Topcoder: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 01:10, 22 June 2018

Revision as of 07:08, 24 June 2018

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==History==

Topcoder was founded in 2001 by Jack Hughes, Chairman and Founder of the Tallan company.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="HuffPost-foudning" /><ref name=":1" /> The name was spelled as TopCoder prior to 2013. Originally, Topcoder ran regular competitive programming challenges, known as Single Round Matches or "SRMs." Each SRM was a timed, 1.5 hours algorithm competitions, in which contestants competed against each other to solve the same set of problems. The target audience was secondary and university or college students. High -value cash prizes ranging from $5k - $10k per match were secured from corporate sponsors and awarded to tournament winners in order to generated interest from the student community.<ref name=":0" />

As the community of designers, developers, data scientists and competitive programmers involved in Topcoder grew, the company started to offer software development services to 3rd party clients, contracting individual community members to work on specific tasks; though most of the revenue still came from consulting services provided to clients by Topcoder employees.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> From 2006 onwards, Topcoder also held design competitions, thus offering design services to their clients.<ref name=":0" /> In 2006 Topcoder also started to organize Marathon Matches (MM) – one week long algorithmic competitions.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web|url=https://www.topcoder.com/blog/marathon-match-how-it-all-began/|title=Marathon Matches: How They All Began|last=|first=|date=April 10, 2018|website=Topcoder Blog|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=April 12, 2018}}</ref><ref group="note" name=":0">The first Marathon Match at Topcoder took place from May 10 to May 17, 2006: <nowiki>https://community.topcoder.com/tc?module=MatchDetails&rd=10015</nowiki></ref>

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While the majority of community members participate in Topcoder challenges as regular competitors, those who become recognized for their performance, and involvement in community life (via communication in Topcoder forums, attending Topcoder events, etc.), are offered additional roles in the community, which include: copilots (technical coordinators of challenges), problem writers, reviewers, etc.<ref name=":3" /> Since the end of 2014 till the end of 2017 a Community Advisory Board (CAB) was selected from active community members for a one-year term to help improve communications between Topcoder company and its community.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.topcoder.com/blog/the-topcoder-community-advisory-board-is-finally-here/|title=The Topcoder Community Advisory Board is Finally Here!|last=|first=|date=October 31, 2014|work=Topcoder Blog|access-date=April 15, 2018|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://help.topcoder.com/hc/en-us/articles/115001040628-Topcoder-Community-Advisory-Board|title=Topcoder Community Advisory Board|last=|first=|date=February 9, 2018|website=Topcoder Help Center|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=April 15, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.topcoder.com/community/member-programs/topcoder-community-advisory-board/|title=2017 Community Advisory Board|last=|first=|date=|website=|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=April 15, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.topcoder.com/community/member-programs/cab-yearbook/|title=Community Advisory Board Yearbook|last=|first=|date=|website=|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=April 15, 2018}}</ref> In 2018 the CAB was replaced by the Topcoder MVP (Most Valuable Player) program.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.topcoder.com/blog/introducing-2018-topcoder-mvp-members/|title=Introducing the 2018 Topcoder MVP Members!|last=|first=|date=January 25, 2018|work=Topcoder Blog|access-date=April 15, 2018|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.topcoder.com/community/member-programs/mvp-program/|title=MVP Program|last=|first=|date=|website=|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=April 15, 2018}}</ref>

There are four primary segments of each Topcoder community, open to every member: Design, Development, Data Science, and Competitive Programming.<ref name=":3" /> Also, since the end of 2017, Topcoder, as a part of their Hybrid Crowd offering, creates sub-communities dedicated to specific clients / projects, The sub -communities may require members to meet additional eligibility criteria prior to joining.<ref name=":9" />

=== Design ===

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** '''Presentation Design''' – [[Infographic|Infographics]], print materials, powerpoint presentations.

Two special types of Topcoder design challenges are LUX (Live User Experience, 24 - 48 hours long) and RUX (Rapid User Experience, 3 days long). In both cases, larger prizes, compared to regular design challenges with the similar goals, are offered in exchange for the shorter timeline. Short timelines allow Topcoder managers to demonstrate to customers how crowd-sourcing works, on real cases, during live, few-days meetings with the clients.<ref name=":4" />

=== Development ===

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== Topcoder Open ==

[[Topcoder Open|Topcoder Open (TCO)]] is an annual design, software development, data science and competitive programming championship, organized by Topcoder, and hosted in different venues around the US. Each year, the most successful participants of each competition track included into TCO are selected and invited for a free one-week trip to on-site finals, where they compete for prizes, and also socialize with each other, helping to build community spritspirit among the most active members. In the first two years, 2001 and 2002, the tournament was titled TopCoder Invitational.

In addition to the main championship, from 2001 to 2007 Topcoder organized an annual TopCoder Collegiate Challenge tournament, for college students only. Also from 2007 to 2010, a TopCoder High School competition was held.

Since 2015, Topcoder Regional events have been held through the year in different countries.