This past Saturday, I participated in the PHP Throwdown Competition. It’s a contest to see who builds the best PHP app in 24 hours. I had been thinking about an idea for an entry since the registration a couple of weeks ago. And fortunately they had a “anything goes” category so I was able to do it.
I entered the phase 4 competition which started at 1 PM Sat afternoon. But I didn’t get started coding until 3. I had one other person, Josh Pettett, help me. But we only got to the point of getting Phramework working on his computer until it was dinner time.
After dinner and getting the kids to sleep, I was able to do actual coding on it at 10. And I worked by myself non-stop until 4:30 AM. By then, I was too tired and the app was fairly functional. I tried to go to sleep then, but Zach decided he wanted to wake up. So, I did some more touch up on the app while he watched TV. Then we both went to sleep at 7:30. So, I was able to create the app in under 10 hours of development time. And I’m pleased with the final result and hope that it’ll place near the top.
Without Phramework, I seriously doubt I could’ve coded it so quickly. And if I tried to do it in Java, it would’ve been impossible to do in under 24 hours.
After the contest results are announced, I’ll publish my app on a website and let everyone take a look at it.