2nd Competition

[Cableguy]

Hi guys!!!

The first competition has almost timed-up, so it's time to start thinking of a new one....

The last competition, Launched and promoted by RamdomCoder (were have you been?), was an icon editor for the device, but it proved to be a ar more complex project than anticipated....

During the weekend, suggestions should be made as to what would be the next project for the competition...
Also the very few rules should be placed int the project launch post...

example:

No prizes....
If it does what the competition objectif stated, it's a winner, so everyone can be one...
Source code must be made available, the main objectif of the competition is to promote the use of basic4ppc with especific goals so others can see other ways to accomplish the same goal...
The time span should not be over a month....

These are just suggestions....

As for the next month competition, I suggest a ?basic/scientific? calculator....

 

[RandomCoder]

Hello CableGuy,

I'm at work at the moment but when I get home I'll post my pathetic attempt at making an icon editor (unfortunately I've not spent as much time as I would have liked on it).

I like your suggestions, although I had thought about trying something completely different.
What about creating a B4PPC logo/icon for the next release?
This would obviously be at Erel's dicretion.
I personnally preferred the older green icon as opposed to the new blue one, and it made me think about what the other B4PPC user's could come up with.

Regards,
RandomCoder.

 

[Erel]

I think that a calculator will be a good project.
The goal is to build a nice and useful calculator.
It could be a calculator of any kind (scientific, base converter, regular...)
The deadline is November 5, 2007.

 

[Stellaferox]

Errr....guys (and girls),

I have a few objections to this approach. Programming a calculator scientific or plain can be really difficult with regard to the accuracy, format and depth of the figures. Second, I think the competition should be accessible to a larger group.

I therefore propose that the competition is about developing a certain sub which does things:
- the quickest
- the most elegant
- etc
which is up to a jury of a few. Everybody can engage in the challenge. Also a very simple program could be the goal. I can tell you that even for experienced programmers it is not that easy to write plain, fast and dependable code.

The first challenge could be to develop:
- a bubblesort routine
- the quickest factorial routine
- a filehandlig routine
- an imagehandling routine
- whatever........

I fear that if we put up the calculator as challenge that it might look a bit easier than the iconeditor but to reach good accuracy, at least for the scientific part, as well as speed, a lot of mathematical routines are used in calculators other then the mathemathical functions to "approach" the result.

I'd like to hear your ideas, and if possible, for subs as well.... those could be used in a library.......

Marc

 

[Erel]

I think that a calculator style application could fit. Maybe not a scientific calculator.
Anyway, please join the discussion and tell us what you think.

 

[RandomCoder]

I think that a calculator will be much more achieveable to the majority of us here on the forum, I will definitely have a go at it... I promise to try harder this time

Stellaferox,
I in principle agree with you that we should have some rough guidelines that will allow us to measure how well the calculator works.
This could be as simple as a several mathematical expressions that need to be entered, a correct result would signify a pass (precision/decimal accuracy could be assessed).
Maybe the ability to do conversions could also be awarded additional marks.
Self-marking of the program should be possible, but do we start knowing what equations we need to solve or do we set the equations at the end of the competition?

Regards,
RandomCoder.

 

[token]

Nice contest! Sadly I think my "MyRPN" calculator is out of the run for this, cause it only uses the math-engine of BASIC4PPC. But I would like to participate on good sourcecode publicated on this occasion.

p.s: please don't get me wrong - I don't want to copy paste or so - only get impressions from the coding of guys who have more skills than me.

 

[Erel]

Your calculator is the first candidate in this contest.
It is more than reasonable to use the built-in math functions. No need to reinvent the wheel!
This is the link to token's RPN calculator: http://www.b4x.com/forum/showthread.php?t=954

 

[dzt]

Hi all,

I think it would be better to vote every month for the code of the month.
Subject: completely free to choose.

Just an idea

 

[RandomCoder]

Your calculator is the first candidate in this contest.
It is more than reasonable to use the built-in math functions. No need to reinvent the wheel!
This is the link to token's RPN calculator: http://www.b4x.com/forum/showthread.php?t=954

Don't worry, I won't be re-inventing the wheel.
There's another good old saying that goes... Don't run before you can walk
I'll probably amble along, hopefully doing better than I did with the icon editor.

PS Token, I like the RNP calculator, takes some getting used to though.

Regards,
RandomCoder

 

[Erel]

Hi all,

I think it would be better to vote every month for the code of the month.
Subject: completely free to choose.

Just an idea

It is a good idea.
As we've already started with the calculator lets continue with it for this month.
It doesn't have to be the ultimate calculator, a simple elegant solution which other users can learn from it will be enough.

 

[derez]

SCalculator

Hi
This is to remind you that my SCalculator is available, for whoever is interested, in the "Downloads" site.
There is nothing smart there except may be the way I used the registers to order the operations according to their priority.
There is a user manual which may help in understanding of the operation and the functionality.
Enjoy
David

 

[RandomCoder]

derez,

Congratulations programming such a full functioning calculator using B4PPC, maybe for the competition you could attempt streamlining the code slightly or adding some new features?

Just out of interest, has anyone tried dividing by zero yet? I've inadvertently just done that and quite to my surprise B4PPC gave the result infinity, nice one! Now I don't need to try and trap a division by zero as B4PPC can already handle it without erroring.

Regards,
RandomCoder

 

[derez]

SCalculator

Thanks, I'll appreciate any suggestion for "streamlining the code"