Pieck's blog

What are you thoughts on CodeChef?
By Pieck, history, 2 years ago, In English

What are you thoughts on CodeChef?

I recently reached 6 star on CodeChef (CC) and it made me think, why so many of the users which are 5 or 6 star on CC are less than 1700 on Codeforces (CF). For me, one of the reasons is that many of the CF questions don't need you to use fancy DSAs, they rely more on problem solving and using basic techniques while CC has some form of DSA question as you advance to the 3rd or 4th question even in Div 2 rounds. Also the number of people participating in CF is way more than that at CC which hits you like a rock even if you solve it 2 minutes too late.

For Chess Fans

What are your thoughts about this?

  • Vote: I like it
  • +11
  • Vote: I do not like it

Comments Comments (16)
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2 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +29 Vote: I do not like it

I am 4* on cc...

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    2 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +17 Vote: I do not like it

    I don't know man, you seem like an outlier to me ;P.

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    2 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +3 Vote: I do not like it

    You were almost 6* at some point...

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2 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +35 Vote: I do not like it

I just feel sometimes that CC is like LiChess while CF is more like Chess.com
Well, not really. Except the rating part, everything is equivalent to lichess for CF and chess.com for CC.
CC got the job offers, the cash, the big brands, the ads (equivalent to say, streamers, brands, big money tournaments like chess.com), while CF got the quality problems, and simple but excellent UI (equivalent to quality of players, and UI in lichess).

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    2 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +3 Vote: I do not like it

    True in that regards.

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    2 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +3 Vote: I do not like it

    For me it usually feels like cf — chess.com and atc — lichess)

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    2 years ago, # ^ |
    ← Rev. 2   Vote: I like it +13 Vote: I do not like it

    CC has good problem quality too, ever since they hired um_nik and Anton.

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      2 years ago, # ^ |
        Vote: I like it +16 Vote: I do not like it

      Given what chess.com was a few years back (before the chess boom in 2020), and how it is now, I still stand by what I said. CC might have hired Um_nik and Anton, and yeah, I do agree that the problem quality has improved since, still I don't feel it has reached the consistency level of conducting such well prepared and well organized contests like CF. It still has a long long way to go before it reaches such consistency IMO.
      Also given how CC is introducing some recent changes, I think it's quite evident that the gap between the target audience of CC and CF is widening. CC caters more to job seekers and people seeking to utilize their problem solving skills to obtain a better job in the tech industry, while majority of CF is an international audience who are passionate CPers, who either do CP for fun, or for performing better in some CP related event (like OIs, ICPCs, etc.), and not necessarily to crack a job interview as such.

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2 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it 0 Vote: I do not like it

Auto comment: topic has been updated by Pieck (previous revision, new revision, compare).

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2 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +27 Vote: I do not like it

I mean, outside of long contest (which isn't rated for Div 1/ 2 anyway), I don't think "fancy DSA" appears significantly more frequently on Codechef than on Codeforces. Maybe a bit in starters, but even then its fairly rare and usually doesn't overpower the adhoc ideas.

The problem style are somewhat different, but the quality requirements are similar (maybe a bit lower on Codechef) in my opinion as someone who's set on both platforms.

It definitely used to be much worse, I first reached 5* on Codechef when I was ~1500 on CF. Now I'm ~2200 on CF and still 5-6* on Codechef. The long contests no longer being rated for Div1 and Div2 was probably one of the bigger improvements, but the problem quality of Cookoff / Lunchtime have definitely improved as well.

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    2 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it 0 Vote: I do not like it

    By "fancy DSA", I only meant graphs or dp with graphs problems. But I think my pov might be a little biased as I usually never reach to E or F in CF Div 2 rounds which generally have such problems while in the few short contest that I have given on CC, I have seen plenty bfs/dfs problems which I was able to solve with sufficient amount of time.

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2 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +1 Vote: I do not like it

Something about CodeChef doesn't sit well with me and I don't know why.

There have been times when I got AC on a problem(on cc) I was thought was impossible for me and I didn't get happy. When I became 6* on CodeChef I was not very happy and thought that it was weird. On the other hand when I became purple on CodeForces I was ecstatic.

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2 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it 0 Vote: I do not like it

Actually it's best to not relate atcoder , codeforces ,codechef ,usaco one with another , all have different formats

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2 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +17 Vote: I do not like it

I'm 2230 on Codechef and 1939 on Codeforces. Codechef definitely has rating inflation & different style problems.

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2 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +38 Vote: I do not like it

Lmao why are you comparing my beloved lichess to the dumpster fire that is codechef

I literally joined a round and then they removed a problem halfway through the round because author solution was wrong and 20 minutes from the end they added a new problem and extended the round duration. And the round was still rated.

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2 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +3 Vote: I do not like it

I think they are improving gradually and should keep moving in that direction.

  1. The quality of problems has definitely improved with more contests being balanced under the guidance of "elite" admins in each round.
  2. The frequency of contests have been had a problem in the past and they worked on it.
  3. Haven't faced any server issues recently.
  4. It was fun doing OG long contests, sadly that is dead. Although, that solves problems of cheaters,I would blame people for this rather than platform.
  5. I personally think video editorials are overkill and they could use their resources better in this regard.
  6. Discuss forum is dead(which was semi-live with newbie issues), due to interface?
  7. I also think their objective is changing since it changed banners but it's their right to do so (or am I paranoid?)
  8. Lastly, I don't think they are targeting Div1 candidates as their audience (IK it's difficult to prepare harder problems so please don't go bashing me).

Having said that all platforms are different and it should be left at that.

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