Upcoming Event: Snakeathon

It looks like we haven't used this blog in a little while.  Nevertheless, if you're wondering "whoa, I was subscribed to this via RSS?" we're still here.

And we're hosting a Snakeathon Game AI programming competition two weeks from now.  Details are available at git.to/snake.  Also, check out our flier:

Winners of PClassic 2009

In first place, with 47 points, was Holy Ghost Prep's team, consisting of:
Michael Conway
Martin Mena
Stefan Bossbaly
Thomas Cleary

In second place, with 40 points and an earlier submission time, was The Dalton School #1:
Will Mayner
Sarah Meyohas
Juliana Cherston
Alex Gliedeman-Adler

In third place, also with 40 points, was Friends Select:
Miles Frain
Nick Halbert
Haydn Dufrene
Jennifer Shen

Everyone at Penn is very thankful for the attendance of all teams this year.

Pictures from PClassic 2009

Philadelphia Classic 2009

PClassic 2009!

High School Teachers and Administrators,

I'd like to personally invite you to register a team for this year's
Philadelphia Classic (PClassic) Programming Contest to be held at the
University of Pennsylvania, on Saturday, February 21st, 2008. The
contest is designed and run by Penn undergrads in the Dining
Philosophers Computer Science Club. The contest is open to any high
school that can transport students to the Penn campus. The event is
tentatively scheduled for schools to arrive between 9am and 10am, and
for the contest to be complete by 4:30 or 5pm. A more detailed
schedule will be available as the date approaches.

The contest consists of teams of 4 students from a high school. (If
you are interested in bringing more than one team, please let us know)
There will be 8 programming questions, to be answered in Java. Points
are awarded for correct responses and speed is used to break ties. To
encourage teamwork and critical thinking, only one computer is used
for each team – students are encouraged to work out solutions on paper
first. Examples of questions can be found on our website,
http://dp.seas.upenn.edu/ In addition to the contest, we provide a
simple breakfast, lunch, t-shirts, and a tour and talk about Penn's
Computer Science and Engineering departments. Prizes and trophies will
also be awarded to the winners.

To register for the contest, please fill in the form located at
http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=pEHkWRTDiXT0XJv-3FHJgGg&hl=en

(If the form does not work, contact us at pclassic@gmail.com)

Also, keep an eye on our website http://dp.seas.upenn.edu/ for updates
and more information about the contest. (This website now contains the
feed from our blog located at penndp.blogspot.com)

If you are not the relevant contact for this message at your school, I
ask that you please forward this message to the appropriate teacher or
department head. In addition to Computer Science/Programming teachers
and students, we have seen registrations from math teachers, business
teachers, and technology departments in the past. If you know any
personnel at other schools who may be interested, feel free to forward
along this invitation.

A registration fee of $50 per team of 4 students is required on the
day of the contest. If this fee prevents your school from attending
the contest, please let me know at pclassic@gmail.com and we
may be able to make arrangements.

Questions? Feel free to contact our contest email address at
pclassic@gmail.com.
I'd be glad to help you with any concerns.

Matt Evans
President, Penn Dining Philosophers

Microsoft Techfest

Come check out Microsoft's Techfest on Tuesday 10/21 from 7-8pm in Wu-Chen Auditorium. Microsoft employees will be here showing off the newest and most exciting work that is being done at Microsoft and also to just hang out, meet, and chill with students.

New Member Event

Are you new to computer science and the department here at Penn?

Come join us on Thursday, October 16th at 8pm in Levine 315. We'll have food, drinks, and a good time waiting for you. Members of the Dining Philosophers, the premier computer science major club here at Penn, will be on hand to chat, explain what our club does, and how you can get involved.

Meeting Time

We will be meeting at 9pm in the Rodin mezzanine (usually sitting on the couches) every Wednesday for the Fall 2008 semester.

Weekly Question - Week 1 Solutions

The solutions for Week 1's question are now posted. You can find the answer for Queues here and the one for removing duplicates here.

Weekly Question 3

The new week's question is available here

We'll extend the deadline out to April 18th, 2008, since it's a hectic weekend for us on campus. Also, the question should be #3.

Pascal's Triangle

The question for this week is now available. Results from last week will be posted soon. Please submit all results to knichel@seas.upenn.edu