NZCS operates the annual New Zealand Programming Contest, a programming competition for secondary and tertiary students, as well as ICT professionals.

168 contestants competed in the NZCS Programming Contest across 6 sites in 2008.

The programming contest is designed to test problem-solving and programming skills in an Olympic-style context.

Teams of three are allocated a single computer and given a number of problems to attempt in a set time (typically 5 hours) using any of the contest languages (currently C, C++, Java and Pascal).

The contest usually runs in August or September each year.

The competition has been designed to cater for everyone, from secondary and tertiary student categories, through to a completely Open category for ICT Professionals.

The competition has the following 5 categories:

• Secondary School
• Tertiary - junior
• Tertiary - intermediate
• Tertiary - open
• Open (Professionals)

You can find out more about the NZPC at www.nzprogcontest.org.nz