In previous years the Facebook Hacker Cup has started in January. However, the 2014 event kicks off, with the 3-day online qualification round, on November 21st, 2013, the online elimination rounds are in December and only the Onsite Finals will take place in 2014.

Since it started in 2011 the Facebook Hacker Cup has attracted a strong following. Over 11,000 entered the first competition and while the number of those who successfully continued to Round 1 dropped to 8,000 in 2012 - perhaps due to the competition's level of difficulty - numbers bounced back last year with over 10,000 participants solving at least one problem in the initial qualification round, enabling them to proceed to Round 1 of the contest.

The problems get harder over the successive three Online Elimination rounds to weed out contestants and select  the top 25 who will be flown on an expenses paid trip to Facebook headquarters in California. Out of this group, one champion will win $10,000 and the title of World Champion with the honor of their name being added to the coveted Hacker Cup trophy.

Prizes of $2,000 and $1000 will be awarded for 2nd place and 3rd place. respectively with $100 each awarded to the rest of the finalists. In addition t-shirts are awarded to the top 100 contestants from Round 2.

If you want to know about the problems for past qualifying rounds and last years round 1 follow these links: 

Qualification Round Solutions 2013

2012 Qualification Round Solutions

2013 Round 1 Solutions

The dates for the 2014 competition are:

• Nov 21-24 -- Online Qualification Round
• Dec 7 -- Online Elimination Round 1
• Dec 14 -- Online Elimination Round 2
• Dec 21 -- Online Elimination Round 3
• Feb 20-21 -- Onsite Finals at Facebook

Although there have been a number of requests to re-schedule to its traditional January start date this would meaning delaying the Onsite Finals and this date is probably the one that is the most firmly fixed. But, despite clashing with exams, thousands of hackers will be gearing up to face some tough programming problems later this month.