TL;DR: You can read it here! https://cubari.moe/read/imgur/SYGeZwq/1/1/ It’s also on Webtoons, Tapas, etc. https://linktr.ee/bluescreen_off
Hi everyone, I’m a fellow competitive programmer! Having recently soft-retired from a decade of competitive programming, I channeled my passion into creating a shonen manga about competitive programming.
There will be Qualifier arcs and IOI arcs in the future! I’m hoping to promote CS education and get more kids into competitive programming as well. And I’m sure you will get even more out of it than the average reader due to your coding experience!
For more info, go to patreon.com/bluescreen_off! Check the links: linktr.ee/bluescreen_off Watch the trailer! youtube.com/watch?v=kdrLIfT6qck
Auto comment: topic has been updated by bluescreen_off (previous revision, new revision, compare).
Auto comment: topic has been updated by bluescreen_off (previous revision, new revision, compare).
First, I don't see "competitive programming" at all... All I see is some "cool" code for a robot battle. Well, it's competitive and it's programming, but it's not competitive programming that I understand.
For the story, I think the target is for kids, so yeah, it might be cool, but I find it cringes(although I find most shounen manga (except some masterpieces such as My Hero Academia, One Piece, etc.) kinda cringes any way). BTW, do you consider using blog code (I don't know what it is called), like scratch, as some characters' tool? I think it might be easier to understand for some kids too.
In conclusion, I was kinda disappointed because it's not like competitive programming we play, but I understand that this way might be easier for more people to enjoy. For the story, if you aim for kids then it's okay, but in my opinion, it might be cringe for teenagers to adults. I wish you good luck anyway.
bruh, did you see the last page...
First of all, thanks for reading!! And yeah, like TwentyOneHundredOrBust commented, this is really just the beginning ;)
Should I be concerned that I have seen this poster in my city?
Yesn't
The idea of a manga based on competitive programming is just awesome. I'm excited to see the progress of a fictional character towards the IOI, and I also like the explanations of programming stuff, even if the languages used in battles change with time (I think you should fix this in future chapters).
This manga also has much potential to explore many topics related to programming, academia, competition, school-life, etc. For example:
1) The treatment some nerds receive at public schools and what teachers and classmates think about Kai and company being obsessed with CP, and the good and bad sides of being like that.
2) The motivations behind learning (competitive) programming, and the realization that the purpose of the IOI goes far beyond being just a competition.
3) The relationship the protagonist could have with some genius computer geek that isn't into competing, and learning from each other.
4) Details about why some characters are stronger than others, and why other countries excel at IOI while others don't perform well.
5) Conspiracies to undermine the CP world, and what the main characters do about that.
Finally I'd like to suggest to put more emphasis on CS and programming rather than competition. I know the manga is about competition, but it could give a bad image of what computing is about. As I wrote in the point 2), there is an entire world in computing beyond CP, and the goal of the IOI is to foster the development of such world and the interest on it, not to be an end in itself. I think this is the most important lesson the manga could transmit to it's readers.
Thanks for reading :-)
Thank you for all these great ideas! I will reread your post and make sure I've digested every single word. <3