Notes to Judges Last modified Tue Oct 30 12:55:41 2012

Read the Error Messages, Notes to Teams, and Notes to Sites right now.

Really, read those first. OK, now pass Go and collect $200.

Clarifications and corrections will be posted on the web at the top of the standings pages, so be sure to check the standings regularly, even if you have no scores to enter.

The judges distribution contains one subdirectory of mcpc2012 for each problem, which includes the description in HTML, the source code file, the input data file and a file capturing the output of the program. The CD contains a subdirectory called NOTES that includes the HTML source for these notes. The CD contains a subdirectory called JUDGE that includes the version of the judging utilities used in the last several contests. If you do not already have a tried-and-true method for judging, you might want to take a look at them. Instructions are provided in Using the Judging Utilities.  All the judges' solutions are copied into the directory mcpc2012/solDir. If you are using the judging utilities, all these solutions may be copied onto removable media and then tested with the judging utilities. Running the judges' solutions is good to see that they do not run too slowly with the judges' input on your computer.  

The judge's input and output files in the individual problem directories and the judging utilities are for a Windows environment. The unix subdirectory contains all the input and output files with unix newline '\n' rather than the two character Windows versions. This distinction is important for grading by exact output file matching.

All the textual information on the judges' CD can be viewed through a Web browser by accessing browse.html in the mcpc2012 directory installed by the judging utilities (or on the judges' CD itself).

Regardless of what judging method you use, remember the following (the included utilities take care of these details for you):

Each submitted run must be judged by at least two judges. This helps guard against procedural mistakes and ensures some dialog between judges. This is especially critical when choosing between Wrong Answer and Presentation Error, where there can be room for differences of opinion. Presentation errors are ancillary or non-essential mistakes. Sometimes it's easy to categorize presentation errors, sometimes not. For example, consider a program that is supposed to print 3.1415. If it prints 4.23, that is obviously a wrong answer. If it prints 3.14159, then it is a presentation error for printing too many digits. But what about if it prints 3? This could be from not printing enough digits, or it could be because the programmer used integers instead of real numbers, or it could be an incorrect algorithm. These are kinds of issues that require discussion. Unresolved or heavily debated issues should always be presented to the Head Judge, who is the final arbiter.

As in recent contests,

We have some notes about the problem set, including who wrote them and their relative difficulty.

We need fresh ideas. Please submit a problem! See http://mcpc.cigas.net/call_for_probs.html. 

Michael Goldwasser will be your regional contact during the contest. If you have any questions or corrections you can send him email at goldwamh AT slu DOT edu..