StackLeague Challengers Find May '22 Lightning Round Nerve-Wracking

 StackLeague Lightning Series - Bronze Category - May 24, 2022

I was able to join the Bronze Lightning Round for the month of May, together with seven other challengers. It was both exciting and nerve-wracking for everyone, as we all raced to finish two Bronze-level challenges within just one hour. 

What is the StackLeague Lightning Series?

Lightning Series are a by-invitation competition open only to challengers from the same Challenger Level. Gold-level challengers are disqualified. The Bronze Category is open only to Bronze-level challengers.

Why join the Lightning Series in addition to the other challenge categories?

The Lightning Series offers yet even more opportunities to win cash prizes and swag. The top 2 winners for Bronze Category will each receive ₱ 1,200 cash prize and a StackLeague T-shirt.

Results of the Lightning Series

The entire program was streamed live on YouTube. The official timer started at 6:30PM. Challengers had to solve two Bronze-level challenges within one hour. Below is a play-by-play coverage of the competition:

• 06:30PM - Only 6 players were on the leaderboard at first. Two other players seem to enter the challenge a little late.
  
                  - At first I was a little relieved that there were only 2 challenges to tackle. But upon reading both problems, my mind was panicking a little bit in trying to comprehend the problems and choose which one to solve first.
  
  
• 06:31PM - All 8 challengers were now on the board, all at 0 points.
  
                   - I've decided to work on the second challenge first, which I think was related to binary arithmetic.
  
  
• 06:34PM - Rankings still haven't moved with everyone still at zero.
  
                  - The clock is ticking, and I had to force myself out of my analysis paralysis. I started coding a naive solution, just to find momentum.
  
  
• 06:38PM - Still no change in rankings. So I thought I still have a chance to get ahead of everyone if I could just solve this one problem quickly. But then a challenger finally breaks through...
  
  
• 06:39PM - Finally Efren Mercado Jr secures the top spot with 50 points (1 out of 2 challenges solved).
  
  
• 06:44PM - Efren finishes both challenges and gets 100 points while others were still at zero points. It's now a battle for the second place.
  
  
• 06:48PM - My solution for problem number 2 worked with the small unit test but failed with the larger test data set. I couldn't figure out how to optimize my code. Maybe I should move on to the other problem, so that I can still beat the others for second place.
  
  
• 06:57PM - Aloever Dulay finishes his first problem (50 pts) and takes the second place.
  
  
  
• 06:58PM - Albert Francisco follows at 3rd place with 50 points as well.
  
                  - I tried to shift to problem #1 for a bit, but decided to go back to problem 2. At this point, I was just trying to at least not end with zero points.
  
  
• 07:05PM - I finally get a breakthrough with Problem #2. It turns out attempting to perform bitwise operations was naive, and had I known to do a simpler boolean operation, I would have finished earlier.
  
  
• 07:06PM - The leaderboard now has the first to fifth places filled: With Efren at 1st place (100pts); Aloever, Albert, and myself (Eliel) at 2nd, 3rd, and 4th places respectively (each with 50pts); Lorie Lie Cubid took 5th place with 13.64 points.
  
  
• 07:08PM - Albert Francisco finishes his 2nd challenge and snatches second place from Aloever. I started to work on the next challenge that apparently had to do with calculating pairwise distance.
  
  
• 07:14PM - Aloever increases his score to 54.55 and remains at 3rd place. No score movement for myself and the others.
  
  
• 07:15PM - Aloever finishes his second challenge and gains 100 points, securing 3rd place.
  
  
• 07:17PM - At this point the other challengers can actually give up, since only first and second place will get prizes. 
  
                  - But I pushed on, and I picked up my notebook and pen to draw and better visualize the challenge scenarios. I should've done this much earlier!
  
  
• 07:23PM - Jigger John Mendeja finally breaks through and scores 50 points (6th place)
  
                  - With only 7 minutes left, I hacked on, having gained clearer perspective of the problem.
  
  
• 07:24PM - I ran my code on both small and large data set, so that I could at least raise my score a bit more if it passed at least some of the tests if not all.
  
  
• 07:25PM - Only 5 minutes left, and I was still trying to figure out why the sum returned by my code was off by 4 compared to the expected answers.
  
  
• 07:26PM - I just subtracted 4 from my final answer - it worked! I finished both challenges and got 100 points at 4th place.
  
                  - There were no more score movements for the other challengers. Either they already gave up, or were still trying to solve the challenges.
  
  
• 07:30PM - The timer ends with Efren at 1st place and Albert at 2nd place. As for me, at least I wasn't last, and at least my score was 100.
  
  

Recognition of the Winners of the StackLeague Bronze Lightning Series

When interviewed, second place winner Albert Francisco laughed. "Nakakatawa lang... nanginginig kamay ko hanggang ngayon." He was still trembling due to the pressure and excitement of the Lightning Round. When asked what tips he would give to fellow challengers, he said, "Mag-isip muna talaga, wag muna agad code." Albert encourages challengers to think hard about the problem before diving into the solution. The first solution you come up with might be complicated, but when you try to first clarify the logic involved, a simpler solution will come to you. "Isipin muna ang algorithm tapos saka na i-code."

Efren Mercado Jr, a little bit more composed, said that he had fun with this round. He found the questions tricky but the solutions turned out to be simple. Efren suggests starting with the easier challenge first. The way the problem is stated is sometimes complicated to distract you from the real problem. In the end, the solution will be simple if you focus on the real meaning of the problem. Efren is already a professional and is already well-versed in coding.

What's next?

The May Playoffs happened on May 28, though I wasn't able to join this time. StackLeague offers many other ways to practice and improve coding skills. So just keep practicing, keep improving, and keep your eyes on the goal -- whether that goal be winning the cash prize, finding job opportunities, or improving your skills.

Top StackLeague Challengers for April Competed in Playoffs

StackLeague Monthly Playoff - April 30, 2022

Seventeen (17) challengers competed in this month's (April) qualifier round. The top qualifier for March took the top spot again in this month's StackLeague Playoff. Meanwhile, two new challengers won a spot in the April qualifier pool.

What is StackLeague Playoffs?

StackLeague is the first year-round programming tournament in the Philippines. Joining the tournament is free and open to all programming students, enthusiasts, and professionals. Participants solve various coding challenges to gain ranking and earn prizes. Every month there is a qualifier round open only to the weekly top 10 challengers for the month.  

Why join the StackLeague tournament?

There are many prizes and opportunities to network and find career opportunities. For starters, there are three (3) challenge levels -- Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Completing a level for the first time will earn you a corresponding prize:

• Completing Bronze level will earn you ₱ 100 prize.
• Completing Silver level will earn you another ₱ 100 prize.
• Completing Gold level will earn you ₱ 300 prize.

Additionally, being in the weekly top 10 on the leaderboard earns you an exclusive invitation to the monthly playoffs. There you can compete for a spot in the qualifying pool, and earn prizes:

• Top 1 winner: ₱ 5,000 prize.
• Top 2 winner: ₱ 3,000 prize.

Results of the April Playoffs

The StackLeague playoffs Zoom meeting was by-invitation only. But portions of the program were streamed live on YouTube:

• 10am - 11am: opening program
• 3pm - 4pm: closing program & recognition of winners

The official competition timer started at 10:30am. Challengers had to solve four (4) challenges of varying difficulties in the alloted 5-hour period. But it seems the high-performing players didn't need that much time, as many of them quickly climbed the leaderboard within minutes. Here is a rough timeline of how the leaderboard changed during the competition:

• 10:30am - everybody starts with 0 score
• 10:34am - 4 minutes into the game, Clyde and Lance grab the top 2 spots, with 10pts each.
• 10:39am - after 5 more minutes, John Eric Estrada already overtook Clyde at top place, while  John, Arvin, and Deniece snatch the 3rd, 4th, and 5th spots respectively, leaving Lance at 6th place.
• 10:42am - 11 of the 17 participants have already submitted at least one challenge solution. Lance grabs the 3rd place from John. Meanwhile, I just finished my first challenge, securing myself at 12th place.
• 10:44am - Eric Ramirez and Cyril Paolo Quitevis suddenly grab 4th and 5th place respectively.
• 10:52am - it's a tight race among the top 10 players, as these are the same top performers in the weekly leaderboards. Cyril rises to 2nd place, with only 4 points separating him and John Eric.
• 11:04am - while John Eric Estrada is still in 1st place, he's taking a bit longer to submit his next challenge. Meanwhile, Eric Ramirez climbs back to 3rd place, having previously dropped to 7th place.
• 11:11am - Eric Ramirez steals the top spot from John Eric Estrada. By this time I decided to focus on my next submission, so I wasn't able to watch the leaderboard for a few minutes.
• 11:38am - John Eric Estrada locks in his win for the day by achieving 100 points. 
• 12:06pm - the people at 5th place and below are slowly and quietly trying to regain their ranks, as by this time everyone is working on the more difficult challenges.
• 12:12pm - Eric Ramirez surprisingly rises back to 2nd place from 5th, and locks in his win with 100 points. Cyril Paolo Quitevis gets a breakthrough as he rises from 7th to 3rd place. 
• 12:46pm - by this time, the 1st to 4th places were pretty much locked in, each of them having gained 100 points already. The 5th place was also very close at 92.5. (Wow, do these beasts even eat lunch? 😅 )
• 12:53pm - while others were presumably taking a break (as there were no changes in their score), Arvin Tan sneaks in and secures 5th place with 100 points.

By around 1pm, I have also submitted 4 solutions, but I only perfected 2 of them. Nevertheless, resubmitting a challenge is allowed, for as long as you have not yet opted to "Finish" the playoff itself. So I tried to increase my score by improving my solution and resubmitting. By 2:44pm, I decided I've reached my limit for now. I guess my consolation is that in this playoff, I was 1 place higher than Danielle Meer, who is a consistent first-placer in the overall StackLeague leaderboard.

Recognition of the Winners of the StackLeague April Playoffs

John Eric Estrada won last month's playoffs, and he won again this April. Since he is already in the qualifier pool, the person next in line will get the spot. Eric Ramirez is automatically qualified, having finished at 2nd place. The qualifying spot was given to 3rd placer, Cyril Paolo Quitevis. When interviewed, Cyril shared that he found the final challenge very tricky. He had difficulty in solving it until he had a light bulb moment and finally understood the context of the problem. Looking back at the timeline, it seems that this Eureka moment occurred at around the 12:12pm mark.

Cyril also shared that the playoffs were a lot of fun, and adviced his fellow challengers: "tiwala lang" (have faith that you can do it). This was Cyril's first time to earn a spot in the qualifier pool, yet he already scored 100 points.

Better Luck / Practice Next Time

While some luck may be involved, for example in terms of the time factor (fastest to submit wins), winning StackLeague challenges depends more heavily on preparation and practice. 

StackLeague itself provides helpful resources so that challengers can improve their skills.

• The website has training courses to help prepare contestants to earn the most prizes.
• Just this April, mentorship sessions were also conducted, where Gold-level challengers helped beginners on how to level up.
• StackLeague also offers practice tests to help prepare for the actual challenges.
• Once you have unlocked at least Bronze level, you can take and retake challenges as many times as you want. Don't worry about not appearing on the leaderboard for now. Just be consistent in practicing, failing, and learning, and you will be in the top ranks soon.

Join StackLeague now!