Every year in September, the Programmers Olympiad Training Centre, SSU, invites students of all faculties and institutes, as well as schoolchildren to its classes and events. What specific skills do participants receive during Olympiads and competitions, as well as in preparation for them? What value do they have for future programmers and not only? What do the Olympiad tasks have in common with the problems that the guys face in the future in their practical activities? These and other questions are answered by Antonina Fyodorova, Candidate of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Computer Science and Programming of the Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technologies, Head of the Programmers Olympiad Training Centre.
– Antonina Gavrilovna, for many, such a scientific and educational direction as programming is a product of the new century. But in fact, how long has our university been dealing with this topic? How did it all start?
– Programming in the new century as a field of training has acquired special importance and relevance due to the rapid growth in the use of computer technology in all areas, and especially in recent years in connection with digitalization. But the training of specialists in the field of information technology, as well as the training of programmers at our university began in the middle of the last century, when a Computing center was established at SSU in 1957. It was one of the first Computing centers in the USSR, the creators and leaders of which in different years were leading scientists of the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics, including the rector of the University A.M.Bogomolov, professors and associate professors N.P. Kuptsov, Y.P. Vasiliev, V.M. Guryanov, V.G. Strizhov, V.S. Zyuzin.
If we talk about the Olympiad training of programmers, then we can assume that such work began with the organization of programming Olympiads for schoolchildren. In 1985, the subject "Information Technology and Programming" was introduced into the school curriculum, and already in 1987 our university organized and held the first Programming Olympiad for schoolchildren. The initiator, organizer, driving force and soul of the Olympiad movement in computer science and programming in Saratov was Associate Professor of the Department of Mathematical Analysis Natalia Lvovna Andreeva. On her initiative, in 1990, a regional summer school in computer science and mathematics for gifted schoolchildren was created (following the example of the School of Chemists, established in 1989), which today has grown into the Constellation camp, which gathers winners and prize-winners of Olympiads in various fields for 10 days in the Dubki health and education centre.
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Next year, the Center for Olympiad Training of Programmers will be 20 years old. The order on its creation was signed by Rector D.I. Trubetskov on the day of the death of the mastermind of school and student programming Olympiads – Natalia Lvovna Andreeva – so the Center was named after her.
– You have a lot of experience in university training of programmers. How have the approaches to their training changed, the structure of the Olympiads themselves, say, over the past five to ten years? How much has the scientific component of the Olympiads changed?
– The attitude to the Olympiads, of course, is changing not only at the government level, but also on the part of students, the number of people willing to take part in Olympiad preparation is growing every year. The semifinals are no longer held in 5 regions, but in 16, and not only in Russia, but also in the former republics of the Soviet Union, and a number of regions organize so-called qualification, qualifying competitions before the quarterfinals. More than 1200 students participated in our qualification competitions last year.
The tasks that are proposed to be solved by teams of 3 students in 5 hours of competition are also significantly complicated. If earlier there were mainly tasks for implementation, for knowledge of algorithms and programming languages, now knowledge of various mathematical disciplines, knowledge from the field of algebra, geometry, graph theory is more often required, and it is necessary not just to implement some algorithm, but to find the most optimal way to solve the problem, checking its effectiveness before sending the solution is being tested.
A good understanding of algorithms and data structures, high programming techniques, the ability to look for ways to solve complex problems, concentrate on the result and work in a team – all these are important and useful skills, they will definitely be useful in future professional activities for today's participants of the Olympiad movement.
– How do you feel about the fact that with the introduction of unified state exams into our educational system, more and more capable schoolchildren are getting the opportunity to study at the capital's universities? Is there a feeling of a shortage of promising students? How much more difficult has it become to participate in international programming competitions, in the same ICPC?
– The issue of the shortage of promising future students for the Olympiad movement is becoming more and more relevant every year, and this is really due to the fact that the capital's universities attract the most gifted students, starting from the 9th, 10th grade. Despite the fact that our university, the Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology conduct circles on Olympiad programming, city and regional Olympiads, the Olympiad included in the list of the Russian Council of School Olympiads, we have a basic department in FTL No. 1, the number of winners and prize-winners of programming Olympiads entering our university, unfortunately, decreases. The exception was, perhaps, 2021, when the FTL No. 1 team – Alexey Shnirelman, Roman Brovko and Ilya Lankin - came to the faculty of KNiIT in full force. Our hope, including the victory in programming competitions of international level. But we are always ready to educate and train new young cadres. We have a strong faculty, unique training and rich experience.
– Participation in such competitions has always been considered one of the obvious social lifts. Can you name the names of the most successful "Olympians" who managed to make a career?
– Graduates of the Olympiad Training Center for Programmers work in leading IT companies in Russia and abroad, they have fully realized themselves, are respected and financially secured. P.P. Komkov, for example, has been working at GOOGLE in Ireland for many years and every year finds an opportunity to come to Saratov and head the technical committee during our quarterfinals. V.V. Yakunin and D.O. Matov do not work in Russia, but in gratitude for the knowledge they received at their native faculty, they presented the faculty with a book on modern computer class. Our graduates A.V. Frolov, I.A. Androsov, M.R. Piklyaev – participants of the finals of the World Programming Championship - continue to work at the Center for Olympiad training of Programmers.
– From 2008 to 2018, the SSU Olympiad Training Center was headed by Mikhail Mirzayanov, twice silver medalist of the World Team Programming Championship, European champion, author of the Codeforces platform for training sports programmers, now well–known abroad. Today he teaches at a university in the capital. How does the cooperation with your star pupil continue?
– Of course, it is difficult to overestimate the contribution of Mikhail Mirzayanov to the development of the center. We all remember those years when he twice became the silver medalist of the World Programming Championship, the European champion as part of the team in 2003, and since 2003 became the coach of the SSU teams, who brought up silver and gold medalists of the World Championship.
In 2006, the team of our university became the world champion in programming, making the Saratov school of programmers famous not only in Russia, but also in the world. Today it continues to occupy a leading place in the training of programmers in Russia. We are proud of the fact that Mikhail Rasikhovich Mirzayanov created a world-famous platform for training sports programmers while working at our university, and today he remains our part-time employee, helping to organize and conduct the championship of the South and Volga region of Russia.
– Do you think it is necessary to teach students who are not directly related to IT basic programming skills? How relevant is the topic of digital culture for all of us today?
– Every year in September we invite students of all faculties and institutes to the Center. Knowledge of the basics of computer science and programming today, according to many, is regarded as knowledge of a foreign language, which will help to improve skills, working in any position in science, industry, education and management.
– What competitions have been held at the Center recently and what other competitions are waiting for young programmers?
– To popularize the Olympiad movement in the field of programming among students of various faculties and institutes of our university, an Open university Programming Olympiad was held for the third time this year. And every year, since 1997, we have been holding an interuniversity programming Olympiad, inviting students from all universities in Saratov.
Regular Olympiad training of programming students is also connected with the creation in St. Petersburg in 1996 of a new regional zone - the North-Eastern European semifinal region of the World Programming Championship – ICPC. The team of our university was invited to these competitions then, and in 1998 we were invited to become the organizers of one of the 5 quarterfinals of the World Championship held in the Russian Federation. So this year we will hold the 25th anniversary quarterfinal programming competitions, which in recent years have the status of the Championship of the South and the Volga Region of Russia. Our large-scale competitions will unite universities of 26 subjects of the Russian Federation from the Volga, Southern and North Caucasian federal districts.
Interview by Tamara Korneva,
Photos by Victoria Victorova
