Types of problem in prog. contest October 1, 2009

there are only 16 types of programming contest problems! Furthermore, the top several comprise almost 80% of the problems seen at the IOI. Here they are:

* Dynamic Programming
* Greedy
* Complete Search
* Flood Fill
* Shortest Path
* Recursive Search Techniques
* Minimum Spanning Tree
* Knapsack
* Computational Geometry
* Network Flow
* Eulerian Path
* Two-Dimensional Convex Hull
* BigNums
* Heuristic Search
* Approximate Search
* Ad Hoc Problems

The most challenging problems are Combination Problems which involve a loop (combinations, subsets, etc.) around one of the above algorithms – or even a loop of one algorithm with another inside it. These seem extraordinarily tricky to get right, even though conceptually they are “obvious”.

If you can master solving just 40% of these problem types, you can almost guarantee a silver medal at the IOI. Mastering 80% moves you into the gold range almost for sure. Of course, `mastery’ is a tough nut to crack! We’ll be supplying a plethora of problems so that you can hone your skills in the quest for international fame.

source-baidu blog