Crash And Compile

The Programming Contest Drinking Game

Welcome to Crash And Compile, the drunk programming contest, or the nerdly drinking game, however you want to look at it.

News And Events

2011-05-23

We're back! We'll be hosting Crash And Compile at DefCon 19, precise time and place to be determined. Stay tuned. If you're interested in creating a team, please head to the DefCon forums and follow the instructions there.

Follow us on Twitter! http://twitter.com/crashandcompile

2010-05-31

We're hosting Crash And Compile at DefCon 18, Saturday night, July 31st at 8pm on the main stage in the Contest Area. If you're interested in creating a team, please head to the DefCon forums and follow the instructions there.

Follow us on Twitter! http://twitter.com/crashandcompile




The Rules

Crash And Compile is an ACM-style programming contest crossed with a good old fashion college drinking game, born out of the slo.punks scene in the 90s.

In short, teams of one or two people show up with their dev environment of choice, grab a drink and a programming problem, and start coding.

Here's the twist:

  • If your code fails to compile, you take a drink.
  • If your code compiles, but fails to run, you take a drink.
  • If your code runs, but fails to produce the correct output, you take a drink.
  • The first team to successfully produce the right output gets 3 points. Everyone still working drinks.
  • The second team to successfully produce the right output gets 2 points. Everyone still working drinks.
  • The third team to successfully produce the right output gets 1 point. Everyone still working drinks.

The winner is the team who is the most smashed at the end of the night. We might also hand out a few prizes to the nerds who can actually write code too.

Programs can be written in any language and platform that can produce the appropriate output (usually just text.) I've seen people WIN using nothing but a compiler on old school Palm Pilot, writing code in Graffiti.

In addition to the competing teams describe above, there are two more teams:

Team Control Group:
If you're a Teetotaler like me, or somehow got roped into being a designated driver for the evening, you can still participate. TCG doesn't actually compete for points (or drinks obviously), but if any competing team completes a problem before TCG, then everyone still working takes a drink. Basically, if a team can program better drunk than TCG can sober, that is deserving of a drink for everyone else.
Team Distraction:
Do all the nerds' gazes follow you as you walk down the isle in the terminal lab on the way to the line printer to pick up the results of your most recent job? Can you make a pocket protector look sexy? Then we invite you to join Team Distraction! TD can have as many entrants as we can squeeze on my lap^W^W^Win the room, so don't be shy.