Philosophy behind "several test cases" and strategy against those problems

Revision en1, by chubakueno, 2015-07-07 21:41:23

I have always wondered what is the philosophy behind those ICPC problems that don't specify the number of test cases. What are the problem setters trying to evaluate, and how should I respond? Obviously, enough test cases will TLE out my solution.

One of the great things about programming contests is choosing the right algo for the right job, say, I wouldn't go full Fast Fourier Transform if simple convolution gets the job done. So, should I respond to those problems with the best algo I can think of? Should I respond with a provably optimal algo? Or, should I reverse engineer the problem-setter expectations and choose something along those lines?

This is blog intended for discussion, please don't understand this as a rant :)

Tags acm icpc

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en2 English chubakueno 2015-07-07 21:49:09 6 Tiny change: '?\n\nThis is blog intended ' -> '?\n\nThis blog is intended '
en1 English chubakueno 2015-07-07 21:41:23 816 Initial revision (published)