Paul Krill
Editor at Large

Compuware challenges developers

analysis
Aug 23, 20071 min

Compuware is running a contest called the "Broken Code Challenge," in which developers must spot the errors in a sampling of code. Participants are eligible for prizes ranging from a Starbuck's gift certificate to a Bose stereo, with one participant to be awarded $10,000 in December. Devised for developers using Microsoft languages including Visual Basic, C++ and C#, players must find four lines of broken code o

Compuware is running a contest called the “Broken Code Challenge,” in which developers must spot the errors in a sampling of code.

Participants are eligible for prizes ranging from a Starbuck’s gift certificate to a Bose stereo, with one participant to be awarded $10,000 in December.

Devised for developers using Microsoft languages including Visual Basic, C++ and C#, players must find four lines of broken code out of about 30 lines. In one game, for example, a developer has to identify a line of code with a buffer overrun error.

So far, there have been 134,000 participants since the contest began running June 29. The endeavor, which was built by media company ePrize, ends on December 15.

Those participating are encouraged to sign up for Compuware’s breakPoints newsletter, which features code quality tips. They also can register for a trial version of Compuware DevPartner Studio Professional Edition, for debugging and tuning code in Microsoft’s Visual Studio platform.

Paul Krill

Paul Krill is editor at large at InfoWorld. Paul has been covering computer technology as a news and feature reporter for more than 35 years, including 30 years at InfoWorld. He has specialized in coverage of software development tools and technologies since the 1990s, and he continues to lead InfoWorld’s news coverage of software development platforms including Java and .NET and programming languages including JavaScript, TypeScript, PHP, Python, Ruby, Rust, and Go. Long trusted as a reporter who prioritizes accuracy, integrity, and the best interests of readers, Paul is sought out by technology companies and industry organizations who want to reach InfoWorld’s audience of software developers and other information technology professionals. Paul has won a “Best Technology News Coverage” award from IDG.

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