Learn more about the world's premier programming competition
The International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) is the oldest, largest, and most prestigious programming contest in the world. The contest traces its roots to a competition held at Texas A&M University in 1970 hosted by the Alpha Chapter of the UPE Computer Science Honor Society.
The ICPC is a team-based programming competition with a rich history spanning decades. Teams of three students work together to solve real-world problems, with a focus on algorithms, data structures, and computational thinking.
The contest provides college students with opportunities to interact with students from other universities and to sharpen and demonstrate their problem-solving, programming, and teamwork skills. The contest provides a platform for industry to see leading students in action and to communicate with them regarding employment opportunities.
A brief timeline of the competition's evolution
The first competition is held at Texas A&M University, with teams from the United States competing.
The competition expands internationally with the addition of teams from Canada.
The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) becomes the sponsor of the competition.
The first World Finals held outside the US takes place in San Jose, California.
The competition expands to include regional contests in Asia, Europe, and other continents.
A record 46,381 students from 2,948 universities in 103 countries participate.
The competition continues to grow, with more universities and countries participating each year.
Common questions about the ICPC competition
Winners from past World Finals
Peking University
Continued their dominance. Solved 9 problems to claim the championship title.
National Research University Higher School of Economics
Solved 9 problems to claim the championship title with less penalty points than Peking University
Peking University
Solved 9 problems to claim the championship.