SAS Programming Contest at the Japan SAS Users Group Conference

[INOUEtakahiro]

Hello everyone,

My name is Takahiro Inoue, and I am one of the organizers of the Japan SAS Users Group Conference.

As part of this year's conference activities, we are pleased to announce the SAS Programming Contest 2026 and invite SAS users from around the world to participate.

About the Contest

This is an algorithmic programming competition based on the game Reversi.

Participants will develop decision-making logic using SAS programming. Each SAS program determines where to place a coin based on the current board state and then competes automatically against other participants' algorithms.

The contest focuses on:

• Strategic thinking
• Algorithm design
• SAS programming skills

No graphical user interface (GUI) or graphics development is required.

Who Can Participate?

Participants from all countries and regions are welcome.

Both experienced SAS programmers and those who simply enjoy programming challenges are encouraged to join.

Contest Rules

Participants must develop their own programs specifically for this contest.

The use or modification of publicly available Reversi programs is not permitted.

Official contest materials and development templates will be provided to participants after registration.

Reversi: Basic Rules

• Reversi is played on an 8 × 8 board by two players: Black and White.
• The game starts with four coins placed in the center of the board.
• Black moves first.
• A move is valid when it sandwiches one or more opponent coins in a straight line (horizontal, vertical, or diagonal).
• All sandwiched coins are flipped to the current player's color.
• If a player has no valid moves, the player must pass.
• The game ends when neither player can make a valid move.
• The player with the greater number of coins on the board wins.

How to Participate

If you are interested in participating, please contact me by 20 August 2026 through a SAS Communities private message.

Detailed contest information, development templates, and participation materials will be provided upon request.

For participants outside Japan, match results and recorded videos will be shared after the competition.

We look forward to welcoming participants from around the world and seeing a variety of innovative SAS-based strategies.

Best regards,

Takahiro Inoue