Google Data

Today marks the halfway point for Google Code-in 2013, a contest for 13-17 year old pre-university students interested in learning more about open source software development. There is still plenty of time for students to compete in the contest, 3.5 weeks to be exact.

Students will earn a certificate by completing one task in the contest and can earn a Google Code-in 2013 t-shirt when they complete 3 tasks. Many students are also working very hard for a chance at one of the 20 grand prize trips to Google’s Mountain View, California headquarters next April.

During the contest students work on tasks in categories like coding, documentation, quality assurance, outreach, research, training and user interface.  Each of these tasks is assigned a mentor who can help the student if they have questions while completing the task.

Google Code-in is a great way for students to use the skills they have been learning in the classroom and apply them to a real open source software project.

Google Code-in 2013 statistics at the halfway point of the contest:

• 1,085 tasks have been completed with the 10 open source organizations thus far
• 266 students from 43 countries have completed at least one task in the contest
• Countries with the most students completing tasks so far are:

United States - 86
India - 39
Romania - 18
Singapore - 16
Germany - 10

• Over 2,300 students have registered for the contest from 89 countries
• There are 11 new countries to add to the list of registered students for Google Code-in: Anguilla, Armenia, Cambodia, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Kyrgyz Republic, Lebanon, Mauritius, Panama, Swaziland and the US Virgin Islands.

For contest rules, frequently asked questions and the timeline you can visit the contest site. We encourage students to continue checking the Google Code-in 2013 list of available tasks as new tasks are being added daily for students to work on. The last day to register for the contest and claim a task is Sunday, January 5, 2014 at 17:00 UTC.

Students can join the group discussion list for answers to general questions about the contest from other students, mentors and Google Code-in program administrators.

Good luck students, keep up the awesome work!

By Stephanie Taylor, Open Source Programs