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 Think just for a second about the upcoming JavaOne Coding Challenge: Competitive Java technology coding under pressure. Three days of
qualification rounds. Brilliant competitors. Thousands of spectators. Big prizes. Bragging rights.Now check yourself. Any increase in your pulse rate might be the first sign you're a potential competitor. Sweaty palms are a sure sign. If neither happened, but your pulse rate dropped and a shark fin popped out of your back, your seat is waiting. Just You and Some of the Best Java Coders Ever
For the second year in a row, Sun Microsystems is partnering with TopCoder, Inc. to bring attendees the JavaOne Coding Challenge, one of last year's highest-rated attendee events of the conference. If you're going to the 2004 JavaOne conference, June 28-July 1 in San Francisco, you'll see the competition happening. You can't miss it.
You'll see a large, new Flash scoreboard and monitors that show the finalists in action on plasma screens within the onsite Competition Arena located on the JavaOne Pavilion floor.
"For coders with a competitive streak, it's hard to resist," says Rob Hughes, President of TopCoder, Inc. "Just watching the competitors code under pressure -- and seeing the daily awards ceremony -- gets the competitive juices flowing. It's like the "ring-the-bell" game at a carnival. You see it and want to try it."
30 Minutes, Full Adrenaline
As in previous years, the coding problems will be straightforward, but very challenging. The problems will focus on the three major themes for the 2004 JavaOne conference - Mobility, Enterprise Applications, and Web Services.
In each daily Qualification Round, competitors will be given 30 minutes to code, compile, test, and submit solutions to the problem sets.
Immediately after each day's Qualification Round, the submissions will be scored for accuracy and the time it took to complete the problem. The top four qualifiers will be announced, their results displayed on the new Challenge Scoreboard, and then they will be invited back to the Competition Arena to compete against each other that evening to compete for the daily grand prize. If you are not one of the top four qualifiers, you can re-enter each day's qualification round.
Oh, and There Are Prizes, Too
The Grand Prize winner will receive a complimentary full-conference pass to the 2005 JavaOne conference valued at $1,995, a collection of 23 Java Series publications valued at $950, and a Zodiac Mobile Entertainment console and package from Tapwave valued at $625.
Additional prizes include gift certificates of $500 for 1st runners-up, $250 for 2nd runners-up and $125 for 3rd runners-up daily.
And for those who are quick to enter, the first 1,000 contestants will receive one 2004 JavaOne Coding Challenge T-shirt and messenger bag.
Two Past Winners You'll See Again This Year
Donald Jeremy Sharpe was one of last year's JavaOne Coding Challenge grand prize winners. Looking forward to this year, he says, "This is a great way to see how good you really are -- how you stack up against other coders. It's good, clean competition that helps you identify your strengths and weaknesses."
Not to give away any secrets, but does he have any tips for his fellow coders? "Know the language," says Sharpe. "Knowing how to work with algorithms is a distinct advantage. And open the Javadoc window before you start coding. If you need to look up a method, for example, you don't need to mess with that and the browser after you've begun."
Now, how about Nathan Egge, another grand prize winner from last year? Egge, has participated in several other coding competitions, some that last five hours, and include team members. "It's like an athletic competition. It's important for me to clear my mind, focus on the problem, and keep from tensing up."
"Another thing I do is to make sure I really understand the problem, and what they're looking for, before I start typing," he says. "If I read the problem too fast and skip a detail, it'll come back and bite me later. A lot of people think typing is the bottleneck. But actually, once you fully understand and know how to solve the problem, the typing is fast. Knowing the APIs is essential, though."
Like a lot of developers, Egge specializes in one area and has to actively seek out exposure to other areas of the development world. "TopCoder is a good way to meet a lot of very intelligent people I enjoy having ongoing relationships with. It lets me sample a lot of ideas from the entire spectrum. I've been able to pick up some good skills through TopCoder, both in competition and working on TopCoder projects."
That's right. Pure competition isn't the driver for everyone, and even the president of TopCoder agrees. "Taking the JavaOne Coding Challenge is an enjoyable and exciting experience. It gives conference attendees a chance to blow off steam and participate in an activity that's pure Java programming language code -- no sales hype, no product pitch."
How to Get Started
From May 28-June 26, you can practice for the JavaOne Coding Challenge. In this dedicated online practice room, you get to solve algorithmic problems and code, compile, test, and submit problems similar to the ones in the JavaOne Coding Challenge. Log in anytime to warm up and work out.
Before then, you can sharpen your skills and learn some new tricks at java.sun.com. There, you'll see technical articles, code samples, blueprints, and lots more to give you an edge.
More JavaOne Coding Challenge information
JavaOne Conference, Coding Challenge page
JavaOne Coding Challenge Official Rules & Regulations JavaOne Coding Challenge Practice Room TopCoder Register for the JavaOne Conference | ||||||||||||||
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