Welcome to what will hopefully be the first of many more to come official PHPFreaks scripting/design contests!Now, we have decided to kick this thing off with a small(er) challenge, with the hopes that many people will be enticed to sign up! We think that the subject of this contest will be easy and small enough for the average Joe scripter and yet challenging enough for the more advanced scripters out there, alike. So without further ado, the official first contest "theme" will be to design and code a:
PHP GD Graphing Calculator!Contest details:The
minimum basic coding/design requirements for your php graphing calculater will include the script/buttons necessary to complete the following functions:
- Basic math: addition/subtraction/division/multiplication
- Logrithmic functions - ln, log, x^y
- Trig functions - sin(), cos(), tan() of basic 2D equations
- Traversal of the axis (x and y)
In addition to the basic functions, you may do 'advanced' functions, which will be judged and awarded seperately, such as (but not limited to):
- Anything 3D
- Zoom capability
- Plotting multiple equations on the same graph
The
duration of this contest will be one month. You have exactly one month to have your calculator posted to be judged. No exceptions will be made! In the unlikely event that you somehow manage to lose ability to host your entry at the deadline, please say so; there are several people including myself that can accomodate hosting for your entry.
Deadline Date: Dec 16th, 2006 11:59p pst The judges of this contest are:
To be disclosed in due time..In addition to these requirements,
There are some rules you must follow:
Rule #1: This contest is a solo coder contest. That means that it is you pitting your skills against other contestants on a single coder basis. The exception to this rule is that you may have a designer type person help you out on the "look" of your calculator. So if you are one of those people who just doesn't "do" design, feel free to beg borrow or steal someone's help on that. But only that. No getting other people to directly code with/for you!
Rule #2:All functions, calculations, graph drawing, interface, etc.. etc.. must be done with ONLY PHP and HTML. You may use images for buttons or the overall "look" of the calculator, but they must be standard images such as .png, .gif, or .jpg. Flash objects, java applets, activeX controls, or anything of that sort are NOT allowed as an interface.
Rule #3: All functions must be "drawn" to your graph using PHP's GD library. Again, no using java, javascript, flash, activeX, etc.. to draw your graph. We want this to remain as strictly PHP as possible.
The ONLY exception to rules #2 and #3 is that you may use AJAX if you wish to do certain things like minimize the "refresh the whole page" thing. Judges are advised to be somewhat lenient on what exactly is and is not allowed with AJAX, but you should also be advised that all your hard work you put into making some "feature" might be thrown out the window on even the smallest technicality or even by some silly whim. You may certainly NOT use AJAX (Javascript) for any kind of calculations or drawings. Again, if you wish to go the AJAX route, tread carefully.
Rule #4: No asking for help on the PHPFreaks forums! Now I realize that this kind of puts us at an awkward situation here. You see, we hope for this to be, among other things, a learning experience for people; that's part of what makes contests challenging. Now on the one hand, in order to figure out and learn something, you must find a learning resource, and phpfreaks.com just so happens to be a convenient place to seek some help. But on the other hand, we don't think it's entirely fair for contestants to go asking how to do blah or what blah does, etc.. as this can force you to give away your calculator features that you hope will blow away the competition. Also it kind of takes away the challenge if, you know, you have the answers all right there sitting in front of you.
You are certainly welcome to make use of the search function to find related threads/posts for your issues, and you are certainly welcome to make use of tutorials or other resources on phpfreaks.com, on a READ ONLY basis. Do not make a thread or post asking for help with coding or how to do something having to do with this contest. Do not PM other people asking for coding help; this includes regular members, not just recommended members or moderators.
If you are caught violating any of the rules (rule violations are determined soley at the judge's discretion), disciplinary action shall be used against you, up to and including termination from the contest. You are, of course, allowed to post questions asking for clarification on the rules, etc.. and also just to talk smack about how much your calculator is gonna pwn everybody else's. But only in this thread, and only in moderation.
There is no official "signup" for this, though it would be nice if you made a post stating your intention to participate. You can technically start on the last day and bust something out and submit it if you're badass like that.
