In which all is sacrificed on the altar of quality. And parking.
"Can I Park Team One" have grand ambitions. Not about winning; not about using trendy, flashy, fashionable technologies; not even about beating the dastardly "Can I Park Team Two"; but about creating high quality code that solves a genuine problem: how do I know if there's a car parking space available for me at the office before I arrive?
This no-nonsense approach permeates the entire team. When asked about the stretch goals that the team daren't even dream about achieving, Blaga tells us simply that "our dream outcome is if people can use it and it can be deployed".
These guys really won't be disturbed and close ranks any time the Media Team set foot in the room, glowering seriously and muttering solemnly about "code quality" and "test coverage". A FURIOUS SILENCE envelops the room as they get to work creating their webapp in Angular, MySQL, Java & Jersey; focusing purely on making this the most beautiful code that e'er was written.
And on the second day, the team gazed upon all before them that had been created on The First Day and they saw that it was good. And they rejoiced. And then the Media Team arrived. And they stopped rejoicing. And a DEAFENING SILENCE once again engulfed the room.
And then someone spoke. And this is what we heard.
Progress on day one has proved "much less stressful than expected" as the team continue to produce code of nothing but the highest of qualities. I think they've surprised even themselves with their high levels of sheer technical brilliance. All the pieces are progressing nicely and are ready to be glued together. The team are even, gasp, contemplating transitions and all sorts of "exciting flashiness" on the front end.
The Media Team are tempted to ask for a look but are, quite genuinely, scared that it'll turn out like that bit in Indiana Jones where they finally gaze upon the contents of the ark of the covenant and their faces all melt off. Brrr. Could happen.
Anyway. Before beating a hasty and tactical retreat, we can't resist forcing the team into a huddle in a corner of the room for a quick team photo (despite the chorus of groaning), hoping only that we can get a few more details at The Melding presentation.
It seems the no-nonsense approach has ended come presentation time as nobody will take the mic necessary for your pals, The Media Team, to hear what was going on post-event for the purposes of blogging. ("Gosh, darnit" - Management), Kester! Consequently, the following reconstruction has been hastily cobbled together.
A sudden realisation dawns across the team that somebody is going to have to talk. Kester steps in and, shielding his eyes from projector glare as if PEERING ACROSS SOME MAGICAL VALLEY and DIRECTLY INTO THE CORE OF OUR WIZENED SOULS, announces the team's presence: "We are Can I Park Team One and we decided to go down the code quality route... And we were partially successful". Ah, Kester. Lovely, modest Kester. Lovely, modest, handsome Kester. How could we stay mad at you?
The team then run us through a quick demo on desktop and mobile, showing off the system. Stephen drives (arf) the mobile aspect and talks, while Kester ducks out of sight and runs the desktop browser. Park your car. Select the spot you've taken. A green box turns to red, showing all that this particular spot is taken.
Murray's space is annotated with a crown, of course. He loves that spot. He does graciously let others use it when he's not in the office, mind you. He sent a mail just the other day, in fact: "a lesser mortal can use my space. No Mondeos, obvs". He does have a heart, after all.
The demo is done. Some questions are asked. They are lost in the mists of time and technical audio difficulties. I'm sure they were very good, though. Almost as good as the demo itself, I'm sure. Almost. An eruption of applause that is loud enough to reach even the antiquated Media Team audio equipment and the team say their farewells.
BUT IS IT ALL GOOD ENOUGH TO WIN THE HIGHLY COVETED KING OR QUEEN OF CODEFEST 2015 (SUMMER 2015 EDITION)? Quite possibly. AND WILL THE PRIZE BE OF AS HIGH A QUALITY AS THE CAN I PARK TEAM ONE CODE ANYWAY?
I suppose it depends how much you like plastic.
Hear Blaga discuss the trials and tribulations involved in creating an online Car Park booking system. LIVE THE DREAM! IN STUNNING 1080p! (probably)
Blaga Davidova, Stephen Bayne, Kester Ford, Isla Zhang, Donald Crease
James Mckerral
Tags: codefest, codefest summer 2015
November 4th 2015