Competitive Programming
Years of algorithmic problem solving in C++ — the foundation everything else on this site is built on.
Background
My technical background is rooted in competitive programming rather than traditional software engineering coursework: algorithm design, data structures, and a lot of time spent thinking carefully about correctness and complexity before writing a line of code. That process — reason first, implement second — is the habit I carry into every other project on this site.
USACO Gold, 2024
Passed the USA Computing Olympiad's Gold division in 2024, one tier below Platinum in USACO's four-division structure (Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum). Gold-level problems typically require solid grounding in graph algorithms, dynamic programming, and more advanced data structures under real time pressure.
Where it shows up elsewhere
- Picking up Unreal Engine's C++ codebase and conventions quickly, with no prior game-engine experience, by leaning on general algorithmic/systems intuition.
- Comfort with object-oriented design from parallel experience in Java.
- A bias toward reasoning about a system's structure before implementing it — visible in how the campaign-state architecture for the space combat game project was designed.