APC Rules

Below are the rules for APC 2020. Especially section 4 about the contest is important this year, because we have changed some rules to enable an online contest. Specifically, we allow teams to consult the internet and use three systems simultaneously, but we do not allow teams to communicate with other teams during the contest.

1. Definitions APC: The Amsterdam Programming Contest 2020. It will take place online on November 14th, and is hosted by via, the study association for information studies at the University of Amsterdam.

Organisation: The members of the organising committee.

Jury: The group of people responsible for making the problems and checking the solutions submitted by the participants.

Tech: The group of people responsible for the system.

Crew: Organisation, members of the jury and tech.

Participant: Member of a participating team that competes in APC.

Run: The submission of a solution by a team.

2. Organisation
2.1 The organisation consists of students, alumni and staff of the University of Amsterdam
2.2 The organisation has formed a jury which consists of students, staff of different universities, and professionals from industry.
2.3 The organisation has formed the tech, a group which consists of students of the University of Amsterdam.

3. Participation
3.1 Introduction
3.1.1 Participation is only possible in teams of up to 3 persons.
3.1.2 Changing the composition of a team is only possible with the permission of the organisation and only before the start of the contest.
3.1.3 The organisation has the right to deny the participation of teams before the start of the contest.

4. The Contest
4.1 Introduction
4.1.1 The language of the Contest is English. All written contest materials will be in English.
4.1.2 The participants will participate in the competition from their own place and should ensure themselves that they have all necessary equipment to compete in this contest.

4.2 Problems
4.2.1 At least six problems will be posed. So far as possible, problems will avoid dependence on detailed knowledge of a particular applications area or particular contest language.
4.2.2 A contestant may submit a claim of ambiguity or error in a problem statement 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.
4.2.3 The jury has the right to change or withdraw problems during the contest. When this happens the jury will inform all teams.

4.3 System\ 4.3.1 Each team is allowed to use up to three computer systems simultaneously. The participants are responsible for ensuring that their systems have enough computing resources.
4.3.2 A solution has to be written in C, C++(11), Python 3 or Java (unless the problem statement explicitly states otherwise). Business teams can request other submission languages, on which the organisation will decide whether it will be made available for submission.
4.3.3 Participants are allowed to print and collect their prints, but should ensure themselves that they are in possession of the necessary printing equipment.
4.3.4 A team is allowed to bring any amount of physical or digital documents to their physical and/or digital workspace.
4.3.5 Participants are allowed to use all physical or digital equipment they have in their possession during the competition. This includes the use of software on a computer system.

4.4 Internet
4.4.1 A team is not allowed to communicate with any person that is not a team member or part of the organisation during the competition. Communicating with other teams during the competition is not allowed and will result in disqualification.
4.4.2 Participants are allowed to use the internet, as they desire, as long as they do not violate rule 4.4.1. For example allowed usage includes reading documentation online, searching for solutions on stack exchange or watching a Youtube video. Using code snippets from the internet is also allowed.
4.4.3 Team members can communicate with each other using the provided Discord server or any other communication service.

5.5 Judgement
6.5.1 Each run is judged as accepted or rejected by a judge, and the team is notified of the results.
5.5.2 For each problem, the jury has a correct solution and test data.
5.5.3 A problem is solved when it is accepted by the judges. The judges are solely responsible for accepting or rejecting runs.
5.5.4 The winner of a pool is decided by (in order):
1. The team with the most correctly solved problems.
2. The team with the least total time. The total time is the sum of the time consumed for each problem solved. The time consumed for a solved problem is the time elapsed from the beginning of the contest to the submittal of the accepted run plus 20 penalty minutes for every rejected run for that problem regardless of submittal time. There is no time consumed for a problem that is not solved.
3. The team that first submitted its last accepted problem is ranked higher. In case a tie still remains, the team that first submitted its second-last accepted problem is ranked higher, and so on. In the event that this does not resolve the tie, the ranks will be determined by chance.
5.5.5 The jury is responsible for everything that has to do with the problem set and can be contacted for this through the 'clarification requests'.

6. Special rules
6.1 A team may be disqualified by the organisation or jury for any activity that jeopardises the contest.
6.2 The organisation has the right to stop the contest, extend the contest time, temporarily block submissions for all teams or change the scores in exceptional conditions.
6.3 In situations to which no rule applies or there is ambiguity about the rules, the organisation decides.