A Software Meet-Up with a Difference
Last week on September 12th, we hosted our DOOM Hackathon in Galway as part of the TeamSTAR local meet-ups competition. Our goal was to create a meet-up that brings the software testing community together, in a fun, challenging and meaningful way. After some internal brainstorming, we decided to hold a hackathon, but wait for it, our hackathon had a twist! We've all heard of DOOM; but what about RESTful DOOM? At our meet-up, attendees would be challenged to create a speed run through the first level of DOOM using only RESTful API calls.
SmartBear Working with John Romero
Galway also happens to be the home of the co-creator of DOOM, John Romero. After reaching out and discussing the event with John, and showing him how we planned to hack his creation, he was more than happy to be involved and confirmed his support for the event. John was also kind enough to give us some cool signed DOOM merchandise as prizes. And that’s not all, the winning team would also get a tour of Romero Games and have a Q&A session with John.
PorterShed the Ideal Location
The PorterShed, the local innovation centre in Galway, was happy to accommodate our meet-up and the stage was set for an amazing night of hacking, pizza & beer!
Let the Games Begin!
With the logistics out of the way, an open invitation/challenge was issued to the local testing and development community. The challenge was clear, create a speed run through the first level of DOOM, using only a series of RESTful API calls. The response was amazing, in fact the demand was so great we had to close registration well in advance. All teams were sent a detailed instruction pack a week before the hackathon, this allowed the teams to be prepared before the event.
On the night, it was great to see so many talented teams working together. The atmosphere was great, but with an undercurrent of friendly competitiveness! Both SwaggerHub and SoapUI Pro were used during the competition. It was fantastic to see so many teams utilising SmartBear tools. SwaggerHub was used for the API documentation, that allowed users to hack the game. While SoapUI Pro was used to send RESTful API requests to control the in-game character (DOOM Guy). Our very own Ole Lensmar (Creator of SoapUI), with a little help from Wes, couldn't resist getting involved!
All Good Things Must Come to an End
After 2 hours of furious hacking, eating and some drinking, we had a winner, Team EssentialSkillZ. They managed to hack the first level of DOOM, using only RESTful API calls in 38 seconds, amazing work guys! I hope you enjoy your tour at Romero Games. The feedback from our attendees was amazing. The most common question on the night was “when is your next hackathon?”
At SmartBear, we pride ourselves on having a strong relationship with the software testing community. Nights like this are a great way to promote the sharing of new and exciting ideas within the community. We must also take this opportunity to extend a special thank you to all involved, this meet-up would not have been possible without all of your hard work and support. We would also like to acknowledge the pivotal role EuroSTAR play in supporting these local meet-ups.