Nathan Leetsch and Mr. B

The first programming challenge has a winner!  Nathan Leetsch submitted his solution and won a prize.

All of the problems had multiple parts which allowed the students to start with an easily-manageable task for a minimum submission.  Then they could build upon their solution by adding additional features.  The problems were organized in this manner to increase the opportunity for the students to submit a working solution but still encourage competition by challenging them to try more of the problem — to win they would have to do more than the other students!

• The first-semester freshman-level problem was an extension of their “Hello World” assignment and required the programmer to create a “splash” screen with several lines centered as a block.  The 2nd part added a requirement for some additional output.
• The sophomore-level problem required console input with a prompt and a simple loop to generate some console output.  The 2nd part required validation of input data and some formatting of the output while the 3rd part required the program to run even if the user provided the input data in the wrong order.
• The junior/senior-level problem required console input with a prompt and character-by-character processing of the input data resulting in some simple mathematical calculations.  The 2nd and 3rd parts added more features to the processing of the string including some data validation.

The competitions are scheduled for one or two times each semester.  They usually become available on a Thursday afternoon or evening via Moodle with the solution due by Monday evening BEFORE 11:55pm.
Anyone interested may participate!  Competitors do NOT have to be a member of the AITP student chapter or a CSC or CIS major/minor. If you like the challenge of human vs computer, this contest is for YOU!!

The department hopes students will participate to improve their technology skills and get to know other students interested in computers and technology.

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