# 2021-22 Helpful Information

To prepare for MS Coding competition, teams should have knowledge of concepts (software development, computer science, and coding topics) that will be on the Coding written test. They also should be familiar and comfortable with using the Scratch programming language. Scratch is a free visual programming language available from the MIT Media Lab (https://scratch.mit.edu/starter_projects/) An offline version of the Scratch tool should be downloaded and available on each team's laptop.

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Teams that advance to the semifinalist level, based on written test performance, will perform a challenge using the Scratch programming language. Semifinalist teams will receive the challenge on site and will have two hours to complete it. (PLEASE NOTE: Semifinalist teams MUST have a version of this program available for offline use, as there will be no internet access available during the semifinalist level of competition.)

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Examples of the types of challenges students may be asked to complete can be found at this link: https://scratched.gse.harvard.edu/resources/short-scratch-programming-challenges.html