Best Programmer(s) in Sections

[N36fSL3A]

3 factors. Efficiency, Time spent on it, and code organization.

[S G H]

I think it's obvious the program MUST be cross-platform compatible?
Like, you could even compile it for a Game-Boy Advance or such?

[N36fSL3A]

No that's too much.

It doesn't have to be cross-platform because it'd just make everything more difficult.

[BHX]

C++ is cross-platform anything above console applications would have to be cross platform libraries otherwise you are severely limiting who can participate if you lock it to one operating system.

Not to be the negative thinker, but everyone one here has said, at one point or another, that anything you can think of asking has been asked. Therefore any contest wouldn't be considered legit because there would be no proof someone didn't just search for the competition parameters, copy the code and change variable names to make it look like theirs.

[Script Coder]

Then have two tasks, that are so unrelated that no one would have done both. Also, obviously the tasks must then not be set by the same person, unless that person is not partaking. Maybe, we should make that a rule: he who sets the challenge may not compete.

[devonrevenge]

the person setting the challenge must be the person who makes the final decision on the winner and umpires the competition, we should give everyone a fair few days so everyone can get involved plus a limit to the length of the code, maybe shortness could a winning factor :D

I think a console application that makes letters dance to music like in a music visualisation thing, no one has thought of that, ever.

[cire]

Perhaps you can just visit a site that holds challenges and compete with each other there on a current challenge.

[Script Coder]

@cire, I am guessing that you would then be referring to an algorithmic challenge. It could be one of them, but it would not be fair to those who have not have algorithmic training in some form or another.

The problem is everyone is skilled in different areas, so finding a task that would be suited to everyone is going to be a problem. Maybe we need to find the best in each section: games programmer, ai programmer, web development, algorithmics....

[3qX21hU5]

You know I was thinking about doing something like this recently. Basically I was thinking every month we should have a simple competition on the forums. Nothing really serious or anything just something fun that people can join in on if they have enough time to do it. Could be Algorithm based competitions like CodeChef comps or it could be creating a little program or whatever. Each month it would be something a little bit different.

Like standard CodeChef competition one month, the next month it is who can make the best IRC bot, then the next something about graphics programming, then the next something about whatever. Would help create fun projects every month to work on for those that want to do it and have time to.

Personally I don't think we really need judges or anything, just keep it fun and simple where everyone that competes can submit a vote for who they think should win (Can't vote for yourself).

[BHX]

devonrevenge wrote:

I think a console application that makes letters dance to music like in a music visualisation thing, no one has thought of that, ever.

Anything you can think of or do has already been done. I assure you that a programmer interested in the music side of things has made this a thousand times over.

C++ is 34 years old (Bjarne started it in 1979 as "C With Classes" before renaming it to C++ in 1983) and so widely used that I'm sure tons of things have been thought up and done already.

[Script Coder]

+1 Zereo

I think that that is a brilliant idea, but how do we decide on who sets the projects? Because if we have multiple (in one month), it will get boring really quickly.

[devonrevenge]

great idea zereo! I loved an old thread where we were cracking codes, plus there will be less silliness and more coding in the forum too, solves another problem.

[3qX21hU5]

I think that that is a brilliant idea, but how do we decide on who sets the projects?

Well the way I was thinking it could go is a few different ways.

1) A week before the competition starts or something everyone that is interested in competing will submit a idea for what the competition will be. Then everyone that signs up for the competition will submit one vote on what they want the competition to be. Whatever idea has the most votes is what that month's competition will be.


2) Kind of similar to the first is anyone can submit ideas for competitions (Any amount). The community as a whole will then take all them ideas and create a list of 12 competitions (Not sure how this will work). Then each month we select a competition at random (Someone selects a competition at random from the remaining competitions).


Then are just my opinions on how it could go though. So I am open to other ideas. Personally I like #2 better.

[devonrevenge]

thats such a cool idea im excited, we should throw a competition sub forum on that wishlist

[BHX]

devonrevenge wrote:

great idea zereo! I loved an old thread where we were cracking codes, plus there will be less silliness and more coding in the forum too, solves another problem.

Not true. You are leaving people up to their own motivation to do a competition that has no other reward than doing it to be doing it. You will find that real life will end up making people drop out fast. A site I'm part of for game programming has regular competitions and normally 20-30 join, but normally less than 10 of them actually finish their entries and the others drop out right near the end. Look at Ludum Dare, they have thousands of people join each competition and only a few hundred (if that) finish under their own motivation.

[devonrevenge]

yeah i guess, It would be better then if they were smaller more casual codes/problems, maybe a series of small problems rather than one big problem that demands a long code, tho' i guess a larger code is a series of small problems :/

[N36fSL3A]

Well someone could commit voter fraud by making multiple accounts so why don't we make a program that someone can vote, it sends it to a server and the server checks if the vote came from the same ip.

[3qX21hU5]

its a competition for FUN you guys. No need to complicate way to many things. I give up on that idea lol.

[devonrevenge]

noo zereo come back we need you.

[BHX]

Zereo wrote:

its a competition for FUN you guys. No need to complicate way to many things. I give up on that idea lol.

Yeah, I tried getting a competition for FUN together and no one ever even bothered with it. Setting all the rules is a pain, figuring how to do the rules and everything to determine a winner is a pain too. Then like I said, you have to deal with deadlines and wondering who will finish out of the ones that sign up for the competition.

A lot more go into competitions than I ever thought went into it. My compo was the first and last time I did a compo, but I still have the thread for it somewhere around here.