Ascent 2026 · Individual round

Round 1 syllabus.

The published scope for the individual qualifier: C++ language proficiency, standard-library knowledge, machine concepts, puzzles, and live debugging.

Syllabus · Round 1 · Proficiency, puzzles & debugging

The language.

Language core

variables, objects & initialization · designated initializers · the most vexing parse
keywords & identifiers
literals & expressions
datatypes, operators & control flow
pointers, references & const
the auto keyword
enum / enum class
C-style arrays & std::array internals

Objects & lifetime

the stack & the heap
storage durations & object lifetimes
OOP: class/struct · member functions · access specifiers · special member functions
function & operator overloading · overriding
inheritance · dynamic polymorphism · the diamond problem · virtual
static_cast · dynamic_cast · bit_cast
move semantics · value categories · perfect forwarding · the rule of five
unique_ptr & shared_ptr internals

Behavior & correctness

UB · unspecified · implementation-defined · erroneous behavior
error handling: std::exception · std::optional · std::expected
floating-point precision and equality comparisons
debugging fundamentals

Generics & compile time

generic types · type & non-type template params · variadic packs
project: implement a custom Matrix
constexpr vs consteval
lambdas

Syllabus · Round 1 · Continued

The library & the machine.

Containers & internals

iterator categories
hashing & hash functions · map / unordered_map · set / unordered_set
std::string internals & SSO
std::vector internals · vector::reserve

Memory & the machine

struct layout · alignment · padding · alignof / alignas
cache lines & false sharing *
atomics *
branch misprediction

Question formats · Round 1

Chained execution

You write code, run it, and read the output. That output feeds the next stage. Four hops in, we ask for one thing: the final printed value.

tests: reasoning about your own program's state

Live graph match

A target curve is on screen. You code the equation; the plot re-renders as you type. Submit when it matches.

tests: translating shape into expression