Facebook recently launched its second annual hacker competition. This event comprises of five rounds of programming in which participants compete against each other.
According to a recent article in CNN Money, the company stated that hacking is central to their site building. Their programmers are constantly hacking to find improved ways of dealing with obstacles. Contrary to common belief, hacking entails creating programs that break the boundaries set by older ones, not programs meant to encroach and cause damage.
The competition begins on the 20th of January 2012 with a qualification round that stretches for 72 hours. This will be followed by three more rounds, which will narrow down the competitors to just 25 people. These finalists will be flown out to the Facebook headquarters in California for the final round, which will take place in March. The winner will be awarded a cash prize of $5000.
Last year was the first time this challenge took place and about 12,000 people participated. The winner was Petr Mitrichev, a Google employee from Russia. These competitions serve as a great way to identify programmers with extraordinary skills. Facebook frequently hosts marathon staff hackathons, which is a crucial part of their product development techniques. Facebook also offers up to $500 dollars in the form of a finder’s fee to people who detect and report security loopholes in their software.