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Favorite Programming Contests?

Posted by Cliff on from the code-fu-competitions dept.

SandSpider asks: "Sometimes, the daily grind of programming can wear a person down. Sometimes, people need challenges to expand their abilities and outlook. My personal favorite is the ADHOC/MacHack Showcase, where you spend up to 48 hours straight programming something impressive, perhaps with the conference theme, perhaps no. Sure, there's no prize, but it's the recognition from other programmers that makes it worthwhile. What is everyone else's favorite programming competition, and what did you do for it?"

5 of 37 comments (clear)

  1. ioccc by atomic-penguin · · Score: 4, Interesting

    International Obfuscated C Code Contest

    --
    /^([Ss]ame [Bb]at (time, |channel.)){2}$/
  2. robocraft looks fun... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    i have to admit i have never gone to the trouble(well it may not be trouble) to set it up and try this, but competitions like this seem like theyd push the way i think... sure sems like a nice escape from my typical DB business app...

    http://robocraft.mit.edu/

    or

    http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Electrical-Engineering-a nd-Computer-Science/6-370January--IAP--2005/Course Home/index.htm

  3. Perl Golf by Masa · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Perl Golf, http://terje.perlgolf.org/, used to be my favourite programming related past time activity couple of years ago, when I programmed with Perl. Even though I haven't programmed with Perl in a log time, I still think that the Perl Golf is one of the coolest contest around.

  4. ADHOC/MacHack by jonjohnson · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I'll second the OP's favorite. I've only attended for two years, but it's a great conference. I'm for sure going again this year.

    I came in second place two years ago in the showcase by teaming up with someone else to write a networked Pong game that literally played across the screens. The paddles were on the end computers, and the ball would bounce across all the computers between it. It hovered over the desktop, which we demonstrated by showing a QuickTime movie playing in the background on one of the computers. I think the best part was that the text showing the score spanned all the computers hooked up. We called it AirPong, because we happened to be networked over Airport.

    However, the winner's entry was great. It was Unstoppable Progress bars, a haxie that turned the system progress bars, which fill up with "aqua" colored liquid, into un-capped bars that would spill out and fill up the window.

    It's a great experience with developers gathering in the atrium of the hotel and teaming up as needed to create really great things.

    If you're a Mac/UNIX programmer, or are even remotely interested in it, I highly recommend it.

  5. more details about the ADHOC showcase... by DJMeatBall · · Score: 1, Interesting
    ... can be found online and previous winners can be found at the same site.

    My favorite MacHack was the one done by Dean Yu that blasted a random inflammatory sound ("ouch!") for each error spewed while compiling under MPW. Come to think of it, Dean did a whole bunch of my favorite hacks.

    I've gotta think of a good hack to do this year.

    (keeps thinking the same thing year after year)