codingquest

Coding Quest exists to allow students to develop and showcase their programming and problem solving skills. Use of tools that trivialise problems, such as generative AI, is discouraged. Participants are asked to honour the spirit of the event in this regard.

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2024 challenge is open!

Coding quest will return in 2024 from Monday 4th March to Friday 15th March. Set your reminders now and see you then!

Those who attempted Mining tunnels and got stuck, please check the question again for a corrective update

Sincere apologies to those who spent two hours working on day 10. There was an error in the problem that was not caught in the problem validation process, so I have deleted the problem. The validation process was too ad-hoc this year and it showed. I will recruit testers for a more formal thorough process next year. My apologies once again.

4 March 2024
Purchase tickets
5 March 2024
Broken firewall
6 March 2024
Hotel door code
7 March 2024
Closest star systems
8 March 2024
Busy moon rovers
11 March 2024
Time to play fair
12 March 2024
The purge
13 March 2024
Connecting cities
14 March 2024
Mining tunnels

Problems open at 12:00noon UTC (12:00:00 PM Coordinated Universal Time)

2023 challenge is open!

The year is 2223 and you are completing your apprenticeship on the Starship Turing. You have had fun exploring the stars and strange new worlds but your mission is over and you are now headed home to Earth. Will your technical expertise in computer science be needed to save the day, or will you be able to relax and enjoy the ride?

Welcome to Coding Quest 2023! An annual challenge for secondary school computer science students! Problems are designed to draw upon the knowledge and skills typically taught as part of computer science curriculums including GCSE, IB Diploma, A levels or AP. There are 10 problems, one released each day Monday through Friday, from Monday 6 March to Friday 17 March at 12:00 noon UTC time. Set a reminder and join in the fun!

6 March 2023
Inventory check
7 March 2023
Navigation sensor
8 March 2023
Tic tac toe
9 March 2023
Mayday!
10 March 2023
Decoding pixels
13 March 2023
Avoid the asteroids
14 March 2023
Snakes on a spaceship
15 March 2023
Shopping expedition
16 March 2023
Index tree
17 March 2023
The route home

Problems open at 12:00noon UTC (12:00:00 PM Coordinated Universal Time)

2022 challenge is open!

10 programming problems in 10 days from Monday 2nd May to Friday 13th.

It's the year 2222. Working as an apprentice on the Earth Ship Turing, you and the crew are taking a brief rest stop on the planet Ral'Malgor. Enjoying your free time before the journey back to Earth, you embark on a quest: Find the perfect souvenir in the local alien markets!

2 May 2022
Engine diagnostics
3 May 2022
Lottery tickets
4 May 2022
Tour the stars
5 May 2022
Obsessing over Connect 4
6 May 2022
Spot the forgery
9 May 2022
Debugging
10 May 2022
Check the heat shields
11 May 2022
Message from home
12 May 2022
Lost in an alien market!
13 May 2022
A special painting

Problems open at 12:00noon UTC (12:00:00 PM Coordinated Universal Time)

2022 practice round is open!

This round remains open for those who wish to practice the style of questions that may be asked in future quests. In future events, most of these questions would likely only appear in the second half due to their level of difficulty. The syllabus outline for future quests is that the first half of the challenges will generally be constrained to 1 dimensional arrays, string manipulation, binary operations and number operations. The second half will then extend into 2 dimensional arrays, recursion, and use of more sophisticated data structures and algorithms. See the About page for more detail.

It's the year 2222. Earth has recently discovered faster than light travel and has begun exploring stars, meeting other intelligent civilisations along the way. You are a crew member on the Earth Ship Turing, en-route to the planet Ral'Malgor. Your quest is simple: enjoy your first trip in space!

28 February 2022
Snakes and ladders
1 March 2022
Wordle with friends
2 March 2022
Survey an asteroid belt
3 March 2022
Lost in transmission
4 March 2022
Message from afar

Problems open at 12:00noon UTC (12:00:00 PM Coordinated Universal Time)