You may think that the “big event” this weekend is happening down in Austin, Texas. However, the hippest of the hip know that the REAL place to be is scenic Sherbrooke, Quebec.
This year the Université de Sherbrooke is hosting the 2008 Computer Science Games, where programming nerds from all over Canada and the U.S. gather to do battle on the field of code. The events include (descriptions copied from the CS games website):
- Debugging – “The creator of this competition gave a new meaning to “strong coupling”, “obfuscated code” and “spaghetti code” and refuses to believe that some programmers can live without GOTOs. The “/” and “#” keys of his keyboard are as shiny as they were when they were assembled. So many bugs and so little time to solve them all.”
- Extreme Programming – “Two programmers, one computer. This is the basic principle of this competition, but of course, we added a twist or two! Participants will get a unique occasion to test their coding skills with a buddy and enjoy this unique bonding experience under extreme circumstances! Remember, what happens in XP stays in XP… or on the Internet.”
- Relay Programming – “This is our new home brewed competition. 3 competitors will have 3 hours to code 3 different applications. Seems easy? Well, each of them will only be able to work one hour per application before having to relay it to another team member. WHAT, no comments!!! &*%*$!”
- Team Software Engineering – “We sure hope competitors have good design skills, because this time, there’s no going back to the drawing board! After a short planning period, team members are isolated for implementation. At the end, the team get a short period of time to stick the pieces of the puzzle together. It better fit well!”
- Many more
This is my first year attending the CS games so I’m not quite sure what to expect, but from what I hear it’s a three day whirlwind of nerdy fun, code and beer. We’re heading up tomorrow afternoon with the ETS team, who I’m sure will drink us under the table at the dégrise. Wish us luck!
