Celebrating the SingleStore start[c]up Finals

This weekend SingleStore challenged some of the world’s best computer programmers in the finals of the inaugural SingleStore start[c]up competition. Similar to computer programming competitions held by Google and Facebook, SingleStore’s start[c]up showcased the best from around the world in a grueling 3 hour competition.

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SingleStore Engineers pieguy, nika, exod40, SkidanovAlex and dolphinigle created a complex problem set for contestants. Made up of binary search, pigeonhole principle, Grundy numbers, dynamic programming, and probabilities, these problems were meant to stump most engineers cold.  However, almost all contestants solved at least one problem, though no one was able to solve the final problem – a pieguy special that stumped everyone. To see the post-competition editorial, click here.

SingleStore’s executive chef, Daniel Norton, prepared steak, crab mashed potatoes, asparagus, and side salad with béarnaise sauce for lunch. It was a great time for contestants to relax and and review the solutions while anxiously awaiting the results.

And the winner is….

We wanted to change it up and make the prizes fun – so we picked money leis for the winners. Third place takes home $300, second place $600, and first place \$1,200. Here are the results from the competition:

• First place: Petr Mitrichev from Russia
• Second place: Lovro Puzar from Croatia
• Third place: Anton Lunyov from Ukraine

Petr Mitrichev had an impressive win by being the only contestant to finish with five problems. He has also won numerous events in the past, and has been a long-time veteran of competitive programming.

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Following the competition, SingleStore provided an afternoon of fun and games, with one lucky contestant taking home an 11” MacBook Air as the grand prize for the poker tournament. As part of SingleStore’s ongoing tradition, we served pie (made by pieguy himself) toward the end of the event to celebrate the fun and challenging start[c]up competition.

It was a great event overall,  and we want to thank all the contestants for participating from around the world. If you would like to participate next year, be sure to check back for the latest updates.