Tally CodeBrewers 2022: How Kushal Jain Defeated Teams From Tier-1 Colleges & Became The Wizard Of System Programming!

If engineering and creativity go hand-in-hand, the world can go beyond the impossible. Hence, to encourage a culture of creativity and problem-solving in the next generation of engineers, the Indian multinational technology company - Tally, launched the ‘CodeBrewers’- a hackathon to celebrate the passion of aspiring engineers.

The competition witnessed the participation of students from India’s top Engineering colleges and universities. Team Loner from IIIT, Naya Raipur and Team MisFits from ISM Dhanbad emerged as winners in the Programming and Full Stack categories respectively. We had Kushal Jain, the individual player of Team Loner, share his experience at the hackathon with us. Here is what Jain had to say regarding his journey at Tally CodeBrewers. 

‘Coding’ dreams into reality

As a student of Computer Science and Engineering from the International Institute of Information Technology, Naya Raipur, I really wanted to put my programming knowledge to the test. Since my college was eligible for participating in Tally CodeBrewers, I registered for the hackathon. Little did I know that I would end up winning the competition. 

To start with, we had Round 1 which was actually sub-divided into Round 1.1 (online quiz) and Round 1.2 (on-the-spot online coding test). The combined score of these two rounds was considered to shortlist candidates for Round 2. It was a tough competition. Out of all the teams who participated in the first round, about 165 teams qualified for the next round. I was lucky enough to make it!

Round 2 was a Product Development Challenge, where the participants were provided with two categories - ‘Wizard of System Programming’ and ‘Commander of Full Stack’. The shortlisted teams were asked to submit their preferred product development category. After deciding the category, the teams had to come up with a working solution using the technology of their choice within 2 days! So since the time was limited, we had to basically concentrate mainly on the main functionality of the project. Thankfully we were assigned mentors to guide us through the journey. 

On the first day, I analyzed and explored the problem statement thoroughly and in the evening session with the mentor, I discussed my initial solution. The major issues in the solution were addressed by my mentor. On the next day, with less than 24 hours in hand, I came up with a different solution which I thought was much better than the previous one. I felt like adding more to my solution but due to paucity of time, I shaped up my solution as best as I could and submitted the same. 

The last and the toughest lap

Based on the prototype submitted, only eight teams made it to the finals in the system programming category. The feeling of being one of them is inexplicable. Before the competition, I had no idea about system programming and here I was, competing with some of the best teams to become the ‘wizard of system programming!’ 

Heading to the final round, we had to now give a virtual demo of our solution or prototype after giving it the final shape. The panel of judges included experts in system programming who had to assess the ideas based on various parameters. With full faith in myself, I gave it my all. The judges seemed impressed and also gave their valuable feedback on the project and how I could improve on it further. After we were done, I was satisfied with my performance but had no idea what lay ahead of me. 

When the final results were announced, I couldn’t believe it. I made it to the top! And it was all possible because of my hard work, faith in myself and the guidance of my mentor. Tally CodeBrewers would always remain as a special memory in my heart. 

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