MoJ Recap

Posted on | 25 November 2006 |
Tags: conference | java

Last thursday, we arrived for the Masters of Java competition at the Game Syndicate in Rotterdam, a dark, cavernous place suitable for its main purpose of providing boys a place to play network games until all hours.

It was certainly inspiring to be in the company of some of the best Java developers in the Netherlands. It was a day of intense competition, 15-30 minute periods of stress, pushing ourselves to the limit, but it also rounded off with a sense of accomplishment and fun. It was definitely an experience and I’m glad I participated.

There were a total of 22 teams, at least 50% less than they had before. The organizers admitted that they didn’t send out as many emails as they did last year. And someone who also participated last year thought that it was because people found the assignments too hard. Last year, most people simply couldn’t finish most of the assignments. But this year, they had better QA of the tests and made sure that most people at least had a fighting chance.

The assignments were either a test on algorithm or a test on API knowledge. We did quite okay on the API knowledge, placing 5 or 6 on some assignments, but couldn’t keep it up. One disadvantage is that this was the first time I ever encountered Java 5 constructs. My partner has some but also limited knowledge. So, although I thought professionals because of experience, would have a better chance at APIs, this is only if you had the chance to work on Java 5 or spent your own time to look at it. As for the algorithms, you have to just be plain smart.

At the beginning, we made very silly mistakes that cost us lots of time. There was also a hint on one of the assignments that threw almost everybody. Better no hint than a misleading hint. At least be clear about what you’re hinting about. Anyway, in the end we are proud to place in the top half. My partner thinks that we could’ve done better if we had practiced more, but I’m not sure. I wonder which teams have participated before. It would be interesting to know.

In conclusion, experience matters, but then again, being real smart is better.

Congratulations to the winners, especially the first place team, Globetrotters from iProfs, who won a SUN workstation.

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