FAQs

This section of the FAQ is only dedicated to Submissions that CodeVita

participants make to the CodeVita systems

1. How are evaluations processed?

CodeVita platform has an automatic grader which does the evaluation. The grader knows how to evaluate
in the 9 supported languages. There is no manual intervention in the evaluation process, hence, no
subjective biases. The grader expects input and output in specific formats for it to perform evaluation. For
this reason, it is critical that your submission adheres to the input-output formats mentioned in the
question text. The grader is responsible for compiling, running a battery of test cases against your solution
and validating your output. Various different output status codes and status messages are explained in
rest of the document.

2. What is Presentation Error?

Presentation Error means that your answer is correct. It just has more (or less) than required number of
whitespaces as compared to an "Accepted" solution. Presentation Error is treated as on par with Accepted
solution. It is advised to not spend time on getting a Presentation Error status converted to Accepted.
Participants should move to the next unsolved question without further delay.

3. What does the "Almost there, think some more" status message convey?
It conveys that your submission is failing at least one of the test cases. You should work on figuring out
what test case your program could be failing and work on fixing it.

4. I get a Time Limit Exceeded status message. I know I have to optimize it, but to what extent?
Different questions have different maximum upper bounds on the allowed run-time. As long as you
continue to receive this status code you must understand that your program is exceeding the threshold
set as maximum allowed time for solving this problem. In such cases, you should typically re-think your
algorithm used for solving the problem. If your solution uses a brute force approach try figuring out an
optimal algorithm for the same. Once you submit solution with optimal algorithm, this error should go
away. This is just one example of handling TLE. There could be more ways. Bottom line is you have to
optimize your program.

5. I get a Memory Limit Exceeded status message. I know I have to reduce memory footprint of
the program but by how much?
Different questions have different maximum upper bounds on the allowed memory consumption. As long
as you continue to receive this status code you must understand that memory consumption of your
submitted code is more than allowed limits. Also, different languages have different memory limits for
the same problem. So if you are proficient in more than one language, try re-writing code in another
language.

6. Within how much time can I expect my submission to be graded?

This question is difficult to answer. Under light load, one can expect submissions to be graded in less than
5 seconds. However under peak loads, submissions get queued up for evaluation. Depending on the size
of evaluation queue, responses time can shoot up to a few minutes. At our end, we have done our due
diligence and invested in adequate capacity to ensure that there are no queue build-ups at all or if queuing
happens, then the queue size is as small as possible.

7. My submission never got evaluated. What went wrong?

Most likely cause of this is that your code uses a blocking function like for e.g. getch() in C. This type of
function call blocks forever and prevents the grader from running properly. Likewise, other blocking calls
in other languages have the same effect. These evaluations fail and the system simply swallows the failure
(unix-style). Avoid blocking calls in your program. Other possibility is that there is a huge queue build-up
on the grader and your submission is simply waiting in the queue.

8. My code compiles on my machine, the system shows my submission has Compile-Time Errors.
How is this possible?
Firstly, ensure that you are using the same compiler that the CodeVita system is using. For e.g. do not use
Turbo C and expect the code to be compiled on CodeVita systems which uses gcc.
Secondly, even if you are using the same compiler, check if you are using a version higher than what
CodeVita system is using. For e.g .if CodeVita system is using Oracle JDK 1.8 and you are using Oracle JDK
1.9, it’s likely that your code may fail to compile because new features of 1.9 are not available in 1.8.
Finally, even if you are using same compiler of the same version that the CodeVita system is using, it is
still possible to get a Compile Time Error.
This is because CodeVita systems will use certain compilation flags which you may not have used in your
system. Also, try to ensure that there are no Warnings that the compiler issues. It is also possible that
Warnings get treated as errors. In such cases, the Compile-time error message that CodeVita systems will
depict should be carefully studied. If you pay enough attention to the error message, you should be able
to figure out cause of CTE and then eliminate it.

9. Is one language recommended over other languages in CodeVita system?

No, you can submit solution in any 9 supported languages, depending on your preference. The right way
to approach this is to figure out which language is most suited for a given problem type. CodeVita systems
will support all languages for all questions. You should pick a language which is best suited for a given
question for optimal results.
 10. Can I switch languages in a attempting to solve same problem?
Yes, you can attempt solving the same question in more than one language. Your aim should be to give
optimized solution for a problem. Optimality order is
1) Minimum time it takes to solve the given problem
2) Efficiency – i.e. minimum system resource consumption.
Contest Related FAQs

1) What steps should I follow to log-in to the contest?

a. You will have to enter your email id (same as the one used to register for the contest) &
secret code provided during contest registration to log-in and start the contest.

2) Can I go back to the welcome page after starting to answer the coding problems?
a. Yes, you can.

3) Do I have to attempt the questions in serial order?

a. No, you do not have to attempt the question in any particular order.

4) Where can I see the list of languages and compilers with their version?
a. On the welcome page under ‘Languages’ tab, you may click on the ‘+’ sign and see the
languages to be used and the compiler version.

5) If I move to question no. 2 without submitting question1, does the timer continue for
Question1?
a. Yes

6) How many question will be there as part of the contest round?

a. There will be 6 programming challenges.

7) If I have referred/used a code from the internet, do I have to declare the same?
a. Yes, before you submit your code, you will have an option (I have found this code from
another source) Select this option before submitting. You are free to refer other
material but you need to declare the source code.

8) Where can I check the status of questions submitted by me?

For Private test cases: In My Submissions tab
For Public test cases: In My Compile and Run tab

9) If I close my browser will the codes written be saved on the system?

a. No, if you close your browser, you will lose your work. You should ensure that all
submitted code is saved in your local file system as well.

10) How long before a session will expire?

a. If you are not active on the system for more than 15 minutes, the session will expire.

11) How long is the first round of CodeVita and what is my contest duration?
a. First round of CodeVita runs for 24-hrs window.
Each participant will get maximum of 6 hrs to solve the problems. In order to avail full 6 hrs, the participant
should start their individual contests minimum 6 hours before the end time of the contest

12) Does seeing the Full Problem statement have any significance?
Yes, clicking on "View Full Problem" button starts the timer for that problem. This timer is maintained
internally by the system and is not displayed unlike the contest timer. So every participant should be
judicious in his / her approach before letting the timer start for that problem.

13) How is Ranking done?

Functional correctness and time taken to solve a problem are considered in assigning scores. Evaluations
that end in {Accepted, Presentation Error} statuses are considered functionally correct solutions. Also, few
other parameters are taken into considerations.

14) Why didn’t I get my allotted quota of 6 hrs during the contest?
This will happen if you start your contest with less than 6 hrs remaining for the contest to close.