Google Code Jam 2020 — suggestions

Revision en1, by royappa, 2020-04-04 21:31:36

Hello, I'm enjoying GCJ 2020 and hope everyone is too. ***

While competing I ran into some minor issues and made a list to send to Google for feedback. Then I thought about posting here so that others can add their suggestions also, and maybe Google could make some changes next year (thanks in advance!).

  • Show the language version in the dropdown, or at least somewhere more clearly.
    Explanation: I assumed C++ would be the most recent version but my first submission was a compiler error, so I wasted time before thinking it might be a version issue. (I had tried "for (auto [r,c] : p)" where p was a pair<int,int>. This works in C++17 but not C++14). This is documented in the FAQ, but I didn't read that until later. Also, the "Syntax pre-check" control didn't flag this... or any syntax errors for that matter. Anyone know what it does?

  • Add the test number to the result messages, e.g., "Test Set 2: passed" or "Test Set 2: Wrong answer".
    Explanation: Again, my bad for not reading the rules, but even after reading them, the difference between messages like "Sample Failed: WA" and just "Wrong Answer" is not very clear. I originally thought it was like previous years where you submit a "small" and get some points, then submit a "large" and get some points. Since we have new rules of "samples" and "tests", just numbering those hover messages with the Test Number (matching the problem statement) would be nice.

  • Instead of hiding the bottom row, just grey out the "Submit attempt" button.
    Explanation: If you click the "eye" icon to view your code from a previous attempt, the bottom row with the Submit button goes away. I did that to look at an old submission, and then could not resubmit. The issue was, I had also scrolled the left pane with the problem text, so that the "eye" icon was no longer visible; and I had forgotten that I clicked it. So I was really puzzled how to resubmit until I realize you have to re-click the eye icon.

  • A "Copy to Clipboard" next to the sample input would be cool :-)

  • Allow the usual Google account selector like any other Google app.
    Explanation: I have a corporate gmail account from my company and also my personal gmail account. When registering and competing, it always chose the former and did not let me switch to the latter. So I have to use Chrome Incognito mode and login to my personal gmail account to compete. It seems like this Google app should have the round "account chooser" icon. (There is a round icon but it does not bring up the accounts).

*** Well, except for that interactive problem. I don't like interactive problems.

Tags gcj

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en1 English royappa 2020-04-04 21:31:36 2671 Initial revision (published)