Page 70 - The Gonzaga Record 1994
P. 70
THE DCU PROGRAMMING COMPETITION
The first IBM DCU Programming Competition was held in DCU over the Easter holidays.
To merit a trip all the way over to the northside during the holidays there must have been
some chance of a great reward. That reward was to represent Ireland in Sweden in the
International Olympiad Informatique.
There were three entrants from Gonzaga. The first round consisted of five relatively trivial
problems to be solved by a program. There were 120 entrants altogether and only 80 were
selected for the second round, including three Gonzagans.
Unfortunately James Ruane was unable to attend the second round, but Brian Jones and I
both managed to get there. There was a practice day beforehand during which we tried out
our games and high-tech programs to print out pretty pictures on the fabulous computers in
the college. The second day came as something of a shock to most of the entrants. We were
told that we had to do three problems in four hours. These were nothing like the simple
problems we got in the first round. There was some serious thinking to be done! After we
had finished all this work, we were given a chance to watch Star Trek VI.
The second day problems were in a different format. There was one very difficult one (for
which many people got no marks at all), and two other easier tie-break problems. All the
marking was done by computer, and was based upon the output of the program. This meant
that answers that were nearly right got no marks at all. The marking system was extremely
complex in order that there would be no tied scores. Afterwards there was a 'party' during
which we discussed where we had gone wrong and gloated over others who had done worse
than ourselves. There was a long wait for the marking to be completed, and then we went
into a lecture theatre, and waited for the Lord Mayor and a representative of IBM to come
and award the prizes. After an inspiring speech by the Lord Mayor in which he told us by all
means to keep on programming, but also to consider a career in the arts, as it could be much
more rewarding(i), the prizes were announced. There were some surprises in the age
categories. Then the four top places were announced. Among them was Brian Jones! Having
been given a spare IBM t-shirt to wear, he was brought down for the customary photographs,
and so a very successful competition was ended. Fr Dunne’s praises were being sung in the
corridors of DCU for some time afterwards!
Eoin Phillips (Senior 4A)
H T A I HISTORY QUIZ TEAM
Standing: R. McCrea. Ms Anne Nevin, P. O’Connell
Seated: R. McCullough, A. Mullett, J. Ruane
62
The first IBM DCU Programming Competition was held in DCU over the Easter holidays.
To merit a trip all the way over to the northside during the holidays there must have been
some chance of a great reward. That reward was to represent Ireland in Sweden in the
International Olympiad Informatique.
There were three entrants from Gonzaga. The first round consisted of five relatively trivial
problems to be solved by a program. There were 120 entrants altogether and only 80 were
selected for the second round, including three Gonzagans.
Unfortunately James Ruane was unable to attend the second round, but Brian Jones and I
both managed to get there. There was a practice day beforehand during which we tried out
our games and high-tech programs to print out pretty pictures on the fabulous computers in
the college. The second day came as something of a shock to most of the entrants. We were
told that we had to do three problems in four hours. These were nothing like the simple
problems we got in the first round. There was some serious thinking to be done! After we
had finished all this work, we were given a chance to watch Star Trek VI.
The second day problems were in a different format. There was one very difficult one (for
which many people got no marks at all), and two other easier tie-break problems. All the
marking was done by computer, and was based upon the output of the program. This meant
that answers that were nearly right got no marks at all. The marking system was extremely
complex in order that there would be no tied scores. Afterwards there was a 'party' during
which we discussed where we had gone wrong and gloated over others who had done worse
than ourselves. There was a long wait for the marking to be completed, and then we went
into a lecture theatre, and waited for the Lord Mayor and a representative of IBM to come
and award the prizes. After an inspiring speech by the Lord Mayor in which he told us by all
means to keep on programming, but also to consider a career in the arts, as it could be much
more rewarding(i), the prizes were announced. There were some surprises in the age
categories. Then the four top places were announced. Among them was Brian Jones! Having
been given a spare IBM t-shirt to wear, he was brought down for the customary photographs,
and so a very successful competition was ended. Fr Dunne’s praises were being sung in the
corridors of DCU for some time afterwards!
Eoin Phillips (Senior 4A)
H T A I HISTORY QUIZ TEAM
Standing: R. McCrea. Ms Anne Nevin, P. O’Connell
Seated: R. McCullough, A. Mullett, J. Ruane
62
