Iron Coder Overview by admin

The #macsb Iron Coder contest gives Mac programmers an API, a theme, and 48 hours to make something cool.

How it Happens

Iron Coder so far has taken place on a weekend, though this may not always be the case.

The API and there are given at the same time.  After this, you have 48 hours to code your masterpiece for submission.

Dates & Times

Competitions are held on an irregular basis at the discretion of the current judge. Visit the Iron Coder Schedule page for details on past and upcoming competitions.

Judging Criteria

The following criteria are a rough overview of how entries will be considered. Judging for specific contests is however always at the discretion of the judge.

In general four areas the project will be judged:

  • Style
  • Technical expertise
  • Use of API and theme
  • Coolness factor

Rules

Rules are also general guidelines and may be overridden or refined by the current judge.

  • The programs must run in their own address space- so that rules out input managers and haxies. The program must also run without authentication.
  • Source code has to be included, and you’ve got to be ok with it being public.
  • New projects only! The idea is to try and cram all development into a 24hr period.
  • If it’s some sort of movie, or something that you have to sit through, it can’t be longer than 1:27 seconds.
  • Files must be under 5mb compressed (for uploading).
  • A quick little blurb on how to run your program, what it does, and how it ties into the theme is probably a good idea.
  • The app has to be totally self contained. We don’t want files littered all over the judge’s system.
  • The judge has to be able to compile the code.
  • Instant disqualification if judge is too scared to run the code.
  • You must be willing to be the next competition’s judge.
  • Entries must be PPC/Intel Universal binaries.

Prizes

The winner of any competition gets to pick the API and theme of the next competition. Besides that, eternal honor and glory! What more could you possibly want?  Except when we do have prizes.  That just depends if anyone donates stuff or not.

Submitting Your Entry

Package your Xcode project, source and the application binary into a disk image or tarball (bz2 recommended). Include usage instructions and contact information. Rename the archive to something relatively unique (e.g. your name or domain name). The total size of the archive should be 5MB or smaller.

Upload the archive using the submission page. Be sure to name your archive uniquely to prevent overwriting anybody else’s entry. Something like “IronCoderV1-JohnDoe-RockingGoodCode.zip” would probably do the trick. Be sure to include something that identifies you as the author of the submission.

What Will the Theme and API Be Like?

The whole point is to have a bit of surprise, but check out past competitions for some idea of what to expect. Some of the original ideas from the initial Iron Coder brainstorm are included below:

  • CoreImage + George Orwell novels
  • Quicktime + surfer rock
  • kqueues + Robert Rodriguez movies
  • Spotlight + Finding Nemo
  • CoreGraphics + clouds

More Questions?

Don’t contact the judge, he’s busy. Just re-read the rules and if you don’t understand something, use your best judgement. You’re a mac programmer- you’ve got brains, right?

If you’re still unsure, try adding a comment to the entry announcing the particular competition you have questions about. Either the judge or another participant may be able to clear things up for you.

Have fun, and good luck!