Top Competitive Coding Contests

Notable Competitive Coding/ Programming Contests on International Level are:

  • Facebook Hacker Cup
  • Google Code Jam
  • International Collegiate Programming Contest (ACM ICPC)
  • International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI)
  • Topcoder Open (TCO)
  • Yandex Cup
  • Google Hash Code
  • Google Kick Start
  • Indian Computing Olympiad

We will go through the key details of each competition now:

Facebook Hacker Cup

  • Organizer: Facebook
  • First year: 2011
  • Programming Languages: All programming language
  • Timeline: Every year (July to December)
  • Audience: Open to everyone
  • Participants: 30,000+
  • Level: International
  • Link: facebook.com/codingcompetitions/hacker-cup
  • Prize: $20,000 to the winner

Facebook Hacker Cup is an annual International Competitive Programming Contest funded and orgainized by Facebook and is open to all. There are 5 rounds where there are 25 coders in the Final round. The Winner receives $20,000.

Gennady Korotkevich has won Facebook Hacker Cup 4 times (2020, 2019, 2015, 2014).

Google Code Jam

  • Organizer: Google
  • First year: 2003
  • Programming Languages: All programming language
  • Timeline: March to August (every year)
  • Audience: Open to everyone
  • Participants: 35,500+
  • Level: International
  • Link: codingcompetitions.withgoogle.com/codejam
  • Prize: $15,000

Google Code Jam is one of the original Competitive Coding contests sponsored by a corporate on International level. It is organized by Google.

International Collegiate Programming Contest (ACM ICPC)

  • Organizer: ACM (1976 TO 2018), Baylor University
  • First year: 1976
  • Programming Languages: C, C++, Java, Kotlin, Python
  • Timeline: September to July (Annually)
  • Audience: Open to University students (2 attempts)
  • Participants: 50,000+
  • Level: International
  • Link: icpc.global/

International Collegiate Programming Contest is the most popular International Coding contests among University students. It was organized by ACM for several decades and now, it is independently managed.

International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI)

  • Organizer: The General Assembly (GA)
  • First year: 1989
  • Programming Languages: C++
  • Timeline: July to December every year
  • Audience: Secondary School students
  • Participants: 35,000+
  • Level: International
  • Link: ioinformatics.org/

IOI is one of five international science olympiads and one of the most popular International level Competitive coding contest for High School contests.

Topcoder Open (TCO)

  • Organizer: Topcoder
  • First year: 2001
  • Programming Languages: C++, Java, Python, C#.NET, VB.NET
  • Timeline: November every year
  • Audience: Open to everyone
  • Participants: 30,000+
  • Level: International
  • Link: tco20.topcoder.com/

Topcoder Open is an International contest organized by Topcoder which has several paths of which the "Algorithms" track is for Competitive Coders. This is a well recognized contest.
It organizes regional events across the World prior to the final event.

Yandex Cup

  • Organizer: Yandex
  • First year: 2011
  • Programming Languages: C++, Java, C#, C, Kotlin, Python
  • Timeline: October to November
  • Audience: Open to everyone
  • Participants: 25,000+
  • Level: International
  • Link: yandex.com/cup/algorithm
  • Prize: 300,000RUB + job at Yandex

Yandex Cup is an International contest organized by Yandex. It has several tracks of which Algorithms is the track for Competitive Programmers. There are 3 rounds: trial, qualifying and final.

Google Hash Code

Google Hash Code is an International contest organized by Google. This is a team based contest and is focused on solving engineering problems (mainly, real life applications of algorithms).

Google Kick Start

  • Organizer: Google
  • First year: 2014
  • Programming Languages: All programming languages
  • Timeline: All around the year
  • Audience: Open to everyone
  • Participants: 20,000+
  • Level: International
  • Link: codingcompetitions.withgoogle.com/kickstart
  • Prize: Career opportunities at Google

Google Kick Start is an International contest organized by Google mainly to open career opportunities at Google and make participants familiar with algorithmic problems.

Indian Computing Olympiad

  • Organizer: Indian Association for Research in Computing Science (IARCS)
  • First year: 2002
  • Programming Languages: C++
  • Timeline: December to June
  • Audience: High School students
  • Participants: 15,000+
  • Level: National
  • Link: iarcs.org.in/inoi/
  • Prize: Represent India for IOI

The Indian Computing Olympiad (ICO) is a nationwide competition organized annually by IARCS to form a team of 4 students who will represent India in IOI.

ICO is open to all school students in India with no lower age limit for participation. It is the most prestigious Competitive Coding contest.

If you are interested in Competitive Coding, you should stay updated of the above contests and compete when applicable. Best of Luck.