Software Carpentry Design Competition First-Round Results http://www.software-carpentry.com May 2, 2000 The Software Carpentry Project is pleased to announce the selection of finalists in its first Open Source Design Competition. There were many strong entries, and we would like to thank everyone who took the time to participate. We would also like to invite everyone who has been involved to contact the teams listed below, and see if there is any way to collaborate in the second round. Many of you had excellent ideas that deserve to be in the final tools, and the more involved you are in discussions over the next two months, the easier it will be for you to take part in the ensuing implementation effort. The 12 entries that are going forward in the "Configuration", "Build", and "Track" categories are listed below (in alphabetical order). The four prize-winning entries in the "Test" category are also listed, but as is explained there, we are putting this section of the competition on hold for a couple of months while we try to refine the requirements. You can inspect these entries on-line at: http://www.software-carpentry.com/first-round.html And so, without further ado... == Configuration The final four entries in the "Configuration" category are: * BuildConf Vassilis Virvilis * ConfBase Stefan Knappmann * SapCat Lindsay Todd * Tan David Ascher == Build The finalists in the "Build" category are: * Black David Ascher and Trent Mick * PyMake Rich Miller * ScCons Steven Knight * Tromey Tom Tromey Honorable mentions in this category go to: * Forge Bill Bitner, Justin Patterson, and Gilbert Ramirez * Quilt David Lamb == Track The four entries to go forward in the "Track" category are: * Egad John Martin * K2 David Belfer-Shevett * Roundup Ka-Ping Yee * Tracker Ken Manheimer There is also an honorable mention for: * TotalTrack Alex Samuel, Mark Mitchell == Test This category was the most difficult one for the judges. First-round prizes are being awarded to * AppTest Linda Timberlake * TestTalk Chang Liu * Thomas Patrick Campbell-Preston * TotalQuality Alex Samuel, Mark Mitchell However, the judges did not feel that any of these tools would have an impact on Open Source software development in general, or scientific and numerical programming in particular. This is due in large part to the vagueness of the posted requirements, for which the project coordinator (Greg Wilson) accepts full responsibility. We will therefore not be going forward with this category at the present time. Instead, the judges and others will develop narrower, more specific requirements, guidelines, and expectations. The category will be re-opened in July 2000. == Contact The aim of the Software Carpentry project is to create a new generation of easy-to-use software engineering tools, and to document both those tools and the working practices they are meant to support. The Advanced Computing Laboratory at Los Alamos National Laboratory is providing $860,000 of funding for Software Carpentry, which is being administered by Code Sourcery, LLC. For more information, contact the project coordinator, Dr. Gregory V. Wilson, at 'gvwilson@software-carpentry.com', or on +1 (416) 504 2325 ext. 229. == Footnote: Entries from CodeSourcery, LLC Two entries (TotalTrack and TotalQuality) were received from employees of CodeSourcery, LLC, the company which is hosting the Software Carpentry web site. We discussed this matter with Dr. Rod Oldehoeft, Deputy Directory of the Advanced Computing Laboratory at Los Alamos National Laboratory. His response was: John Reynders [Director of the ACL] and I have discussed this matter. We agree that since the judges who make decisions are not affiliated with Code Sourcery, there is no conflict of interest. Code Sourcery gains no advantage by hosting the Software Carpentry web pages. Please continue evaluating all the entries on their merits, and choose the best for further eligibility. Note that the project coordinator, Greg Wilson, is neither employed by CodeSourcery, nor a judge in the competition.