Proposed verbiage for the event (help me out with suggested changes):
The Great IDE Bake-Off!!!
Come one, come all. Prepare to be dazzled by feats of productivity and legerdemain as we pit the best Integrated Development Environments (IDE’s) against each other. All are welcome, but we will limit competition to the first 5 competitors to sign up.
Format: 1 hour event
Introduction (7 mins)
Competitor 1 (10 mins)
Competitor 2 (10 mins)
Competitor 3 (10 mins)
Competitor 4 (10 mins)
Competitor 5 (10 mins)
Results (tabulation & announcement, 3 mins)
Criteria:
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Work
a. Easy set-up. (1 point: Show the download link and outline the method of installation on at least one platform of your choice.)
b. Accessible add-ons. (1 point: Show where and how to find add-ons, an add-on marketplace and how these are installed.)
c. Extensibility. (1 point: Show how to customize the environment, and outline how to extend the IDE on your own.)
d. Functionality (2 points: Create a new project and use it. Real work.)
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Sizzle.
a. Design (2 points: Successfully demonstrate at least one productivity boost or hack. Wow factor. Jaws drop. Minds blown.)
b. Suitability for purpose. (2 points: Anything from “I can see that if I had that hardware platform, I’d want that” to “I’m inspired! How can I get that hardware platform so I can use that?”)
c. Presentation. (1 point)
Total score: 10 points per judge
We’ll need 3 judges, so low attendance would eliminate the judging.
Note: In a corporate bake-off we’d be choosing between options for an IDE to adopt. In that case, the contest would heavily favor an established market-leading product with strong support and a large user base. Instead, this proposed format will be more open, allowing a beautiful, functional IDE for even a niche application to have a chance to prove its point.