The 32nd International Olympiad in Informatics is upon us, and now we know the names of the young, Indian coders who made it to the finals. Making their way from the Zonal Computing/Informatics Olympiad to Indian National Olympiads in Informatics, and having trained at the IOI camps, four Indian school students, Kshitij Sodani, Rajarshi Basu, Udit Sanghi, and Shashwat Chandra head for the finals. The last IOI was certainly an exciting affair for India with a silver and a bronze medal. This time the country’s programming community has their eyes set in anticipation of the performances of the four finalists in IOI 2020. All four of these students are active CodeChef volunteers, and we are proud to see them achieve this huge feat. Additionally this reinstates our long held belief that introducing kids to programming early is key to shaping a good coder. Let’s get to know the Indian finalists who will be battling it out with the best young programmers from all around the world in Singapore.
Kshitij Sodani
This 14-year-old is a passionate problem solver even outside of programming. Hailing from Gurugram, Haryana, Kshitij has given us many memorable performances since he joined CodeChef. His coding talent is obvious not only on CodeChef where he is a 6-star player but also on various other platforms like Codeforces where he is currently a “master”. The most recent CodeChef contest where this Delhi Public School student blew us all away with his coding prowess was the June LunchTime 2020, securing the eighth rank in Division One. We hope that he gives us a similarly stunning performance in the IOI.
Rajarshi Basu
As last year’s bronze medalist, Rajarshi is definitely on the “watch out for” list for the IOI. His choice of language is C++14 and watching him work is fascinating. We know this first hand as we had the privilege of him having him as the editorialist for the April Cook-Off 2020. Rajarshi has also volunteered with CodeChef for live problem discussion sessions for our monthly contests. Along with programming Rajarshi also seems to take a keen interest in blogging. On his blog “codingwithrajarshi” he dissects coding problems, and reading his blogs is always a fun time. This 5-star coder from Bodhicariya Senior Secondary School, Kolkata, has given us amazing displays of skill in the past and we have faith that he will dish out more such performances in the IOI.
Udit Sanghi
The 16-year-old programming prodigy from Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, Udit Sanghi’s name is often used to exemplify the fact that age doesn’t matter when you’re a coder. A student of Bhavan Vidyalaya, Haryana, Udit started his competitive programming journey when he was merely 13. One of the top performers in almost every programming contest platform, Udit has a long association with CodeChef. Not only is he a 5-star coder on our platform, but he’s also one of the volunteers curating the DSA Learning Series. You can catch Udit explaining various problems of CodeChef on our YouTube channel. Here’s Udit discussing Dynamic Programming Basics.
Shashwat Chandra
An upcoming coder, Shashwat is a 4-star player on CodeChef and a “master” on Codeforces at the moment. This die-hard programming fan, has been actively involved in building a competitive programming culture in his school. Like compatriot Rajarshi Basu, Shashwat’s preferred language is C++14. Currently studying in the 12th grade of Delhi Public School, his CodeChef history is full of excellent problem solving. Shashwat also participated in the 2019 IOI and although he gave an impressive performance, unfortunately he wasn’t able to bring home a medal last year. Our wishes are with Shashwat this year, and we hope he gives us yet more displays of his exuberant coding.
Other than the various incentives of winning the IOI like the sponsorships and scholarship offers from well-known universities from around the world, a good performance will also mean that these players might claim the CodeChef Go For Gold For Schools. We wish all the four players the very best for the IOI and hope they play flag bearer to the fact that being a good programmer is an achievable dream even at such a young age. What are your thoughts on the Indian finalists for the IOI 2020? Let us know in the comments section, and wish them luck.
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