MOUNTAIN VIEW, USA: Are you a programmer who love to take up technical challenges? Then here is your chance to be part of Google Code Jam 2008.

Google Code Jam, organised by Google is a coding competition in which professional and student programmers are asked to solve complex algorithmic challenges in a limited amount of time.

Programmers ready to use their coding skills, creativity, and ingenuity to solve a series of challenges can register at http://code.google.com/codejam.

The top 500 contestants will win an all expenses paid trip to the semifinals at regional Google offices, with the top 100 advancing to the grand final at Google's Mountain View headquarters.

"Google Code Jam is an incredible opportunity for the most talented computer scientists in the world to come together and compete on an international stage," said Vic Gundotra, vice president, Engineering.

He added, "Google is proud to support these coders as they take on some of the world's most challenging programming problems, and we're pleased to have the chance to introduce them to our research and offices around the world."

This year marks the first year with regional semifinal playoffs in over ten countries. "It's an incredible opportunity to introduce the best of the programming world to our offices across the globe and demonstrate the incredible diversity of experiences that Google offers engineers worldwide," said Nelson Mattos, vice president, Engineering, EMEA.

This year's Google Code Jam will be powered by tools created by a 20 percent-time team that includes previous Code Jam winners, and will allow contestants to program in any language.

In addition to the trip to local engineering offices and Mountain View, finalists will also divide over $80,000 in prize money:

Participants can register throughout the qualification round, which ends July 17.