HSPC

Every year, the largest High School Programming Contest (HSPC) in the Mid-Atlantic region takes place here at UVA.

Information Register Contact Us

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the contest rules?

Rules can be found in the Logistics section of our information packet.

For further comments or questions, please email hspc@virginia.edu.

What are the versions of software used?

Competitors will have access to the following IDEs:

  • Eclipse 4.13
  • IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition 2022.3
  • CLion 2022.3
  • PyCharm Community Edition 2022.3
  • Code::Blocks 20.03-3.1
  • Visual Studio Code 1.74.2

Our judging software will use the following language versions:

  • gcc/g++ 13.3.0
  • Python 3 (PyPy version 7.3.15 providing Python 3.9.18)
  • Java 17 (openjdk version 21.0.7)
  • Kotlin 1.9.24

We will be using DomJudge to submit and judge solutions.

Are there any sample problems available?

You can read past problem sets (PDF) and see full solutions with sample and judge input/output (zip) here:

What reference materials will be available?

We will announce this information closer to the competition. It will likely include language reference documentation.

What are the prizes like?

Prizes are likely to include Amazon gift cards, board games, drones, and other similarly useful items.

What are the past results?

Past scoreboards are available for the following HSPC events:

What is the computer configuration for the contest?

Each team will have access to a single Linux environment with common IDEs, compilers, and editors installed. This computer will be shared by all team members.

Who can I contact if I still have questions?

If you have any questions, please contact the HSPC contest director (hspc@virginia.edu).

Where do the teams come from?

Teams come from all over Virginia. Some even come from Maryland once in a while.

Our Plan for 2026

This year, we plan to host HSPC in person at UVA! All the information needed for the event can be found in the packet linked here.

Want to help out?

HSPC is run by UVA students! If you are a current or graduated UVA student and want to help inspire high school students, let us know at hspc@virginia.edu or join our Discord server and type !hspc. Thank you!

Sponsorship

If you are interested in sponsoring the contest, and encouraging high school students to pursue computing, please email hspc@virginia.edu.

Registration

Where do I register?

Previous year's coaches should receive an email from us asking about registration. If you do not receive an email or are a new team interested in participating, please register here.

What do I need to know about registration?

Each team consists of up to three students and one coach. Registration costs $40 per team. Each school may register up to three teams.

Is financial assistance available?

We know that the cost of attendance for our competition may be prohibitive for some schools. If your school is interested in participating but is prevented by the cost, please let our HSPC Contest Chair know by email at hspc@virginia.edu.