CSE 392 – Programming Challenges (2012)

When we read a forum like HN or a repository like Github, people commonly post about software solutions or challenges they are facing[1] without providing a sample problem and input/output examples.

Further, it has been common for many years now to describe software, startups and established web companies in terms of what it "is" or what they "are" instead of what it or they actually do.

Consider the common "web 2.0" website for company x where the inquisitive visitor spends an excessive quantity of time scanning page after page of boilerplate marketing gibberish trying to determine exactly what x company does.

Is it possible to assess any item of software or any software-based startup without seeing example input and output?

These contests demonstrate how I would like to see all software and the problems it solves to be described. These contests are a model for how I would like to see software described on the internet and www.

1. It is common to see heated arguments in forums on the merits of a particular software solution without ever describing providing a specific example of the problem. There is also the common case where individuals state that solution y "sucks" because it did not solve their problem. Yet strangely they do not provide the specifics of the problem, nor the given input nor the desired output. Without a description of the problem, example input and output, is it possible to assess software? How?

Also, I get an error when I go to videos page. Does anyone here have an updated link to videos?