Is it ethical to post my TopCoder solutions to my blog?

Question

I recently joined TopCoder and have been solving a few problems on the site. Now, I want to publicly post my solutions onto my blog and have others go over it, suggest improvements, better design, etc. wherever applicable. Would this be ethical?

Answer 1

I honestly don't see the problem. As long as it is your code, are not being paid (I'm talking privacy agreements/intellectual property clauses with a client for this), and you are aiming to help others learn from it, I cannot see the harm.

Answer 2

This might be useful

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http://www.topcoder.com/tc?module=Static&d1=about&d2=terms

Answer 3

It's un-ethical if you have an NDA in place, otherwise go nuts.

Answer 4

I'd say, it really depends on what you're doing - in an active contest this would'nt be a nice thing to do - especially when there is an explicit "rule":

Contestants must not cheat; all ideas for any code and/or challenge submitted must be the contestant's alone.

Answer 5

Solutions are already public. You can see other people's solutions in the practice rooms. I don't see why you shouldn't post yours on your blog too.

I would highly recommend reading the solutions of some highly rated contestants, if you would like to learn how to write short and clear solutions. Those guys usually have a good mental model of what they are doing.