XQuery, XML and DB2 Contest for students, professionals, and hobbyists

IDUG contest has come out with a challenge for students, professionals and the hobbyists. This one is special because the main focus of this contest is to increase awareness and familiarity about XQuery, XML and DB2. The contest is called XML challenge and the sponsor is looking for XML superstar. This contest is different from others because there is no restriction on number of attempts which one can take to clear the different rounds. In short you have an extra edge not only to increase your knowledge but also win some cool prizes.

This is a hassle free contest and everything can be completed in 4 simple steps.
First step- You have to register and confirm your identity.
Second step- A candidate has to answer 5 simple questions in order to qualify for next level. Here hints are given with each question.
Third step- A candidate has to answer 15 questions at varying difficulty level. Based on cumulative score winners are announced every week.
Fourth and Final Step- This is a final level in which a candidate can participate directly too. Here more prizes can be one from the cool list available.
This is an ongoing challenge and one can see the list of winners in the contest website.

IDUG contest has five separate tracks at varying skill levels for all individuals. A candidate can participate either in one or all of them in order to win prizes. The Track includes Video Contest, Gadget Contest, Xquery Challenge, Port an application, and Develop an application. Out of this Xquery challenge is one of my favorite because of complexity involved. I took this really seriously and found that there is a lot of scope to increase one’s knowledge too.

The structure of contest and composition of the site is very useful and can give a real push to increase the knowledge and overall understanding of the subject. IDUG contest is definitely a challenge which has all the ingredients to make it an effective challenge.