPC Asia Amritapuri Regional Contest Director, Anand Shenoi, anand@am.amrita.edu

Amritapuri: ACM ICPC Amritapuri Associate Site Coordinator(s): P K Binu, binu@am.amrita.edu

Bengaluru: Mr. M. Rajesh, Assistant Professor, m_rajesh@blr.amrita.edu Mr. A.A. Nippun Kumaar, Assistant Professor, aa_nippunkumaar@blr.amrita.edu

Coimbatore ACM ICPC Coimbatore Site Coordinator: Dr. Latha Parameswaran, Chairperson, p_latha@cb.amrita.edu ACM ICPC Coimbatore Associate Site Coordinator(s): Dr. Bagavathi Sivakumar, Vice-Chairman, pbsk@cb.amrita.edu Mr. Prashant R.Nair, Vice-Chairman, prashant@amrita.edu

How to reach Amritapuri Campus https://www.amrita.edu/campus/amritapuri/reach-us

Nestled in the picturesque village of Vallikavu, across the beautiful and famed backwaters of Kerala, is Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham's Amritapuri campus, blending into the natural setting

of the environment with its endless stretches of coconut palm groves. The Arabian Sea that borders Kerala on the west is only a few hundred meters from the campus.

Located close to the international headquarters of the Mata Amritanandamayi Math, the campus provides a learning environment that harmoniously blends science and spirituality. Students have a unique opportunity to nurture values and self-discipline. Over 90% of the students reside in hostels on campus.

How to reach Bengaluru Campus How to reach https://www.amrita.edu/campus/bengaluru/reach-us

The Amrita School of Engineering, Bengaluru offers B. Tech. programs in five disciplines and M. Tech. programs in six disciplines. The school seeks to prepare graduates with a solution-mindset and with a high degree of ethical standards. Recruiters from the best companies and institutes in India and abroad seek out these students. Highly-qualified and experienced faculty members, state-of-the-art facilities and the extensive industry-academia interaction all serve to make engineering education at Amrita’s Bengaluru campus a unique and enriching experience. The school has a faculty strength of nearly one hundred and fifty. Several faculty have come to Amrita with rich experience from leading organizations and universities. The school traces its roots to the Amrita Institute of Technology & Science that was started in 2002 with a vision to produce quality engineers with an attitude of service, for the benefit of the society and nation.

How to reach Coimbatore Campus How to reach https://www.amrita.edu/campus/coimbatore/reach-us

The beginnings of Amrita University can be traced to 1994 when a School of Engineering was started in an obscure village named Ettimadai, at the foothills of Bouluvanpatty ranges of the Western Ghats in the Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu.

At that time there were 120 students and 13 faculty members. Today, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham has five campuses in three different states of India. There is a student population of over 12,000 and faculty strength of nearly 1500. Over 120 UG, PG and doctoral programs are offered.

When Amrita became a university in January 2003, it was the youngest group of institutions to be conferred this status. As Amrita's first campus, Coimbatore is home to the administrative headquarters of Amrita University.

Schools of Engineering and Business in addition to Departments of Social Work and Communication are located on located on this campus. Research centers include AMBE, CEN, CES and Cybersecurity. The campus has nearly 3500 students and about 600 faculty and staff members.

This sprawling 400-acre campus is often likened to an oasis in a desert. Massive tree-planting and forestation activities undertaken over the past decade have converted the once-barren land into a lush green and beautiful place.

A lot of emphasis is placed on eco-friendly and conservation practices. Waste water from the hostels and faculty and staff quarters is treated using EM; no chemicals are used in the process. Organic fertilizers are made using vermi-compost, pesticides have been avoided since the very beginning. The tranquil surroundings, away from the pollution and the bustle of city life, are home to several exotic birds, including parrots and peacocks.

Important Dates 18th November – Last date to receive the registration fees. The teams shall fill the payment information by this date in the portal (link in the website). 30th November – Last date to cancel with 100% refund 5th December – Last date to cancel with 50% refund 5th December and later – No refund for cancellations Practice Sessions will start from the last week of November December 19 – Onsite Registration December 20, 21 – Onsite Contest December 22 – One day excursion. If you are interested in attending the one day excursion, please plan your return trip on 23rd. Travel charges would be between INR 500 – 600.

Practice Session Asia Amritapuri Site will conduct two or three practice sessions for teams participating at the Onsite Contest. The objective of conducing this practice sessions is to make the teams familiar with the contest environment. After each practice session, teams can give the feedback. This

will also help the contest managers to keep the software and other environment updated according to changes requested by the teams. Though not compulsory, the participation in the practice sessions is highly recommended.

Transportation The respective sites will arrange free transportation from the nearest railway / bus station. The bus timings will be published in the first / second week of December in the website. Team members are requested to visit the website http://amrita.edu/icpc for see the updates. Teams arriving at the airport may please take pre-paid taxi. However the transportation coordinator at each campus will try to arrange the vehicle at a nominal rate. But it will be subject to the availability of the vehicles. Contact information of the transportation coordinators will be updated in the website.

Accommodation Free Hostel accommodation is arranged for the teams, in each site. One team is given a room. Reserve also is accommodated along with the team. Two coaches are accommodated one room separately. Team members are requested to bring their own blankets. Room locks are provided at the site. However, if the members feel to have their own, it is permitted. Mattresses, Bed Sheet, Pillow, drinking water, is provided in the room. Team members arriving before 19th because of the ticket availability are also given accommodation though the official accommodation starts on 19th onwards only. Wi-Fi: Participants are eligible for free Wi-Fi access in the campus during the contest days. For this, they need to register their device at the IT Desk.

Food Serving of ICPC food starts from 19th noon, ending on 21st night. All dishes are vegetarian. Those who arrive before 19th noon or stay beyond 21st night, can take food from the campus canteens.

Onsite Registration (19th December 11:00 AM onwards) Onsite registration is very important for all the teams. Official ICPC Badges and Contestant Kit is issued to all the team members, including the reserves after the successful onsite registration process. Team members shall compulsorily bring their proof of identity failing by which the team is not allowed to participate in the contest. If the identity card is not available or issued, bona fide certificate, with the photograph, attested by the coach shall be submitted. Regional Contest Director reserves the right to cancel the registration of the team, in case if it is found that the information submitted by the team member is wrong or misleading. At least one of the team members shall represent the team and collect the contestant kit on or before 20th noon. A team of less than 3 members is not permitted to participate in the contest.

Opening Ceremony (20th December, 09:30 – 10:30 AM) All the participants are required to attend opening ceremony.

Practice Session One practice session is scheduled on 20th morning where all the teams are required to participate without fail. The required editors, compilers, debuggers, documentation, etc. shall be checked and verified at this time. Contest manager will give you the option to submit the feedback on the practice session. This helps the contest manager to get the systems ready with the software as requested by you. However, software configuration in all the computers will be the same.

Contest Control System DOMjudge (http://domjudge.org) is the contest control system used for the Asia Amritapuri Site Regional Contest. Teams can see the problems in the contest control system after the commencement of the contest. Problems shall be solved in C / C++ / Java. Claim of ambiguity or error in a problem statement shall be made only by submitting a clarification request to a judge. If the judges agree that an ambiguity or error exists, a clarification will be issued to all contestants. Any needs or queries related to contest arena may be asked of the lab volunteers (Interaction with the volunteers must be minimum). When the Jury responds to the clarification request, the team receives its "Clarification Request" with the answer. If the clarification request is incorrect or the answer is clear from the problem description, the Jury answers "No comments". If the Jury agrees that there is an ambiguity or error in the problem statement, a clarification is issued to all teams. During the contest, teams solve the posed problems. A solution is a program (single source file, not executable) on one of the allowed programming languages. Different problems may be solved using different programming languages.

1) Solutions are submitted for judging during the contest using the contest software. Solutions to problems that were submitted for judging are called runs. Immediately after submission of any run, the team may continue to work on other problems. A minimum time of 2 minutes between submission runs will be enforced.

2) Runs are NOT allowed to: • access the network; • work with any files except those explicitly specified in the problem statement; • attack system security; • execute other programs and create new processes; • change file system permissions; • work with sub directories; • create or manipulate any GUI items (windows, dialog boxes, etc); • work with external devices (sound, printer, etc); • do anything else that can stir up the evaluating process and the contest.

3. All submissions are open to scrutiny by anyone – in fact, we may publish all submissions on our website, where anyone may access them.

4. The solutions are run against multiple test cases and the first non-accepted verdict is displayed.

5. Run Evaluation: Each run is judged as accepted or rejected. o The run is evaluated by executing it on a secret set of tests, common for all teams. A run is accepted, only if it gives correct answers to all tests.

6. Evaluation is performed automatically, that is why a program should respect formats of input and output files described in the problem statement. If not explicitly stated otherwise, all input data are considered to be correct and satisfying all restrictions from the problem statement.

7. The time limit is the maximum execution time for the set of test.

8. Judging is automated, however, there is a chance that the judges may change the verdict and notified to the contestants.

9. The memory limit is the maximum amount of memory that a run may utilize.

10. Compile time error is not classified as error. It won't be penalized also.

11. The possible outcomes in the table are listed in their order of priority. For example, if run time error has occurred, then output is not checked.

12. Special Note: An invalid function is generated if main does not return 0, and this is considered an error. Invalid function may also be generated by contest software in other rare occasions as a catchall error when it does not quite know how to classify a submission with error.

Contest Arena 3) Teams may use 25 pages (or 12.5 double-sided sheets) of their own reference materials

in the contest arena. Print out of this material will be kept near the team workstation during the main contest. Teams are allowed to bring dictionaries to the contest arena, but that should be submitted during Onsite Registration.

4) The team shall be present in the Contest Arena before the contest begins (08:45 AM).

5) Contestants are not allowed to bring any machine-readable versions of software or data to the Contest Arena. Contestants are not allowed to bring any type of gadgets / electronic

6) Keep all discussions within the team. Communication between teams is NOT permitted during the contest. Only one member from team is permitted to go out of the contest arena at any given time.

7) Documentation for STL and Java is provided online at the workstation.

8) While the contest is scheduled for five hours, the Jury has the authority to alter the length of the contest in the event of unforeseen difficulties. Should the contest duration be altered, every attempt will be made to notify contestants in a timely and uniform manner.

9) A team may be disqualified by the Regional Contest Director for any activity that jeopardizes the contest such as dislodging extension cords, unauthorized modification of contest materials, or distracting behaviour.

10) Contest duration is for 5 hours.

Awards Ceremony Top teams are honoured with awards during the closing ceremony

Excursion All contestants are offered a one day excursion to the nearby places from the site venue. Excursion is paid, covering the travel and food expenses. Additional expenses are to be borne by the participants. The participation is confirmed on first come first serve basis. The registration form will be open by 10th of November. The cost is to be paid only on arrival, during the onsite registration. A maximum of 150 contestants can participate in the excursion.

Amritapuri: A one day excursion to enjoy the beautiful, scenic natural freshness of God’s own Country is being arranged by the contest organizers at Amritapuri. A visit to Thenmala Ecotourism project and Elephant Park at Konni (in Pathanamthitta district) is offered for the teams. A cost of INR 500/- for one contestant is estimated. This includes travel and food.

Bengaluru: A one day trip to the scenic and royal places in Mysore is chosen for the contestants participating at Bengaluru campus. The royal and historic Palace of Mysore, Srirangapatna Ranganathaswamy Temple, Mysore Zoo are in the menu. Cost is INR 700 including travel and food.

Coimbatore: This year, participants at Coimbatore site will get a good opportunity to visit the dam and crocodile farm. The location is a beautiful and natural place away from the Coimbatore city. The cost is 500/ head