Polygon: The Hidden Engine Powering Competitive Coding Mastery

Polygon - OI Wiki provides an in-depth overview of the Polygon platform, a collaborative tool designed for developing programming competition problems. Polygon is widely used in conjunction with Codeforces (CF) and is particularly effective in multi-author environments. The platform offers a robust version control system, ensuring seamless collaboration without the need for file transfers. It includes features such as integrated generators, checkers, and validators that streamline the problem creation process.

Polygon supports comprehensive testing through stress testing and the ability to add test cases directly into problem datasets. The platform also includes tools for managing solutions—both correct and incorrect—which helps in identifying and addressing potential errors. Additionally, users can generate and manage test data efficiently, with the option to preview test cases before final submission.

For those preparing to publish problems on CF, Polygon provides a streamlined packaging system that verifies all components of a problem, ensuring consistency and correctness. This includes checking that all solutions meet their expected outcomes and that the checker and validator functions pass all predefined tests. The system also includes an issue tracker that allows users to report and resolve problems without cluttering communication channels.

Polygon facilitates the management of entire contests through its built-in contest creation tools. Users can add existing problems to a contest or create new ones directly within the platform. Permissions are managed through a developer list, allowing for controlled access to contest materials. The system also supports previewing all problem statements and solutions and renumbering problems as needed.

Conflicts in collaborative environments are handled with a dedicated conflict resolution feature. When multiple users edit the same problem version, Polygon alerts users to conflicts and provides tools to manually resolve them. This ensures that all changes can be merged without loss of data or overwriting contributions.

The platform also includes a detailed interface for managing problem metadata such as time and memory constraints, problem tags, and contest affiliations. Users can draft problem statements and tutorials separately from the final versions, allowing for iterative refinement. Additionally, the system supports the inclusion of images in problem statements through a resource file upload feature.

Polygon supports both interactive and non-interactive problem types, with specific tools for handling input/output (IO) and grader-style interactions. These tools are detailed in official tutorials and provide a structured approach to developing interactive problems.

Overall, Polygon is a powerful and flexible platform tailored for competitive programming problem development. Its feature set makes it a preferred choice for both individual and team-based problem creation, particularly for those intending to publish on Codeforces.