I am myself collecting material about "competitive programming" and programming competitions (which to some extent can be compared to competitive computer gaming, or "e-sports" - see thesis proposal here).
My own study focuses on a competition which is called the International Collegiate Programming Competition (ICPC). It is the "world championships in programming" for university students and they represent their universities in three-person teams. I will present my preliminary results at a workshop about (competitive) computer gaming and sports later this spring.
There are however many aspects of competitive programming and programming competitions that I myself don't explore and invite anyone who is interested in this topic to get in touch with me so that we can formulate a suitable thesis topic together.
For some more information and ideas, see:
- My initial thoughts about competitive programming and programming competitions.
- My proposal to the workshop (which as accepted).
- The workshop invitation.
Literature:
- There isn't much written about competitive programming. There is some written on competitive computer gaming and much written about (competitive) sports. But please keep your eyes open for T. L. Taylor's upcoming book "Raising the stakes: E-sports and the professionalization of computer gaming" (MIT Press Feb-March 2012).
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