Rocklin High School hosts "CodeWars" on Saturday

Preparing for the Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) CodeWars are 118 south Placer students. The competition will be from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at Rocklin High School. Students from Rocklin High and Roseville High schools will go up against students from Houston, Texas, Fort Rollins, Colorado, and other students throughout California. Some schools are competing virtually, while others such as the two south Placer schools are competing in person. This year marks the CodeWars' 25th anniversary. According to Hewlett Packard Enterprise CodeWars account director Meghana Shendrikar, the event brings together local students who compete in a computer programming competition. "HPE has a commitment to STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education, providing a fun and engaging environment in which to learn," Shendrikar said. "Some that attended HPE CodeWars have even gone on to work at HPE." The competition is geared specifically for high school students in computer science courses. On Saturday, students are assigned to complete about 28 questions of different computer programming scenarios through four different coding languages. With each question, the difficulty level increases. "We (HPE) choose the most popular programming languages that we see students learning and that we believe is important to their career, should they go into software development," said Scott Shaffer, Hewlett Packard Enterprise's Server Advanced Development vice-president. To prepare for the competition, students are given a packet of practice questions from Hewlett Packard Enterprise. The students compete in teams no larger than three to a group. In south Placer, 118 students will compete this weekend in 43 teams. Students decide whether they want to enter their team as a "novice" level or "advanced" level team. Hewlett Packard Enterprise will grant first- through third-place trophies and awards for both levels. In addition to earning a trophy, students who win or place can benefit by noting their experience in the competition on a resume and application. When looking for interns and employees, Shaffer said, companies such as Hewlett Packard Enterprise look for students who have participated in events such as the CodeWars. Rocklin High School teachers Geoffrey Clarion and Paul Werner have prepared their students for the CodeWars for more than five years. "The students love the feeling of getting the solution to a problem," Werner said. "What HPE has done really well is providing a venue and an opportunity for students to do this. It's a setting that gets the most excitement. There's tension, competition and prizes. And they're getting help and feedback from professionals." This event is not open to the public. According to Werner, teachers are not even allowed in the room with the students while they compete to avoid any risk of cheating by the students. For more information on the competition, visit hpecodewars.org.