Computer software code writing may not be everyone’s idea of a competitive sport, but thanks to a type of contest that is growing in popularity, things may soon change. How creative can you be, in a competition, with a prize money reaching up to $20,000?

Source: CNN Tech.

Computer software code writing may not be everyone’s idea of a competitive sport, but thanks to a type of contest that is growing in popularity, things may soon change.

U.S.-based company TopCoder runs coding competitions for up-and-coming software programmers.

The contests — called codejams — take place online as well as at venues, attracting up to 60,000 participants for big competitions, with prize money reaching up to $20,000.

During codejams, software engineers are presented with a problem, and they have to write a code that solves it. The engineer who comes up with the best solution in the quickest time, wins.

TopCoder chief operating officer Rob Hughes told CNN that the competitions were growing in popularity among software engineers, as well as among technology companies who use them to scout for future employees.

“In the software development industry, it’s fairly well-known that you can get up to 10 times the productivity gain from a very talented software developer versus an average software developer and our clients are looking for that kind of productivity gain.”

He said the United States was full of discovered talent, but the rest of the world remained untapped.

Online versions of code jams were a way of discovering people from other parts of the world, Hughes said.

Like most big players in the tech world, search engine Yahoo is always on the hunt for top software engineers to join the company.

But Yahoo chief executive Usama Fayyad told CNN that finding the right kind of future employees was no easy task.

He said the code jams gave the company the chance to look at parts of the world it would not normally have access to.

“These are the kinds of candidates who don’t necessarily respond to job ads. They’re not necessarily looking,” he said.

“You need to essentially actively seek them and TopCoder is a good mechanism for us to make connections with this crowd.”

Search engine Google, meanwhile, recently held a code jams in Bangalore, in India, and the company has offered the winner a job.

Well I need to start improving on my coding skills. yes, 20000 usd!!, and come to think of it, I wonder the kind of atmosphere that would be present, everybody concentrating deeply, the aura would be……… I mean especially if you guys are strugling to get a job, in googles case.