The Computer Programming team earned First place at Providence College on March 10, and they are preparing for their next competition in Fitchburg on May 1.

President and Senior Eddie Pyne along with team members sophomore Thomas Hayden, junior Henry Liu, and sophomore Jack Gerulskis competed alongside approximately 10 teams in Providence, where they scored the best in terms of most problems solved as well as time, having solved 10 problems in approximately two and a half hours.

Programming competitions utilize computer programming languages (in this case, Java) to solve problems in a simpler and more convenient way than what could be accomplished by humans. The competitions involve high speed and quick thinking to win.

“We divide and conquer,” Pyne said. “It’s likely that there will be a tie [in the number of problems solved], so you want to solve them as fast as possible.”

“Preparation for future competitions has been a major part of the team’s meetings. They print out problems from previous competitions, using them to practice completing a program from start to finish,” Pyne said.

The team has scored well in their previous two competitions, hopefully forecasting success in their next competition. Adviser Dan Forhan said he hopes to see the team do well at their upcoming Fitchburg competition.

The competition atmosphere reflects what real programming can be like. The speed and accuracy needed to complete complex problems is a great tool that the team members can use going forward Hayden said.

“I like that it’s an application of math skills that I’ve never experienced before,” Member of the team Jessie Sigler said.

“You can make something that hasn’t been made before, and get something usable out of it,” Hayden said. “You can do it [programming] 100 percent free. Most people have a computer, and it’s relatively easy to learn.”