Codeforces (Russian: Коудфорсес) is a website that hosts competitive programming contests.

[1] It is maintained by a group of competitive programmers from ITMO University led by Mikhail Mirzayanov.

[17] Codeforces was created by a group of competitive programmers from Saratov State University led by Mike Mirzayanov.

It was originally created for those interested in solving tasks and taking part in competitions.

[18][19] According to Daniel Sleator, professor of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University, competitive programming is valuable in computer science education, because competitors learn to adapt classic algorithms to new problems, thereby improving their understanding of algorithmic concepts.