Looking back, dated the day after the camp at HPI.
Bundeswettbewerb Informatik: two first prizes in round one, and a weekend at HPI
Three years of Germany's Federal Computer Science Competition: what the homework round asks for, what I got out of it, and how a camp in Potsdam became my first contact with HPI.
The Bundeswettbewerb Informatik has no exam hall. Round one is homework: five tasks, several weeks, and at the end you hand in code plus a written explanation of why it works.
I took part three years in a row. In 2021/22 I simply took part. In 2022/23 I got a first prize in round one, which is the highest level that round has, and went on to round two in May 2023. In 2023/24 I got a first prize in round one again and qualified for round two a second time.
It is not a medal story. Around 1,500 to 1,700 students enter round one each year, and the final has about 30 places. I never got there. What I got instead was a habit.
Round one asks for three things at once: an algorithm, an implementation and documentation. A solution that only its author understands is worth little there. You describe the idea, argue why it is correct, and show examples. And because the round runs over months next to school, it also asks for stamina. Algorithms and data structures, clean write-ups, staying on a problem: that is what these three years trained.
At the end of January 2024 I was at the Fit for BWInf camp at the Hasso Plattner Institute in Potsdam, three days from 26 to 28 January. Hard algorithmic problems, a lot of dynamic programming, and working and presenting in teams. It was also meant as study orientation, and for me it worked as one. It was my first contact with the institute.
Note added later: in October 2024 I started my bachelor’s at HPI.