The competition for US$150,000 in prizes also provided an opportunity for corporate and government IT managers to recruit developers.

The secretive National Security Agency, a co-sponsor of the contest, publicly acknowledged that it hoped to recruit some contestants for its developer ranks. UBS AG was also a co-sponsor of the event, which was run by TopCoder Inc.

Glastonbury, Conn.-based TopCoder regularly taps some of the 80,000 programmers who have taken part in its contests to develop software for outsourcing clients such as Stage Stores Inc. and ESPN Inc.

The freelance TopCoder developers are building several Windows-based handheld applications for Stage Stores, a Houston-based apparel retailer that operates 540 stores.

Work on the inventory, receiving, carton-scanning and merchandise transfer applications is slated to be finished in July, said Stage Stores CIO Jeff Kish.