David Haley
Wizard
Group: Members
Posts: 6,874
Joined: Jun 30, 2007
|
#16 id:12607 Posted Sep 24, 2008, 9:12 am
|
kiasyn said:Code me a sandwich.
Err, no?
(followed by the obligatory:) sudo code me a sandwich
(gotta love xkcd)
|
|
|
Chris Bailey
Wizard
Group: Members
Posts: 602
Joined: Sep 13, 2008
|
#17 id:12612 Posted Sep 24, 2008, 11:12 am
|
Kavir -
Proper Organization - I would consider myself relatively unknown but as I stated before I would be much happier with someone else hosting it so that I can enter! If nobody else is interested I would take up the torch, Am I too unknown for you KaVir? If so, which I suspect, I would try to recruit a panel of partners with a name people recognize. Setting up a website for the contest would be relatively simple and I'm sure whomever would run the contest would be equally interested in a well structured and organized event.
Documentation - I agree, this is *extremely* important to me. Without a clear understanding of what is required people are less likely to enter and more likely to be angry at the results. I would imagine that it would be helpful for interested parties to vote on the rules and guidelines for the contest and they will be laid out well before the start of the contest. The rules will of course be generalized enough not to tip off entrants as to the content required before the start date. Polling through the aforementioned website perhaps?
Freedom - How much freedom should be given KaVir? I have little experience with challenges like these and I'm unsure of the benefits of being open ended. While I agree that there should be room for creativity I'm not sure how to balance this aspect out properly. If it's too "open" then people could have 95% of their entrance piece done before the start of the contest. If it's too rigid, as you said, we would have a pile of identical entries. Does anyone else have an opinion on this matter?
Codebase independence - Despite what I said earlier, I agree with you here. It really isn't fair to make it specific because people are typically much more knowledgeable about the codebase that they use regularly(if they do use one). If the challenge revolved around Smaug, users of the Smaug codebase would have an unfair advantage of users of Tiny. Perhaps primary challenges could be free from codebase restraints and the previous idea that I had could be supplemental to garner more interest in the website and idea itself? I'm imagining daily or weekly challenges with little reward other than ?prestige? within the sect.
Small - Once again I agree with you. I think that the majority of the programmers in the mudding community are incapable of producing a lot of large applications on their own. I could be completely mistaken about this, it is just an opinion formed from 12+ years in the mudding community. Most of the mud programmers I've seen are more skilled at modifying the work of others.
Worthwhile - Very true. I imagine if the project were to gain enough interest to attract applicants it might be able to solicit sponsors to help with rewards. I wouldn't plan on it, and I myself will start setting aside a dollar a day, starting today, to donate as a reward just in case this actually gets off the ground. I understand that this isn't much but you must understand that I don't have much. Who do you think should be contacted in regards to advertising donations?
|
|
.........................
If what Proust says is true, that happiness is the absence of fever, then I will never know happiness. For I am possessed by a fever for knowledge, experience, and creation.
|
|
|
|
Fizban
Wizard
Group: Members
Posts: 619
Joined: Jan 8, 2007
|
#19 id:12650 Posted Sep 24, 2008, 7:25 pm
|
I think it'd be interesting and I'd enter for fun and to learn perhaps, but not with any real intention of winning.
|
|
|
Vassi
Conjurer
Group: Members
Posts: 182
Joined: Sep 24, 2008
|
#20 id:12651 Posted Sep 24, 2008, 7:34 pm
|
Fizban said:I think it'd be interesting and I'd enter for fun and to learn perhaps, but not with any real intention of winning.
Ditto.
Though a part of me really thinks its a little weird to promote language freedom, I mean, there are certainly things that can be done more easily in one than another, how would you judge that? Still, it's the kind of thing that is neat because you define x problem and suddenly you have Y solution in Z number of languages. (Like stackoverflow or similar sites, except mud related)
---
V
|
......................... Vassi no Diem et Tharin
< ramble/>
|
|
|
|
Chris Bailey
Wizard
Group: Members
Posts: 602
Joined: Sep 13, 2008
|
#22 id:12657 Posted Sep 24, 2008, 10:36 pm
|
I agree with David, good practice is good practice. If we had a panel of judges fairly well familiar with several languages and best practices with each it shouldn't be too hard to determine how well entrants used the tools their chosen language offered.
Fizbin & Vassi -
Why wouldn't you have the intention of winning? Even when I start I task that I probably have no chance of succeeding at I still intend to win. =)
|
|
.........................
If what Proust says is true, that happiness is the absence of fever, then I will never know happiness. For I am possessed by a fever for knowledge, experience, and creation.
|
|
Fizban
Wizard
Group: Members
Posts: 619
Joined: Jan 8, 2007
|
#23 id:12660 Posted Sep 24, 2008, 11:29 pm
|
Well, not to say I wouldn't 'attempt' to win or put forth effort, heh I just know I'm not half the programmer Haley, Samson, Elanthis, or KaVir are.
|
|
|
Chris Bailey
Wizard
Group: Members
Posts: 602
Joined: Sep 13, 2008
|
#24 id:12667 Posted Sep 25, 2008, 12:21 am
|
Oh yeah, I can understand that, I'm not either.
|
|
.........................
If what Proust says is true, that happiness is the absence of fever, then I will never know happiness. For I am possessed by a fever for knowledge, experience, and creation.
|
|
exeter
Magician
Group: Members
Posts: 60
Joined: Feb 26, 2008
|
#25 id:13434 Posted Oct 6, 2008, 10:31 am
|
Sorry about the minor thread necromancy, but I have a suggestion. How about a 32k or 24k MUD codebase contest, modelled after the 16k competition? I think just having the cachet of Mudbytes behind it, along with some promotion on Usenets and the major MUD sites should attract at least 3 or 4 entries, and that'd be interesting enough. Hell, I might even enter! :)
Thoughts?
|
|
|
Vassi
Conjurer
Group: Members
Posts: 182
Joined: Sep 24, 2008
|
#26 id:13436 Posted Oct 6, 2008, 10:54 am
|
exeter said:Sorry about the minor thread necromancy, but I have a suggestion. How about a 32k or 24k MUD codebase contest, modelled after the 16k competition? I think just having the cachet of Mudbytes behind it, along with some promotion on Usenets and the major MUD sites should attract at least 3 or 4 entries, and that'd be interesting enough. Hell, I might even enter! :)
Thoughts?
It just doesn't seem practical. I think the best instances of the competition were when there were snippets generated that 'mattered' to people. I think, especially if the goal is to get visibility, that tackling common problems or implementing highly sought-after features should be the order of the day.
Stuff like OLC\Parsing\Command handling etc. (Though I think the more 'modern' languages would wipe the floor with C :P)
|
......................... Vassi no Diem et Tharin
< ramble/>
|
|
|
|
Vassi
Conjurer
Group: Members
Posts: 182
Joined: Sep 24, 2008
|
#28 id:13444 Posted Oct 6, 2008, 12:14 pm
|
DavidHaley said:I think I would agree. While it would be somewhat entertaining to do something 'clever' like that, I think it would be just as entertaining yet much more beneficial to do something people could actually use. Of course, defining that broadly enough that many codebases can benefit yet specifically enough that the results are comparable and usable across the board is fairly difficult...
I really am hoping something gets picked up again, I think in general it's helpful because even if the snippet isn't directly 'copy and pasteable' the benefit comes in the form of "oh, I never thought of doing it that way" or "I didn't know x could do that." As a for instance, my entire socket handling system is based on a book written for C++ users and has been adapted from there, because I never would have thought of doing it that way initially.
|
......................... Vassi no Diem et Tharin
< ramble/>
Last edited Oct 6, 2008, 12:15 pm by Vassi
|
|
Ubasti
Apprentice
Group: Members
Posts: 14
Joined: Sep 25, 2008
|
#29 id:13484 Posted Oct 7, 2008, 12:07 am
|
I'm actually hoping this starts too. I'm learning to code and this would give my brain a workout. Plus, it would be cool to see what others can do.
|
|
|
Noplex
Conjurer
Group: Members
Posts: 105
Joined: May 20, 2006
|
#30 id:13842 Posted Oct 13, 2008, 9:54 pm
|
How would you handle someone writing a MUD in Python, Ruby or Java? Are we talking about the size of the final executable or the code? Because those languages have a lot of nice features that are linked in from their standard libraries. I wouldn't mind joining a contest to mod an existing engine (e.g. SocketMUD) and then sizing the difference. But I always seem to miss the dates on these things. Keep me informed!
|
|
.........................
jb
|
|
