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Tobias Weltner: http://www.powertheshell.com/scripting-games-task-2-commentary/ Jan Egil Ring: http://blog.powershell.no/2013/05/08/2013-scripting-games-learning-points-from-event-2/ Voting for Event 2 is going strong, and you’ve got several more days in which to vote and (most importantly) add comments. Hopefully, you’re also considering the judges’ notes and adjusting your approach for each event.
I thought I’d mentioned this last time (tap tap, this thing on?), but maybe not: don’t format the output of your functions. The minute a function includes Format-*, you’ve trapped me into on-screen display, a text file or piece of paper modeled after the on-screen display, or not a lot of other choices. If I want formatting, I’ll pipe your function to my own Format-* command of choice. But if I want CSV, or HTML, or XML, I’d like that option.
I continue to be amused by folks’ reactions to the Games this year. There’s been some buzz on Twitter this morning from folks who feel some of their comments - and the corresponding low scores - aren’t warranted. In a couple of cases I’ve looked at, they’re right - their entries are being downrated for reasons that are actually not best practices; by following the best practices, these entries are getting lower scores.
We’re pleased to announce the winners for Event 1 of The Scripting Games 2013! Winners: You can log into The Scripting Games Web site and go to your Profile page to see your prize. You will be given a prize redemption code and either a URL where you can redeem it, or an e-mail address of the prize provider (they will need the redemption code). All prizes must be claimed by the end of July 2013.
Aaron Hoover, one of our Summit attendees, was kind enough to record via webcam the sessions he attended - and he’s posted about 13 hours of video on YouTube for your viewing pleasure. What I’d like to know from you, if you don’t mind dropping a comment below, is what you think of these. If we offered this KIND of recording in the future, would it be helpful? This is something we can do easily and is affordable from a technical perspective; there’s obviously a production quality compromise.
Event 2 has closed for submissions and will open for voting later this evening. Good luck! And voters: remember that quality comments will vastly increase your chances of winning a prize!
Right now, I’ve got the Scripting Games Web site built to only make comments visible to a entry’s author. Some of the comments have been a little snarky, and I don’t want to create an online argument forum. I’m curious what folks think we should do as a next step. I could, for example, make comments visible to everyone once voting has ended for an event (I don’t want to make comments visible while we’re still accepting comments, because it’ll run a big risk of creating a discussion, which isn’t the intent).
Folks, as we dive into Event 2, I want to offer some advice based on the comments I saw for Event 1. Don’t overthink the Beginner event. We’re not looking for a script or function - a one-liner, if possible. Don’t overdeliver. Avoid aliases and positional parameters - this is a practice outlined in the Competitor Guide. TEST YOUR CODE. You can’t modify it. Also, judges can’t see any comment you might leave when “voting” on your own entry, so you can’t use comments to mitigate an error.
Event 2 is scheduled to open this evening in The Scripting Games - remember, all times on the Scripting Games Web site are GMT. You will need to adjust for your local time zone. Voting on Event 1 is scheduled to end on May 7th, so you still have 5 days to earn pointlets and leave comments for your colleagues. As of right now, we have over 330 entries, and an astounding 4,900 votes - an average ratio of more than 14 votes per entry.
Jan Egil Ring weighs in with his thoughts on Event 1: http://blog.powershell.no/category/2013-Scripting-Games-Judges-Notes/feed/