Today I am happy to announce a new ColdFusion Newbie(Beginner) Contest. The last beginner's contest was held almost two years ago. I've had a few more since then but nothing like the original one, so hopefully the participation will perk up a bit. I've got some great prizes, but I'm not going to announce them until I finalize the list. So what's the contest?
Your job will be to create a pocket monster/Tamagotchi ColdFusion game. In case you don't remember those toys (which may still be around - my kids don't have any) - they were simple little LCD based life simulators. Your creature (monster, dog, cat, Insane Clown Posse member) would exist in real time and demand to be fed, played with, etc. Depending on how much attention you gave it, the creature would either be happy (and grow), or sad (and I think some even could die).
The toys were pretty addictive and I've always had a soft spot for simulators, so I thought this would make a good basis for a simple ColdFusion application. Now for the specifics.
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Your application must represent a virtual creature of some sort.
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Your creature only has two stats. You can add more, but two are required: Hunger and Happiness.
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Your application will allow the user to feed and pet the creature. How the creature reacts to being fed/pet is completely up to you.
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Your application must use state management of some kind. If you want a full registration/login system and have the creature live in "real time" - great. If you want to just use session variables and have button represent the passage of time, that is fine too. You just need some way for your monster to age and get hungry/unhappy.
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The "rules" for what make the monster unhappy (not enough petting, too much food, etc) are totally up to you. They will NOT impact the judging as much as your ColdFusion code will. Have fun. Make it complex. Keep it simple. It's up to you.
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The one really important rule is this. Not enough developers make use of ColdFusion Components. Your solution must have (at least) one CFC. I am not talking OO here. (And if you don't know what OO means, that is perfectly fine.) You can use any style of CFC you want.
So thats it. As I said, this is a newbie/beginner contest. We are going on the honor system here. If I get a submission from Ben Forta I'll be deleting it. ;)
In case folks are new to how these things work - I will be reviewing the entries and posting my responses online. In general these are kind, but firm, pointers to things I think could be done better. I try to be fair and educational, not snarky and mean. My readers also typically chime in. So I know that it can be a bit scary sharing your code with the rest of the world - but consider it as a chance to get a free code review! (And a chance to win some prizes!)
The contest begins right now and will end May 15th 11:59 PM. All entries should be emailed to me as a zip file.
Archived Comments
Ooooh cool one! Good luck guys.
why not have ben submit one (if he has time) that would be cool to see what he would actually come up with... wouldnt it?
Beginners only? What about the ability to submit one just for fun and review?
How about this. If you feel you are past beginner status but want to submit - do so, and be honest with me. I won't consider you for the prizes, and if there are too many submissions I may not review you, but if not, I will.
Seem ok? (And if I don't review you, I'll at least include an 'addendum' post sharing your submission.)
It would be fun to see what the 'pros' come up with and compare solutions... (wish I had time to play!)
Maybe now Ben Forta will enter (see his blog for details) :)
Any general guidelines on what qualifies someone as a "beginner"?
Um, if CFCs are kind of new to you, then I'd say do it. If you would be a bit worried about passing the cert, I'd say do it.
I'd say just do it anyway. This is really about learning. If you feel this exercise will help you learn, that is what I want.
Make sense?
Yes, that helps. Thanks. Now I'll have to see if I can come up with some free time to work on an entry...
Hi, are we allowed to submit an entry then update it later?
ive finished a fairly basic version (i counted it as learning cf at work), could i submit this now then maybe update it later?
Thanks
Yes, as long as you make the deadline.
uuhh, sorry i just realised i gave you an entry which isnt working properly!!! sorry, will just fix it :p
I submitted mine to Ray I have had a few panic attacks thinking about my code being shown to everyone. Oh well I'll take the good with the bad, it can only make me a stronger CF developer. Right?
What do you need for our submission? I sort of integrated mine into my Content Management system - so I could have it piggy-back on it's login/DB. (all my code) Do you need a backup of the DB, or just the CF files and a link to where I have it running?
In all honesty, I think I have gone slightly overboard with this little project... But it is my first cfc, so I decided to have some fun while learning.
Nick, it would be best if the setup was as simple as possible.
Well, I don't think I'm a very beginner but I there is still so much for me to learn in CF. This is my first post, Ray, where should I send my work? :)
Send it to ray, at, camdenfamily, dot, com.
I can't wait to see some of the entries. This is great idea Ray.
My unofficial entry: http://www.bennadel.com/ind... ... this was a really fun project to try.