An Analysis of the Influence of Graph Theory When Preparing for Programming Contests

The subject known as Programming Contests in the Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Engineering course focuses on solving programming problems frequently met within contests such as the Southwest Europe Regional Contest (SWERC). In order to solve these problems one first needs to model the problem correctly, find the ideal solution, and then be able to program it without making any mistakes in a very short period of time. Leading multinationals such as Google, Apple, IBM, Facebook and Microsoft place a very high value on these abilities when selecting candidates for posts in their companies. In this communication we present some preliminary results of an analysis of the interaction between two optional subjects in the Computer Science Degree course: Programming Contests (PC) and Graphs, Models and Applications (GMA). The results of this analysis enabled us to make changes to some of the contents in GMA in order to better prepare the students to deal with the challenges they have to face in programming contests