In the Google Hashcode competition 2020, more than 10,000 teams from all over the world came together to solve an optimization problem. What sets this competition apart from all the other programming competitions, is the type of problems posed. Here, you solve problems close to the real world, often inspired by Google's challenges. The past problems reached from providing Internet access via high altitude balloons (like in Google Loon) to optimizing video streaming servers needed for Youtube.
Together with my team, we have successfully participated in many past Hashcode rounds, so we knew what to expect in this year's final. Or so we thought...