Google code competition

Google Code Jam is an international programming competition hosted and administered by Google. The competition began in 2003 as a means to identify top engineering talent for potential employment at Google.The competition consists of a set of algorithmic problems which must be solved in a fixed amount of time. Competitors may use any programming language and development environment to obtain their solutions.
In 2008, over 11,000 people from more than 128 countries competed for prize money totaling over $80,000, including a top prize of $10,000.
In 2009, total 8605 people competed. The winner was Lou TianCheng from China followed by Qi ZiChao (China) and Iwata Yoichi (Japan).
In 2010, over 10,000 people competed. The winner was Egor Kulikov from Russia followed by Erik-Jan Krijgsman (Netherlands) and Sergey Kopeliovich (Russia).
In 2011, over 20,000 people competed. The winner was Makoto Soejima from Japan followed by Ivan Metelsky (Belarus) and Jakub Pachocki (Poland).

for more :www.code.google.com/codejam