Some TCO '08 News
Sorry if I am not able to post some detailed post, but here some news update about TCO ’08.
CIO: Where Programming Meets American Idol
Everyone who pays for custom application development wants to believe he’s hiring the best. But statistically, we’re all average. If an enterprise IT department wants Web design services and application development that’s measurably the best— based on adherence to client software requirements, established metrics, and the inability of other developers to kick holes in the code—it might well turn to one of the oldest competitive methods in history: hold a contest.That’s the premise behind TopCoder, an online community of 100,000 developers from all over the world. Client projects are broken into well-defined, manageable components (just as you do in-house, right? Right?); a cash prize is offered for each component’s successful completion. With dozens or hundreds of developers vying to be the winner, and several (developer and client) judges examining the submissions and providing detailed feedback, the winning component is, indeed, the very best you can get for the money.
WSJ: Keeping it Simple Pays for a Champion Coder
A tournament for computer programmers crowned a champion yesterday afternoon. The winner’s secret: avoiding bells and whistles, and asking questions until he knew exactly what the judges wanted his software to do.
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Tim Roberts kept it simpleWe won’t pretend that this story is sexy. But it’s certainly instructive. The majority of tech projects miss the mark somehow: They’re either delivered late or fail to meet expectations — or both. Two of the main reasons for this are poor communication between the information-technology department developing a system and the business people who intend to use it, and an influx of new requirements that cause a project to get derailed.
And also, some press release by TopCoder, also mentioned my name in it:
EarthTimes: Poland, U.S., Brazil and Philippines Win Computer Programming Gold in 2008 TopCoder Open
Programming athletes from Poland, the U.S., Brazil and the Philippines were named champions in the Algorithm, Design, Development, Studio Design and Marathon Match events of the 2008 TopCoder Open at the Mirage Resort in Las Vegas this week.
and…
The TopCoder Studio Graphic Design winner was Nino Rey Ronda, aka ‘oninkxronda’, of the Philippines with Maureen, ‘sweetpea’, of Indonesia and Arif Widianto, ‘oton’, also of Indonesia, rounding out the top finishers.
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