Coding Challenge 4.0 - Fall 2017

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Questions and Answers

When contestants send us questions, we'll post the answers here so everyone can read them.


Question: I was confused about what I would include in my "set-up" instructions.

Answer: The setup instructions should be an installation guide to tell a website administrator how to deploy your submission as a new website from source code. Assume that the website administrator knows how to set up the server software (Apache, IIS, Node.js, etc., and SQL Server or MySQL), and just explain what files / directories go where in relation to the web document root, what to do to set up the database and database connection, and anything special needed to get the site running. Assume that the reader of your setup instructions is a technical expert.

It is not sufficient to provide a link to an existing website that you have set up.


Question: I wanted to use the range slider that jQuery UI provides, but I think jQuery UI is a plugin. Am I allowed to do this, or should I look for an alternative solution?

Answer: There is no limitation on what tools you choose to use as long they are open-source and comply with the rules. The plugins prohibited in the rules are those that need to be installed on the user's computer, such as Java or Adobe Flash, as they are separate from the web browser. jQuery, jQuery UI, and other JavaScript libraries are allowed, as long as they do not require one of these plugins to be installed.