Requirements

You need a bash compatible shell to run the scripts that get the list of coders and associated info in csv format. If you are on Windows, cygwin with bash will probably work. You also need cut, sed, and wget.

If you don't have this, you can find some other way to get the list. It needs to be in the format:

coder_id,handle,rating,volatility

Files

• html_to_lst - Takes the Advancers page from TopCoder's website (here) and produces the list of coders.

Usage: html_to_lst filename.html -> Output: filename.lst

• get_coder_list - Gets the coder xml feed from TopCoder and adds carriage returns.

Usage: get_coder_list -> Output: coder_list.xml

• lst_to_csv - Takes the .lst file and coder_list.xml to create the input file for simulate.

Usage: lst_to_csv <filename.lst >filename.csv

• simulate.cpp - Runs a user selected number of simulations of the 2005 TopCoder Open.

Usage: simulate title [rerate=+] [times=100] [seed=time(NULL)] <filename.csv >filename.html

• rating.cpp and rating.h - These are my implementation of TopCoder's rating algorithm, along with the definition of the coder class. You need to compile these along with simulate.cpp.

Process

You need to get the list of advancers, and the data feed for all the coders. Run the bash shell scripts to end up with the .csv file for input to simulate.cpp.

Now, you need to decide what kind of simulation you want to run. Do you want to rerate coders after every round? Since room placement is determined by rating, and prize money by room placement, you may want to do this. How many times do you want to simulate the tournament? Once you have determined these, go ahead and run the simulation.

Notes

The code counts the number of coders in the input file and tries to guess what round of the TopCoder Open to start with. I haven't tested anything but starting at Round 1. Even for starting at Round 1, I don't guarentee that the results are correct.

If you find more efficient ways of doing things, or bugs in the code, please tell me at joshcode metzlers org