The challenge
Write an original technical article to be published on the Borland Developer Network (BDN) on any C++, C# or Java topic using a Borland development tool. The article should be a minimum of 2,000 words. Articles must be of a technical nature and may not reflect marketing information.
Conditions and requirements
You may choose any topic related to C++, C# or Java in which you have expertise.
You may use any version of your Borland development tool.
The article must be approx. 2,000 words or more.
Articles must be original and content cannot appear elsewhere in printed or electronic form.
Language translations of existing articles are not eligible for this contest.
Articles must be of a technical nature and may not reflect marketing information. We will not be selecting articles promoting third party vendor products.
Examples of code must by included in article. You must have distribution rights to any source code you provide.
The GetPublished interface must be used to submit the article.
The article must be submitted between July 1, 2006 and July 31, 2006 to qualify for the contest.
Warranty of Originality and Tax ID forms must be submitted before July 31, 2006.
You may submit as many article entries as you wish. Each article will be judged on its own merits.
Entering the contest
All C++, C# and Java related articles received through GetPublished between July 1, 2006 and July 31, 2006 will automatically be entered into the contest. Warranty of Originality and Tax Identification forms must also be submitted prior to the contest deadline.
BDN accepts article submissions in several formats. Please review the instructions on the GetPublished submission page for each format before uploading your files. Refer to http://gp.borland.com/files/bdn.dot for the MS Word template for creating a Word document that meets BDN formatting requirements.
The selection process
All submissions must be submitted using GetPublished. Any article ratings and comments received by the BDN community will be used to select the finalists for the contest. Both the number of votes and the average score of the submission will help in determining the finalists. After the finalists are selected, our panel of judges will select the winners and any honorable mentions. The selection will occur after the contest is completed.
Articles will be critiqued in the following categories:
Topic pertinence
Technical accuracy
Coverage of subject
Value of article
Readability
Entertainment value
Spelling / grammar
You may rate any contest entries except your own. Please keep in mind that it's not nice to rate other people's submissions poorly just to make yours better!
The rewards
All articles submitted and published during the contest period will be eligible for standard GetPublished article payment (usually $200).
Additionally, contest winners will be chosen from all qualifying C++/C# and Java articles submitted during the contest period.
2 – Grand prize winners will receive: APPLE 30 GB IPOD WITH VIDEO PLAYBACK
4 – Second prize winners will receive: APPLE 4 GB IPOD NANO
4 – Third prize winners will receive: APPLE 1 GB IPOD SHUFFLE
Other prizes for honorable mentions, runner ups, good efforts, and so on, could include Borland logo items including mice, T-shirts, mugs, "office safe" toys, etc.
The judges
For this contest, the judges will be members of the Borland Developer Relations, R&D and Developer Support teams as well as TeamB. The decisions of the judges are final.
Questions or issues
Don’t worry, we’ll have a Delphi article contest in up-coming months.
If you have any problems with the GetPublished interface for submitting articles or when rating submissions, please report them in the borland.public.bdn.website newsgroup. If you wish to discuss any BDN contests or how we should conduct them, please also use the borland.public.bdn.website newsgroup, or leave a comment here on this article. You can also use a Web browser to access the newsgroups at http://info.borland.com/newsgroups/ if you don't have a newsgroup reader or direct newsgroup access.
We really look forward to reading your articles!
