Competitions · Computer science · Hacker Cup
The Hacker Cup.
Open to anyone over sixteen, in any language, with no school and no qualification required - and it narrows from an open field to twenty-five people in a room at company headquarters. First prize is USD 20,000.
At a glance
What the competition is.
The Hacker Cup has been run since 2011 by Facebook, now Meta. Each year an open international field narrows through four online rounds to twenty-five finalists, who compete for three hours at company headquarters.
- Since
- 2011
- Who can enter
- Anyone aged 16 or over. There is no school requirement and no qualifying contest
- Format
- Individual. Online for every round except the final
- Languages
- Any programming language, with C++, Java and C# named as typical choices
- What you need
- A text editor and a way to run your chosen language. Nothing else
- Rounds
- Five - a qualification round, three further online rounds, and the final
- Problems
- Four or more per round, each carrying a fixed score awarded only for a fully correct solution
- Run time limit
- Six minutes. A program that produces the right result inside it passes
- Scoreboard
- Results are hidden until a round ends. Every submission shows as correct on the board until then
- Season
- Registration in September, a practice round, then rounds through October and early November, with the final in December
- First prize
- USD 20,000, and the title of best hacker
The rounds
From an open field to twenty-five.
The early rounds are unusually forgiving and the later ones are not. Knowing where the walls are changes how a competitor should prepare.
| Round | Length | What it takes to advance |
|---|---|---|
| Qualification | 72 hours | Three problems. Solve any one of them correctly and you go through |
| Round 1 | 24 hours | Solve at least one problem correctly. If more than 500 competitors do, the top 500 by score advance |
| Round 2 | 3 hours | The top 100 by score |
| Round 3 | 3 hours | The top 25, notified by email that they have reached the final |
| Final | 3 hours | Held at company headquarters. The winner takes the title and USD 20,000 |
The qualification round asks for one correct answer out of three across three days. That is a genuinely low bar, and a competitor who has never entered an international contest should treat it as a realistic first target.
What the problems are like
Familiar problems, wearing something else.
The organisers describe the question style precisely, and it explains why reading carefully matters as much as coding quickly.
New variants of known problems
Questions are typically fresh variants of well-known algorithmic or mathematical problems - a shortest route between two cities under a set of constraints, or the most efficient way to tile a floor in a specified pattern.
So the work is recognition
Competitors have to see the familiar problem behind the unfamiliar wrapper quickly, and then trust that judgement. Hesitating over which technique applies is what costs the round.
Efficiency is graded, not just correctness
Programs get six minutes to run. Writing the shortest, most accurate code fastest is the stated standard, and the judges assess both accuracy and speed.
All or nothing on each problem
Each problem carries a fixed score, awarded only for a fully correct solution. There is no partial credit, which changes how to allocate time.
Rewards
A shirt for two thousand people, and cash for twenty-five.
The reward structure reaches much further down the field than the cash prizes alone suggest.
Top 2,000 in round two
A Hacker Cup shirt. For most competitors this, rather than the final, is the achievable goal - and it is a real one.
Top 200 in round three
The same shirt with a "Top 200" badge on the sleeve, instead of the standard one.
And cash through to 25th place
USD 20,000 for first, 10,000 for second, 5,000 for third, 3,000 for fourth and 1,000 for fifth; USD 500 each for sixth to tenth, 300 for eleventh to fifteenth, and 200 for sixteenth to twenty-fifth.
Claimed after plagiarism checks
Shirts are claimed from the competitor’s Hacker Cup profile once the organisers have completed their plagiarism checks on the relevant round.
Who it suits
Consider carefully whether this is your contest.
The Hacker Cup is open to school students but is not a school competition, and that distinction matters when planning a season.
The field includes professionals
It is entered by some of the highest-ranked competitive programmers in the world, many of them working engineers. A strong school competitor is unlikely to be near the top of it.
Which makes the round targets the right ones
Clearing qualification, then round one, then reaching the top 2,000 in round two - these are meaningful achievements against that field and worth stating as such.
USACO is the school-shaped alternative
For a student who wants a graded ladder and a result that reads clearly to an admissions reader, USACO’s four divisions do that job better.
But the practice is excellent
The problems are well-made variants of standard algorithmic questions, which makes them useful preparation regardless of how far a competitor goes.
Preparation
How Hanlin prepares students for the Hacker Cup.
An open contest with no partial credit and a six-minute run limit rewards a specific discipline.
Building a repertoire of standard problems
Because questions are variants of known problems, breadth of recognition is what wins rounds. Practice works through the classical algorithm and combinatorics catalogue.
Verifying before submitting
No partial credit means a nearly-correct solution scores zero. Testing against edge cases before submitting is worth more here than in a contest with test-case scoring.
Practising in both time formats
A 72-hour window and a three-hour round are different competitions. Students rehearse both, because the discipline that works in one fails in the other.
And setting a realistic round target
We set the goal at a round rather than a placing. Clearing round one against this field is an achievement; aiming at the final is not a plan.
Why Hanlin
Preparation for Hacker Cup at Hanlin is taught by full-time subject tutors, on a course tier chosen by placement paper rather than by year group.
Programme formats
Five ways this is taught.
Group size is the whole difference between these. It decides how much of the tutor's attention a student gets and how far the course can bend to them, so it is worth choosing rather than accepting.
| Format | Group size | What it suits |
|---|---|---|
| One-to-one | One student | Content, pace and emphasis set by what this student actually needs rather than by a syllabus. The only format that can be rebuilt mid-course. |
| Small group | Three to eight | Opens at three. Frequent discussion, and the tutor can slow down or move on according to what the group has absorbed. Most students chasing a higher award are taught in this one. |
| Class | Eight to twelve | Taught by the subject lead or a medal coach. Less back-and-forth, so it suits a student who will say when something is unclear. |
| Large class | Ten to twenty | For students in the middle of the placement range, and a way to try a competition before committing. Students often move to a small group or to one-to-one afterwards. |
| Past-paper class | No cap | Past papers worked through in sequence in the weeks before the sitting. Free to students already enrolled. |
Course length for Hacker Cup is set after a placement paper. The gap between where a student is and what the paper asks for is what the course has to close, and that gap is not the same for two students in the same year group.
How it runs
Six steps, four people on your side.
The same process for every student, so that nothing depends on one tutor remembering to do it.
Step 1Pre-course assessment
A placement paper before anything is booked, so the course tier is chosen on evidence rather than on a year group.
Step 2Tutor matching
A subject tutor is matched to the result, and their full background is provided before you agree to it.
Step 3Plan and group
A study group opens with four people on one student: the tutor, a planner, a supervisor and an academic manager.
Step 4Scheduled teaching
The teaching office sets the timetable around the competition date and school term, and teaching begins.
Step 5After-class reports
What was covered, and how the student handled it, reported after every lesson.
Step 6Homework follow-up
The teaching assistant and the form teacher both check that homework is done, which is where most preparation quietly fails.
Free resource pack
Past papers and preparation pack
The same material our own Hacker Cup students work from. Scan the code, say what you need, and an advisor sends it.
Tell an advisor which competition and year group, and the material comes back the same day. Free, and you do not have to enrol in anything. If we do not already hold what you need, we will go and find it.
- PDFPast papers, every year the organiser has released
- PDFWorked solutions, where the organiser publishes them
- PDFThe syllabus on one page - every topic, and how heavily it is examined
- PDFEntry checklist and the dates for the current cycle
Teaching team
Who would teach it.
Three of the twenty-two tutors on the published Hanlin roster - the ones whose subject this is.
Luo
Bachelor's and master's in computer science from the University of California and ten years in the United States. Works close to the hardware, and teaches for independent problem solving rather than pattern recall.
Tan
Master's in data science from the University of Sydney after a statistics degree at Simon Fraser University, graduating in the top 5% with repeated chancellor's honours; A-Levels at a Cambridge international school, and formerly a data analyst at Tencent. An AMC-accredited coach, a College Board-accredited AP teacher, and holder of a Math League excellent-teacher award.
He
A Cambridge master's after a computer science degree with a mathematics minor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and a US high school GPA of 4.13. Six years overseas and teaches entirely in English, across AMC, Math League, AP Computer Science and AP Calculus.
Where it is taught
Hanlin learning centres.
Teaching runs from Hanlin's own centres in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chengdu and Hangzhou, and online for students elsewhere.
Talk to an advisor
Everything Hanlin does for Hacker Cup, in one conversation.
Entry, planning, coaching and the past papers. An advisor will tell you which of these a student actually needs, including when the answer is none of them.
Competition entry and planning
Which competitions suit this student, in what order, and by when - then we handle the registration, including the ones that can only be entered through a school or a centre.
Competition coaching
Taught by full-time subject tutors, on a course tier chosen by placement paper rather than by year group.
International curriculum tutoring
IB, AP, A-Level, IGCSE and the US high school curriculum, taught alongside school and timed around the exam calendar.
Competition past papers, free
A large library of past papers, mark schemes and syllabus breakdowns across every competition on this site. No charge and no enrolment.
Scan to add an advisor
Say which competition or course you are asking about. Replies in Chinese or English.
Or call +86 21 6352 6630FAQ
The Hacker Cup, briefly answered.
What students and families ask before entering.
Who can enter?
Anyone aged 16 or over. There is no school requirement, no qualifying contest and no upper age limit.
What language can I use?
Any programming language. C++, Java and C# are the ones the organisers name, but the choice is open. You need only a text editor and a way to run your language.
How many rounds are there?
Five - a qualification round of 72 hours, a 24-hour first round, then two three-hour rounds, and a three-hour final at company headquarters.
How hard is it to get through qualification?
Three problems across 72 hours, and solving any one of them correctly is enough. It is a realistic first target for a competitor who has never entered an international contest.
How are the problems scored?
Each problem carries a fixed score, awarded only for a fully correct solution. There is no partial credit. Programs are given six minutes to run.
Can I see how I am doing during a round?
No. Results are hidden until the round ends, and every submission shows as correct on the scoreboard until then.
What can I win?
A shirt for the top 2,000 in round two, and a "Top 200" badged shirt for the top 200 in round three. Cash runs from USD 20,000 for the winner down to USD 200 for 16th to 25th place.
Is this a school competition?
No. It is open to school students but the field includes professional engineers and some of the highest-ranked competitive programmers in the world. Set your target at clearing a round rather than at a placing.
Should I enter this or USACO?
Both, if there is time - they run in different parts of the year. USACO’s four divisions give a graded result that reads clearly in an application; the Hacker Cup is a harder open field.
Related
Other open programming contests.
What competitors enter alongside the Hacker Cup.
Hacker Cup enquiries
One correct answer in seventy-two hours gets you started.
The qualification round is far more approachable than the field’s reputation suggests, and clearing round one against professional competitors is a real result. Tell us what the student programs in and an advisor will set the target and map the autumn season.