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Association of Information Technology Professionals
National Collegiate Conference
Annual Java Programming Competition Event
This resource page contains the issues under consideration for the AITP NCC Java competition event computer lab workstation environment.
The annual AITP NCC Java Competition Event computer lab workstation environment must be redefined each year to reflect the latest trends in the Java community. This resource page has been implemented to assist in the selection of contest environmental components by serving as an open forum in which Java contest event staff, student contestants, faculty, and industry can jointly provide feedback on the workstation environment. Comments, feedback, and suggestions may be made here.
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Assumptions
Educational institutions have limited budgets and staff experience which may limit the availability of notebook computers and Java development tools that are available to the student contestants.
Student contestants may not have the technical skills that are required to install and configure more advanced development tools and environment components.
Student contestants may not have the time or opportunity required to learn and master a sufficient level of competence with a complex Java development environment.
The Java Competition Event environment should be fair for all students
by avoiding the use of complex or expensive development tools that may
not be available to all educational institutions or easily available to
the students in the event that their school does not use a particular
tool.
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Requirements
The Java Competition Event environment components should be easily obtainable by both educational institutions and students. Costs should be free or subsidized by academic purchase programs whenever possible. Environment components should be available via Internet download.
Student contestants should be able to easily master the basic skills required to productively use Java contest environment components and development tools. The learning curve should require no more than one day, assuming that the student has completed the recommended Java curriculum in preparation for the AITP NCC Java Competition Event.
In the event that a student contestant's educational institution does not use a particular environment component, the student contestant should be able to obtain the component by using the Internet. The component should be easy to install and configure, assuming that the student has completed the recommended Java curriculum in preparation for the AITP NCC Java Competition Event.
Issues Under Consideration
| Computer Platform |
| There has been discussion over having the student contestants
provide their own computer in the form of a notebook system or using
computers provided by the host educational institution. There have
also been discussions with corporate sponsors to provide computers
for use in the annual contests. An important issue is making sure
that all of the teams have a fair chance at competing in the contest.
In the event of a computer malfunction, it is easier to move the team
to another computer if the environment is the same. There is also
the issue that a computer can be configured with more advanced tools
and libraries providing a unique advantage to a particular team. By
using a standard computer configuration and environment, all of the
teams are equal. For this reason, the Java competition event has made
the choice to use computers supplied by the NCC Competition Event. Intel based PC with floppy drive and CD-ROM Computer systems are supplied by the NCC Contest Event. 
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| Operating System |
|
Educational institutions teaching Management Information Systems (MIS) curriculums tend to emphasize a Microsoft Windows platform while Computer Science (CS) curriculums tend to emphasize a Unix/Linux platform. Linux is fast becoming the platform of choice with many companies and MIS curriculums will need to begin emphasizing Linux in their curriculum offerings. Currently, few schools teach Linux in their MIS programs, which makes it difficult for students to compete in a Linux environment. The Java Competition Event has chosen to use a Microsoft Windows platform since the student contestants are typically more familiar with it. Productivity Suites such as MS Office, Sun StarOffice, and WordPerfect
Office are essential. The ability to run StarOffice and WordPerfect
on Linux platforms is allowing individuals and organizations the
opportunity to configure their personal computers with both an operating
system and productivity suite for free. This is becoming an important
issue in response to Microsoft's cyclic product release process
and new volume licensing plans. Additionally, few viri and macroviri
infect Linux systems, providing additional security. Needles to
say, the Java platform is available for both MS Windows and Linux. Linux Linux Online |
| Database |
|
The Java Competition Event always uses a database in each problem statement. A student graduating with a degree in Information Systems (IS) should have a working knowledge of relational databases - including basic SQL syntax. The most important element is that the student contestants know JDBC-ODBC connectivity and basic SQL syntax. If cost is a concern, Sun StarOffice or MySQL are good products that are available for free; however, MySQL does not support referential integrity with respect to foreign keys. In an Object-Oriented paradigm, where objects take care of their data, this is not necessarily a problem. From the perspective of the Java Competition Event, a database that supports JDBC-ODBC connectivity will be used in each contest event. Contest databases will use integer auto-numbering primary keys. All of the Java Competition Event problem statements are designed to work with the databases listed below. Currently, all of the Java Competition Event problem statements
are developed and tested using MS Office, MS Access, StarOffice
Base, and MySQL. Sun StarOffice 5.2 (StarOffice Base) MySQL 1.3 for Windows |
| Java Version |
| The Java Competition Event uses the Sun version of Java
to minimize compatibility issues between vendors. Any knowledge and
skill-based competency in Java should be based on the native Java
foundation. Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition http://java.sun.com/j2se/ The latest version of Java can be downloaded, installed, and used for free over the Internet by clicking on the link above.
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| Java IDE |
|
The Integrated Development Environment (IDE) is the most discussed issue for the Java Competition Event. Educational institutions vary in their selection and use of IDE's. Selecting an IDE that is complex and expensive to use can place some student contestants at a disadvantage. Additionally, the Java Competition Event is designed to test Java programming skills, not how fancy a team can build their GUI. The past Java contests used Kawa since it had built in CodeWright support and was available to students and education institutions at a significant discount (the full commercial product was also low-cost). Unfortunately, Macromedia (Allaire) has discontinued further development and support for Kawa. The Java Competition Event is still exploring the specific Java IDE to use. Two likely Java IDE candidates have been identified: Persons interested in submitting comments, feedback, and suggestions are invited to do so here. TextPad 4.5 Forte for Java |
Please post your public comments on the AITP Student Forum:
http://www.aitp.org/forum/index.htm
Comments to the AITP NCC Java Competition Event Coordinator
may be e-mailed to:
Don Baldwin
don.baldwin@pobox.com
Last Updated: SUN 30 DEC 2001
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