it was 2023 when I was first introduced to the ICPC community, back then I didn't have much of an idea about what they do other than you get some stuff explained to you and try to solve problems on that, I tried a little bit with that and got carried away.

some of my friends have participated in the 2024 ECPC contest, and with the start of the new academic year, a new wave of the ICPC training in the community begins, the same happened, and I didn't continue.

usually I hate beginnings, they tend to be very boring and require a lot of effort to pick things up, once the process becomes somewhat automatic, and there's a clear routine, this is where I enjoy the process the most, all effort is being done towards the actual thing.

Again, with the start of my third year, or actually after the ECPC 2025 contest, I decided that I would commit to this and go to the 2026 ECPC, no matter whats my level.

Taking some inspiration from this video, I started 100 problems in one week challenge and ended up doing 43/100, it was a nice challenge. Around spring 2026 I started looking for a team to train and go to the ECPC, here the process started to be fun.

Doing stuff in a team is far more fun than doing it alone, especially in competitive programming, I don't know how to describe it, but doing problems on codeforces is in someway, desperate.

For me, there's a clear distinction between competitive programming (CP) and problem solving (PS), I'm starting to hate the first and like the latter.

some may say those two are the same thing, or that you won't get the full benefit of PS unless you do CP, I really don't know about this since my experience in both is, let's say, humble.

but, I think I can form some sort of an opinion, CP, like any competitive thing in the world, has some toxicity to it, "weak and strong" comparisons and/or jokes, was the thing I hated the most.

Problem solving, is fun, especially when you start to see some progress and getting some hope but training for competitions has a lot of stuff surrounding PS itself, for example the greedy thinking of getting to the ECPC Finals every year that, in my own opinion, I regard as burning time with not-so-worth-it outcome.

Most of my friends tell me the outcome is that your CV would be seen, and you would have a pretty good chance landing a job in distinguished companies, and yeah, this is true for the top 10% or so of competitive programmers, and placing all your hopes on this I see as a gamble.

Maybe this gamble is worth it for some people, but for me, the problem solving part and the things you learn are worth it, going to the competition for fun is the best thing you can do.

Computer science is also far more diverse than just the CP/PS, you do need a lot of other things in your toolkit other than just PS, let's say its 1/10 of what you need not like 8/10.

in the month before the contest, I had a clear routine, do virtual contest alone or with the team, solve what you couldn't and that's it, here it was the most fun, as I said above.

CP also has some good stuff, the contest experience and the travel and all that is pretty fun, its something that bonds you with many smart people, maybe this is Trauma bonding? your local community and other communities you get to know in the contest is also a very great plus you get from doing CP. The contest experience and vibes are also fun, aside from the huge problems it has here in Egypt.

what do I want to say out of all this rant? Problem solving is fun, and it's one of many aspects needed for someone in Tech.

CP has some fun stuff to it, but pouring all your efforts in it isn't healthy, and the outcome. for me, isn't worth all that.

what will i do next? I will continue to do problems, hopefully everyday, and I will also go to ECPC 2027, also hopefully we make to the finals!