Tuesday, 2 October 2007

Singapore Holds Inaugural 24-hour Computer Programming Competition

Singapore held the first ever 24-hour computer programming competition aimed to instill interest in computer programming among students and working professionals at the same time identify budding infocomm talent in the nation.

code::XtremeApps::, which was held on September 22, 2007 had a total of 62 teams, and required the contestants to create a Web-based application in accordance with the competition theme “Hospitality and/or Tourism Services in a Participative Society” within a 24-hour timeframe.

Organised by The Information Technology Standards Committee (ITSC), the programming challenge was said to have attracted a diverse range of contestants ranging from tertiary students, researchers, young technopreneurs, to software developers from large enterprises and particularly start-ups.

According to a statement released “62 teams, with up to three members per team, put their creativity, resourcefulness and perseverance to the ultimate test by developing a Web-based application strictly within a 24-hour timeframe, using newfangled Web 2.0 tools and frameworks such as Ruby on Rails, Google Web Toolkit, Google Gadgets and Google Maps.”

Singapore’s decision to hold such an event also ties in with its goal to further develop infocomm technology to become a key enabler to enhance the nation’s economic competitiveness and attain its vision of being placed in the world map for innovation said the ITSC.