Recent News

May 16, 2008 @ 12:54 a.m. CDT

We've got another new sponsor added to the list and work is progressing on the live contest version of the site. Another big "Thank You" to Matt of SuperBytes!

Registration Has Begun!

Please hit up our Registration form to add yourself to the competitors for Django Dash!

Whoa, What Is This?

The Django Dash is a chance for Django enthusiasts to flex their coding skills a little and put a fine point on “perfectionists with deadlines” by giving you a REAL deadline. 48 hours from start to stop to produce the best app you can and have a little fun in the process.

Rules

We want the Dash to be fun and for everyone to have a good time. To help this and to make the expectations clear, we’ve got five simple rules for the competition. Without further ado, they are:

  1. Nothing Gets Built Ahead Of Time
  2. 48 Hours To Build
  3. Max Team Of 2
  4. Third Party Allowances
  5. Version Control’s On Us (Subversion)

1. Nothing Gets Built Ahead Of Time

This is pretty straightforward. Your team’s hands stay off the keyboard until the Dash officially begins. You’re allowed paper mockups and design but no code. This is partially on the honor system but will be verified via version control if there’s anything suspicious. So please behave and keep the playing field level.

2. 48 Hours To Build

Your team has 48 hours from the start of competition until the end to build all aspects of the site. Everything you submit should be your own creation (including HTML/CSS, so please no pre-made templates). Any changes submitted after the cut-off date will be ignored in the judging process.

3. Max Team Of 2

Pretty simple. Ideally you should be on only one team, though we won’t stop you if you’re crazy like that.

4. Third Party Allowances

We can be pretty easy going, so we’ll say any open-source Django application that has a narrow focus (i.e. each app you use does not implement greater than 10% of your completed site’s functionality) is fair game for use. Most major Javascript libraries (as long as they’re general purpose and open source) should be fine. Same for CSS frameworks if you dig that sort of thing. If there’s any question in your mind if you can use something, you should get it clarified ahead of time to avoid risk of disqualification.

5. Version Control’s On Us (Subversion)

We’ll provide the version control for the duration of the Dash. A couple of reasons why. One, it provides an even playing field across the teams. Two, it lets us track what was committed, and when, so there’s no question about anything. Three, it will let us integrate some (hopefully) cool status updates and statistics as the contest goes.

Other Questions?

Anything that's not strictly a rule of the competition can be found on our FAQ page, so you may want to give that a glance.

Hook Me Up!

Please fill out your e-mail below and we'll update you when new details about the Dash emerge.