Learning by competitions: olympiads in informatics as a tool for training high-grade skills in programming

The paper discusses the issue of developing problem solving through programming and competitions. Programming is a rapid, specific, and suitable way for students to gain experience of solving problems. Organizing contests is an excellent instrument to achieve this goal. Overview of infrastructure and organizing competitions - Olympiads - from international and regional level to the national - Lithuanian - is described. Our department has a lot of experience in teaching programming and algorithms in basic and secondary schools. The main attention in the paper is paid to the peculiarities and good practice in developing programming skills and motivation among students through Lithuanian Olympiads in Informatics. Choosing and developing interesting tasks (problems) is one of the most important issues bringing students into Olympic movement. Some aspects of program evaluation during Olympiads are also described.