The Microsoft Quantum Team has good news for quantum computing enthusiasts and programmers who want to challenge themselves. We are pleased to announce the holding of the Microsoft Q # Summer Programming Contest - Microsoft Q # Coding Contest - Summer 2018! By taking part in it, you can hone your skills in the field of quantum programming by solving problems of varying complexity using the Q # quantum programming language. Winners will receive a Microsoft Quantum T-shirt!
Quantum computing is a fundamentally new approach to programming, having little in common with classical computing. They are so different that some problems that are considered unsolvable in classical models (for example, factoring integers, computing discrete logarithms on elliptic curves, or simulating physical systems) can be effectively solved on a quantum computer. Recently, Microsoft introduced the Quantum Development Kit, which includes the new Q # programming language, which can facilitate the development of a new environment for classical programmers. Q # is built into the
Visual Studio or
Visual Studio Code development environments and is available as a command line tool. Visual Studio Code allows you to develop applications for Windows, macOS and Linux.
The competition will be held
from July 6 to July 9 and will offer participants to solve problems of varying complexity on introductory topics from the field of quantum computing: superposition, measurement, oracles, and simple algorithms.
Contest Rules
- The competition will contain 12 tasks of various levels of difficulty.
- To solve each problem, you need to write code in the Q # language, which will allow you to perform the described transformations of a given set of qubits or analyze the state of such a set. Only decisions written in Q # are made.
- The decision is considered correct if it passes a predefined set of tests. Soon after the decision is passed, you will be able to find out your result.
- Participants are evaluated by the number of correctly solved problems.
- In the case of a tie, the winner is determined depending on the total amount of penalty time gained by the participants in solving all problems. Penalty time is calculated as follows: for each solved problem, a penalty is charged depending on the amount of time elapsed since the start of the competition; for each wrong decision an additional penalty of 20 minutes is imposed (if you fail to solve the problem, the penalty will not be imposed).
- The top 50 participants will receive a Microsoft Quantum T-shirt.
- NO PAYMENT REQUIRED. Entrants must be 16 years old or older. The competition ends on July 9, 2018. For more information, see the official rules .
From June 29 to July 2, we held a warm-up round, where more simple tasks were presented on the same topics as in the main competition. Participation in the warm-up round is optional. The warm-up round made it possible to get acquainted in advance with the conditions of the competition and the system of sending solutions, as well as refresh knowledge or learn the basics of quantum computing and the Q # language. 24 hours after it began, we published solutions and explanations for the three simplest tasks. After the end of the round, we published an article on the contest page, in which we uncovered the logic of quantum computing behind the decision, as well as the methodology for applying Q #.
To get started, refer to the
Q # installation instructions and
references for this language .
Materials on quantum computing and Q #
For first-time Codeforces users.
- Create an account here .
Register for the warm-up round here .- Register for the contest here .
- After the start of the warm-up round on June 29, the tasks and additional materials of the competition will be available at this address.
- After the start of the contest on July 6, the tasks will be available here
Good luck! We hope you enjoy the competition!