Re: ICFP'00 programming contest

[Patrick M Doane <patrick@watson.org>]

On Thu, 31 Aug 2000, Xavier Leroy wrote:

> > How'd you go? This was an excellent multi-dimensional test of rapid
> > software design, but the juding criteria seems somewhat arbitary.
> 
> You can see our entry at http://caml.inria.fr/icfp00-contest/,
> including some cool test images. 

For those interested in seeing another Caml entry to the contest, check
out:

  http://lyren.penguinpowered.com/icfp2000/

The Inria team definitely has us beat!

I thought I'd take this contest as an opportunity to evangelize Caml and
put together a team from friends at work that had little or no previous
experience with Caml programming. 

We were able to implement the Tier 1 features, and most of the Tier 2 and
Tier 3 functionality while still taking time out for the work days.

None of us had any solid experience writing ray tracers, and only a couple
had some 3d programming background. 

While we certainly won't win the contest, everyone on my team was amazed
to see how much we did accomplish. We all felt that the Caml language
made a big contribution to rapid development.

The contest was a lot of fun, except for the many modifications/changes to
the document. I'm glad to see it getting much more exposure this year.

Good luck to the Inria team. It looks like you have a nice elegant
solution there!

Patrick