International Problem Solving Competition

Dyalog Ltd is pleased to host the International APL Problem Solving Competition. The challenge has two phases:

  • Phase I consists of ten simple problems that must all be solved.
  • Phase II consists of more complex problems in three categories.

We encourage students at all levels of education, anywhere in the world, to participate. Non-students are welcome to submit solutions and may receive an honourable mention, but proof of enrolment in a full-time educational program is required to win a cash prize.

Thanks to our sponsors APL Italiana, Fiserv and SimCorp, substantial cash prizes are offered. In addition, the winner is invited to the next Dyalog user meeting to present their winning work.

The 2017 International APL Problem Solving Competition

Congratulations to all the winners! Pending proof of student status, they are:

Phase II – Grand Prize Winner:

  • Kostas Blekos (Panepistimion Patron, Greece)

receives a cash prize of $2,500 USD and an invitation to present his winning work at Dyalog '17 in Denmark

Phase II – Second Place:

  • Douglas Patz (Agile Learning Center, New York, USA)

receives a cash prize of $1,250 USD

Phase II – Third Place:

  • Zachary Taylor (Maryville High School, USA)

receives a cash prize of $750 USD

Phase II – Winning Professional Entrant:

  • Mike Powell (Canada)

receives a delegate package registration for Dyalog '17 in Denmark

Phase II Winners selected from submissions that have a correct solution to any problem in any Phase II problem set:

  • Armando Cruz (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico)
  • Ivan Demianchuk (National Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv, Ukraine)
  • Yash Garg (Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, India)
  • Arna Ghosh (Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India)
  • Akarsh Ramesh Khatagalli (Visvesvaraya Technological University, India)

each receive a cash prize of $200 USD (5 awarded)

Phase I Winners based on the most accurate/well-written submissions:

  • Aiken Cairncross (University of Oxford, UK)
  • Yu-Chi Chiang (National Central University, Taiwan)
  • Anthony Cipriano (Gustav-Stresemann Gymnasium, Germany)
  • Ivan Demianchuk (National Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv, Ukraine)
  • Tripti Garg (NorthCap University, India)
  • Arna Ghosh (Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India)
  • Bertil Johnson (University of Kentucky, USA)
  • Mohammed Malik (Copenhagen International School, Denmark)
  • Douglas Patz (Agile Learning Center, New York, USA)
  • Zachary Taylor (Maryville High School, USA)

each receive a cash prize of $100 USD (10 awarded)

Previous Years

Details of the problems set in previous years (and the appropriate workspaces to help solve them) can be downloaded from the table below; this table also includes information on the main prize winners for each year.

Our blog includes posts relating to some of the problems set in previous years, with pointers on how they might be solved.

 TasksWorkspaceExample UTF-8 FormatWinnersWinner's Presentation
2017 Phase I Phase II
2016 Phase I Phase II
2015 Phase I Phase II
2014 Phase I Phase II    1st place non-student
2013 Phase I Phase II
2012 n/a
2011
2010 n/a 1st place 2nd place
2009 n/a n/a