Top 15 Websites for Coding Challenges and Competitions

Starting the journey of programming and competitive coding, every coder wants to test himself/herself in the waters. To do so, he/she has to participate in various competitive coding challenges and competitions. But the challenge that every coder faces in the beginning of the journey is which website to go for such coding challenges and competitions, which is the best website for coding competitions, what is the benefit of attending a competitive coding competition, and many more.

In this article, we have addressed the questions that you face in such situations and curated a list of top 15 websites for coding challenges and competitions. If you are about to begin your coding journey, we recommend you to refer to this article for a complete reference of the opportunities you can take advantage of using the mentioned websites for coding challenges and competitions.

Here are the top 15 coding websites/contests for competitive programming:

1. GeeksForGeeks

GeeksForGeeks organizes a bunch of programming contests every month through the practice portal which includes a number of job-a-thons for freshers to get hiring opportunities in a significant number of companies. Besides, there are many other monthly, weekly and daily basis challenges hosted regularly on the websites such as:

• Monthly Job-a-thon: It is a contest for individual participants. Participants get the opportunity to get hired by a bunch of companies that shortlist for interviews as per their own criteria.
• Bi-Wizard Coding: A coding competition exclusively for students. The top 100 students get chances of winning exciting rewards and also access to free courses.
• Aim GATE: A monthly challenge that is a great opportunity for GATE aspirants to judge their preparations.
• Interview Series: A weekly challenge that gives a great opportunity for aspirants to practice a lot of questions based on important data structure and algorithms concepts for the preparation of interviews.
• Problem of the Day: A new problem every day to strengthen the base of data structure and algorithm.

The key features about the contests are as follows:

• Chances of winning exciting rewards, GeeksForGeeks merchandise.
• Access to free courses.
• Chances of getting letter of recommendation from the CEO.

2.  The ACM-ICPC International Collegiate Programming Competitions

The International Collegiate Programming Contest is an algorithmic programming contest for college students. Teams of three, representing their university, work to solve the most real-world problems, fostering collaboration, creativity, innovation, and the ability to perform under pressure. Through training and competition, teams challenge each other to raise the bar on the possibility. Quite simply, it is the oldest, largest, and most prestigious programming contest in the world. Some interesting stats about ACM-ICPC are:

• It is spread across 80 countries
• The registration for the contest in India starts generally in August.
• The regionals in India are held generally in December
• The winner of the world finals gets an award of $15000, each continental champion also receives awards. There are also prizes for being the first solver of a problem

Refer to our complete guide on How to prepare for ACM – ICPC to begin your ACM-ICPC journey.

3. Google Kick Start

Google Kick Start is a global online coding competition, consisting of three-hour rounds of a variety of algorithmic challenges designed by Google engineers. Participants can compete in one or all online rounds held throughout the year, and will have the opportunity to develop and grow their programming abilities while getting a glimpse into the technical skills needed for a career at Google. Some important facts about Google Kick Start are:

• It consists of 8 online coding rounds.
• The winner gets cash prizes.
• Top participants may be invited to interview at Google.

Refer to our complete guide on How to prepare for Google Kick Start to begin your Google Kick Start journey.

4. Google Code Jam

Google Code Jam is Google’s prestigious coding competition, a global battleground that urges all programmers to showcase their coding skills. A thrilling opportunity for all code-lovers, Google Coding Jam is a one-of-a-kind platform where programmers are pitted against each other and against time by putting their coding skills to the test. The champion gets the coveted Google Code Jam winning title and cash prize of $15,000!

The Google Coding Jam comprises several rounds and a Code Jam World final. Each round brings with it challenging algorithmic problems; contestants have to pass each of these preliminary rounds, and finally, a total of 25 coding wizards reach the end game to fight for the cherished champion’s title.

You can also see and try previous year’s problems from our Google Code Jam archive page.

5. Google Hash Code

Hash Code is a team programming competition, organized by Google, for students and professionals around the world. You pick your team and programming language and we pick an engineering problem for you to solve. This year’s contest kicks off with a Qualification Round, where your team can compete virtually from wherever you’d like, alongside your virtual Hub. Top teams will then be invited to compete in our virtual World Finals. Some facts about Google Hash Code are:

• Registration generally starts in February.
• Winners get cash prize of $4000.

You can also see and try previous year’s problems from their Google Hash Code archive page.

6. The ICFP Programming Competitions

The International Conference on Functional Programming (ICFP) has been held annually since 1998. It is a challenging three-day open programming competition for which there is no entry fee. The enthusiast can participate from any location without any size limit for team formation. The team will be given 72 hours to complete and submit their entry through the internet. The aim of this competition is to showcase the programming languages and tools that the participants admire the most. This is one of the top programming competitions to apply for. 
The ICFP for 2022 will be from 11th to 16th September.

7. Facebook Hacker Cup

Hacker Cup is Facebook’s annual open programming competition which is open across the world for participants. This is one of the top programming competitions to apply for. These coding competitions focus on problem-solving and algorithmic coding skills to advance through every year’s online rounds, and after making it to the global finals they will be earning the grand prize. Some facts about Facebook Hacker Cup:

• It consists of 4 online rounds which include Qualification round, round 1, round 2, round 3 and one onsite final round.
• All of the 25 finalists get cash prizes.

Refer to our complete guide on How to prepare for Facebook Hacker Cup to begin your Facebook Hacker Cup journey.

8. Microsoft Imagine Cup

Microsoft Imagine Cup is held annually. The program invites participants to take on real-world problems that are submitted by NGOs, IGOs, and nonprofit organizations that can then take on as part of the Imagine Cup project. The main idea behind conducting such coding competitions and programming competitions is to code with a purpose that can help create new solutions. Some important facts about Microsoft Imagine Cup:

• You must be at least 16 years old and actively registered as a student.
• Students participate in a team of maximum 4 persons.
• There are cash prizes and other benefits like training and mentorship from experts for global finalists.
• There are also three regional finals.

9. Codeforces Coding Competitions

Codeforces is a website that hosts competitive programming competitions. It is one of the most popular websites for its exciting features. This is one of the top programming competitions to apply for. The polygon feature for creating and testing problems and social networking through internal public blogs. The participants are divided into ranks based on their ratings.

The best thing about Codeforces is that the contests are regularly conducted here as every month they organize nearly 6 contests. Also, participation in the contests is free and open to everybody.

 Codeforces offers various types of coding challenges and features such as:

• Short format Contests with a duration of 2 hours.
• Educational Contests of 2-2.5 hours duration are conducted 2-4 times in a month.
• You can challenge or hack other contestants’ solutions as well.
• You can also solve problems from previous contests for learning objectives.

Refer to our complete guide on Best Tips to Get Started with Codeforces to begin your Codeforces journey.

10. Codechef Coding Competitions

CodeChef organizes programming competitions at the start of every month and conducts two smaller programming contests at the middle and end of the month. It also offers various algorithm tutorials and forum discussions to help your journey in computer programming more easily.

There are four types of contest Codechef host:

• The Starters
• The Long Challenge
• The Cook-Off
• The LunchTime

Refer to our complete guide on How to become a 4 star coder on Codechef in only 3 contests to help you kickstart your Codechef journey.

11. Topcoder Coding Competitions

Topcoder is a crowdsourcing company with a global community of developers, designers, data scientists, and competitive programmers. These coding competitions are conducted twice a year and are held both online and offline. The participants take challenges from across the world from all the leading brands such as Google, IBM, and eBay. They also conduct individual matches online every week that can help participants gain experience and do well in the competition.

12. Atcoder Coding Competitions

AtCoder is a programming contest website based in Japan. From this weekend, we will provide problem statements in both English and Japanese and AtCoder will be an international programming competition!
There are three types of official contests in AtCoder:

• AtCoder Grand Contest (AGC). This is our best contest. The problems will have high originality and require interesting observations.
• AtCoder Regular Contest (ARC). The problems may be a bit typical compared to AGC problems, but still, we think most of you can enjoy them and they are good for practice.
• AtCoder Beginner Contest (ABC). This is mainly targeted at those who are new to competitive programming. The problems will be easy and educational.

13. HackerEarth

HackerEarth is an Indian software company headquartered in San Francisco, US, that provides enterprise software that helps organizations with their technical hiring needs. HackerEarth is used by organizations for technical skill assessment and remote video interviewing.
All challenges organized by HackerEarth are listed on the Challenges Page. These challenges can be divided into the following categories. Monthly Programming Contests: Currently they have 3 monthly contests based on difficulty level. 1st of every month from 21:30 IST (16:00 UTC) to Midnight for a duration of 2 hours & 30 minutes.
The website offers thoughtful challenges mostly good for experienced programmers. They host monthly coding challenges and hackathons. Their challenge Code Monk is quite popular among programmers. ThoughtWorks, Amazon, Accenture, Walmart Labs, IBM, and Intuit are some leading companies of HackerEarth.

14. HackerRank

HackerRank is a competitive coding platform where it allows you to practice various coding problems and participate in many challenges. It provides various hackathons, and coding challenges and some companies conduct their hiring test here. The platform also gives you badges by solving challenges on the HackerRank website, and these badges will be added to your profile. This is one of the top programming competitions to apply for.

15. Leetcode

Leetcode is one of the largest tech communities with more than millions of active users. It offers various weekly and biweekly programming competitions for the participants. This also helps in job interview preparation; discussions are also provided on LeetCode. It hosts contests for 90 minutes where you can solve the challenges in their online editor, aka, playground in any one of the supported programming languages.

Conclusion:

Though the above mentioned coding websites are very common, there are other websites as well that are widely used by other users worldwide for coding practice and challenges, such as:

• SPOJ
• Khan Academy
• LintCode
• and many others.

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