We held two annual championships last week (SQL and Database Design).
We held a third this week on Logic.
They all went pretty smoothly.
In 2.5 hours it is time for the grand finale: the PL/SQL Championship.
And the PL/SQL Challenge website just went down. Possibly another DDOS attack.
I suppose I should feel proud that our website is so high profile, so mission critical, that someone thinks it is worth their time to attack it.
Except I know the site is not all that high profile and is definitely not mission critical.
So I am just really irritated.
Well, worst comes to worst, we will just reschedule.
That's better than having the championship start and then the site goes down.
Because in that case, I have to produce new quizzes. That would be a serious hassle.
The PL/SQL Challenge (www.plsqlchallenge.com) offers a daily quiz on the PL/SQL language, through which thousands of Oracle technologists demonstrate and deepen their knowledge of PL/SQL. This blog contains posts by the PL/SQL Challenge founder, Steven Feuerstein, as well as comments from players.
26 February 2015
24 February 2015
Results of First-ever Database Design Annual Championship
You will find below the rankings for the 2014 championship; the number next to the player's name is the number of times that player has participated in a championship.
Congratulations first and foremost to our top-ranked players:
1st Place: Sean Molloy of United States
2nd Place: Pavel Zeman of Czech Republic
3rd Place: Justin Cave of United States
As you can see in the table below, the ranking was very tight, with the top two players both getting 91% correct, and the next four all with 87% correct.
Next, congratulations to everyone who played in the championship. I hope you found it entertaining, challenging and educational. And for those who were not able to participate in the championship, you can take the quizzes next week through the Practice feature. We will also make the championship as a whole available as a Test, so you can take it just like these players did.
Thanks and congratulations to the Database Design Quizmaster, Chris Saxon, also our brand-new Oracle Developer Advocate for SQL.
Steven Feuerstein
Congratulations first and foremost to our top-ranked players:
1st Place: Sean Molloy of United States
2nd Place: Pavel Zeman of Czech Republic
3rd Place: Justin Cave of United States
As you can see in the table below, the ranking was very tight, with the top two players both getting 91% correct, and the next four all with 87% correct.
Next, congratulations to everyone who played in the championship. I hope you found it entertaining, challenging and educational. And for those who were not able to participate in the championship, you can take the quizzes next week through the Practice feature. We will also make the championship as a whole available as a Test, so you can take it just like these players did.
Thanks and congratulations to the Database Design Quizmaster, Chris Saxon, also our brand-new Oracle Developer Advocate for SQL.
Steven Feuerstein
| Rank | Name | Country | Total Time | % Correct | Total Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sean Molloy (1) | United States | 23 mins 21 secs | 91% | 2657 |
| 2 | Pavel Zeman (1) | Czech Republic | 38 mins 25 secs | 91% | 2596 |
| 3 | Justin Cave (1) | United States | 23 mins 14 secs | 87% | 2457 |
| 4 | Elic (1) | Belarus | 28 mins 30 secs | 87% | 2436 |
| 5 | mentzel.iudith (1) | Israel | 28 mins 34 secs | 87% | 2436 |
| 6 | Sandra99 (1) | Italy | 34 mins 22 secs | 87% | 2413 |
| 7 | Stelios Vlasopoulos (1) | Belgium | 35 mins 22 secs | 83% | 2259 |
| 8 | Viacheslav Stepanov (1) | Russia | 20 mins 06 secs | 78% | 2220 |
| 9 | Andrey Zaytsev (1) | Russia | 35 mins 43 secs | 78% | 2207 |
| 10 | Eric Levin (1) | United States | 38 mins 55 secs | 78% | 2194 |
| 11 | Christoph Hillinger (1) | Austria | 15 mins 06 secs | 78% | 2190 |
| 12 | Michal Cvan (1) | Slovakia | 36 mins 31 secs | 78% | 2154 |
| 13 | Siim Kask (1) | Estonia | 20 mins 26 secs | 74% | 2118 |
| 14 | Jan van Overveld (1) | Netherlands | 23 mins 26 secs | 74% | 2106 |
| 15 | Niels Hecker (1) | Germany | 36 mins 56 secs | 78% | 2102 |
| 16 | Ivan Blanarik (1) | Slovakia | 19 mins 30 secs | 74% | 2072 |
| 17 | Chad Lee (1) | United States | 32 mins 45 secs | 74% | 2069 |
| 18 | _tiki_4_ (1) | Germany | 08 mins 35 secs | 74% | 2066 |
| 19 | Kuvardin Evgeniy (1) | Russia | 28 mins 49 secs | 74% | 1985 |
| 20 | Chase Mei (1) | Canada | 07 mins 58 secs | 70% | 1968 |
| 21 | Joaquin Gonzalez (1) | Spain | 16 mins 33 secs | 70% | 1934 |
| 22 | danad (1) | Czech Republic | 30 mins 46 secs | 70% | 1927 |
| 23 | Maxim Borunov (1) | Russia | 35 mins 53 secs | 70% | 1906 |
| 24 | Pavel Noga (1) | Czech Republic | 39 mins 31 secs | 70% | 1892 |
| 25 | Oleksiy Varchyn (1) | Norway | 12 mins 57 secs | 65% | 1848 |
| 26 | Jan Šerák (1) | Czech Republic | 29 mins 45 secs | 65% | 1831 |
| 27 | Leszek Grudzień (1) | Poland | 18 mins 23 secs | 65% | 1826 |
| 28 | Manfred Kleander (1) | Austria | 36 mins 13 secs | 70% | 1805 |
| 29 | Rytis Budreika (1) | Lithuania | 07 mins 16 secs | 65% | 1771 |
| 30 | Michal P. (1) | Poland | 22 mins 26 secs | 65% | 1760 |
| 31 | Anna Onishchuk (1) | Ireland | 15 mins 50 secs | 65% | 1737 |
| 32 | Marcus Matzberger (1) | Germany | 22 mins 19 secs | 61% | 1661 |
| 33 | Sachi (1) | India | 11 mins 00 secs | 57% | 1606 |
| 34 | Henry Abeska (1) | Czech Republic | 13 mins 08 secs | 61% | 1597 |
| 35 | Mehrab (1) | United Kingdom | 39 mins 16 secs | 61% | 1593 |
| 36 | Naresh Kumar (1) | Malaysia | 30 mins 22 secs | 61% | 1579 |
| 37 | Krzysztof Helbin (1) | Poland | 19 mins 07 secs | 61% | 1574 |
| 38 | PZOL (1) | Hungary | 34 mins 30 secs | 61% | 1562 |
| 39 | Tobias Stark (1) | Germany | 27 mins 01 secs | 57% | 1542 |
| 40 | dannyg64 (1) | United States | 19 mins 14 secs | 57% | 1523 |
| 41 | João Barreto (1) | Portugal | 30 mins 57 secs | 57% | 1476 |
| 42 | MarkM. (1) | Germany | 28 mins 53 secs | 48% | 1184 |
| 43 | Ravshan Abbasov (1) | Uzbekistan | 28 mins 13 secs | 43% | 1087 |
| 44 | Scott Wesley (1) | Australia | 00 mins 45 secs | 17% | 397 |
21 February 2015
Results of Annual SQL Championship for 2014
You will find below the rankings for the 2014 SQL Championship; the number next to the player's name is the number of times that player has participated in a championship.
Congratulations first and foremost to our top-ranked players:
1st Place: Andrey Zaytsev of Russia
2nd Place: Pavel Zeman of Czech Republic
3rd Place: Chad Lee of United States
Next, congratulations to everyone who played in the championship. I hope you found it entertaining, challenging and educational. And for those who were not able to participate in the championship, you can take the quizzes next week through the Practice feature. We will also make the championship as a whole available as a Test, so you can take it just like these players did.
Thanks and congratulations to the SQL Quizmaster, Kim Berg Hansen, and Oracle Developer Advocate for SQL, Natalka Roshak, for creating such excellent quizzes! Finally, no championship of this quality could ever happen without the careful work of our amazing reviewer, Elic (aka, Vitaliy Lyanchevskiy).
Steven Feuerstein
Note: Below the table of results for this championship, you will find another list showing the championship history of each of these players.
Congratulations first and foremost to our top-ranked players:
1st Place: Andrey Zaytsev of Russia
2nd Place: Pavel Zeman of Czech Republic
3rd Place: Chad Lee of United States
Next, congratulations to everyone who played in the championship. I hope you found it entertaining, challenging and educational. And for those who were not able to participate in the championship, you can take the quizzes next week through the Practice feature. We will also make the championship as a whole available as a Test, so you can take it just like these players did.
Thanks and congratulations to the SQL Quizmaster, Kim Berg Hansen, and Oracle Developer Advocate for SQL, Natalka Roshak, for creating such excellent quizzes! Finally, no championship of this quality could ever happen without the careful work of our amazing reviewer, Elic (aka, Vitaliy Lyanchevskiy).
Steven Feuerstein
Note: Below the table of results for this championship, you will find another list showing the championship history of each of these players.
| Rank | Name | Country | Total Time | % Correct | Total Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andrey Zaytsev (1) | Russia | 44 mins 20 secs | 84% | 5373 |
| 2 | Pavel Zeman (1) | Czech Republic | 44 mins 38 secs | 84% | 5371 |
| 3 | Chad Lee (2) | United States | 35 mins 15 secs | 82% | 5259 |
| 4 | Niels Hecker (2) | Germany | 42 mins 23 secs | 82% | 5230 |
| 5 | Christoph Hillinger (2) | Austria | 19 mins 57 secs | 80% | 5170 |
| 6 | Jerry Bull (2) | United States | 35 mins 43 secs | 80% | 5107 |
| 7 | Stelios Vlasopoulos (2) | Belgium | 43 mins 09 secs | 80% | 5077 |
| 8 | Rytis Budreika (2) | Lithuania | 18 mins 56 secs | 77% | 5024 |
| 9 | Scott Wesley (2) | Australia | 22 mins 45 secs | 77% | 5009 |
| 10 | Tobias Stark (2) | Germany | 43 mins 56 secs | 77% | 4924 |
| 11 | Ivan Blanarik (2) | Slovakia | 26 mins 51 secs | 73% | 4693 |
| 12 | Justin Cave (2) | United States | 38 mins 34 secs | 73% | 4646 |
| 13 | Anna Onishchuk (2) | Ireland | 16 mins 53 secs | 70% | 4582 |
| 14 | Oleksiy Varchyn (1) | Norway | 20 mins 38 secs | 70% | 4567 |
| 15 | Sean Molloy (2) | United States | 27 mins 45 secs | 70% | 4539 |
| 16 | gobruins (1) | United States | 30 mins 11 secs | 70% | 4529 |
| 17 | Leszek Grudzień (2) | Poland | 24 mins 31 secs | 68% | 4402 |
| 18 | Jason H (2) | United States | 26 mins 00 secs | 68% | 4396 |
| 19 | Michal Cvan (2) | Slovakia | 38 mins 35 secs | 68% | 4346 |
| 20 | mentzel.iudith (2) | Israel | 41 mins 04 secs | 68% | 4336 |
| 21 | Eric Levin (2) | United States | 42 mins 17 secs | 68% | 4331 |
| 22 | Viacheslav Stepanov (2) | Russia | 29 mins 24 secs | 66% | 4232 |
| 23 | AndreyBerliner (1) | Ukraine | 32 mins 13 secs | 66% | 4221 |
| 24 | Sandra99 (1) | Italy | 34 mins 09 secs | 66% | 4213 |
| 25 | swart260 (2) | Netherlands | 35 mins 57 secs | 66% | 4206 |
| 26 | tonyC (1) | United Kingdom | 39 mins 06 secs | 66% | 4194 |
| 27 | _tiki_4_ (2) | Germany | 11 mins 16 secs | 64% | 4155 |
| 28 | Rakesh Dadhich (2) | India | 22 mins 09 secs | 64% | 4111 |
| 29 | Ravshan Abbasov (1) | Uzbekistan | 33 mins 29 secs | 64% | 4066 |
| 30 | Pavel Noga (1) | Czech Republic | 44 mins 53 secs | 64% | 4020 |
| 31 | Yuan Tschang (2) | United States | 44 mins 51 secs | 61% | 3871 |
| 32 | Chase Mei (2) | Canada | 29 mins 30 secs | 59% | 3782 |
| 33 | Kuvardin Evgeniy (2) | Russia | 30 mins 56 secs | 59% | 3776 |
| 34 | Hertha Rettinger (2) | Germany | 31 mins 29 secs | 57% | 3624 |
| 35 | Mehrab (1) | United Kingdom | 44 mins 48 secs | 57% | 3571 |
| 36 | Arūnas Antanaitis (1) | Lithuania | 16 mins 45 secs | 55% | 3533 |
| 37 | VictorD (1) | Russia | 24 mins 43 secs | 55% | 3501 |
| 38 | Krzysztof Helbin (2) | Poland | 26 mins 24 secs | 55% | 3494 |
| 39 | NarendraReddy (1) | India | 21 mins 30 secs | 50% | 3214 |
| 40 | Sachi (2) | India | 44 mins 42 secs | 41% | 2521 |
Championship Performance History
After each name, the quarter in which he or she played, and the ranking in that championship.| Name | History |
|---|---|
| Andrey Zaytsev | 2014:1st |
| Pavel Zeman | 2014:2nd |
| Chad Lee | 2013:31st, 2014:3rd |
| Niels Hecker | 2013:7th, 2014:4th |
| Christoph Hillinger | 2013:2nd, 2014:5th |
| Jerry Bull | 2014:6th |
| Stelios Vlasopoulos | 2013:27th, 2014:7th |
| Rytis Budreika | 2013:22nd, 2014:8th |
| Scott Wesley | 2013:12th, 2014:9th |
| Tobias Stark | 2013:39th, 2014:10th |
| Ivan Blanarik | 2013:15th, 2014:11th |
| Justin Cave | 2013:17th, 2014:12th |
| Anna Onishchuk | 2013:28th, 2014:13th |
| Oleksiy Varchyn | 2014:14th |
| Sean Molloy | 2013:30th, 2014:15th |
| gobruins | 2014:16th |
| Leszek Grudzień | 2013:8th, 2014:17th |
| Jason H | 2013:26th, 2014:18th |
| Michal Cvan | 2013:18th, 2014:19th |
| mentzel.iudith | 2013:4th, 2014:20th |
| Eric Levin | 2013:19th, 2014:21st |
| Viacheslav Stepanov | 2013:21st, 2014:22nd |
| AndreyBerliner | 2014:23rd |
| Sandra99 | 2014:24th |
| swart260 | 2013:37th, 2014:25th |
| tonyC | 2014:26th |
| _tiki_4_ | 2014:27th |
| Rakesh Dadhich | 2014:28th |
| Ravshan Abbasov | 2014:29th |
| Pavel Noga | 2014:30th |
| Yuan Tschang | 2013:24th, 2014:31st |
| Chase Mei | 2013:11th, 2014:32nd |
| Kuvardin Evgeniy | 2014:33rd |
| Hertha Rettinger | 2013:36th, 2014:34th |
| Mehrab | 2014:35th |
| Arūnas Antanaitis | 2014:36th |
| VictorD | 2014:37th |
| Krzysztof Helbin | 2013:25th, 2014:38th |
| NarendraReddy | 2014:39th |
| Sachi | 2013:9th, 2014:41st |
20 January 2015
Participants and Dates set for (four!) 2014 Annual Championships
2014 is a thing of the past, but there are at least four more 2014-related activities to do: the annual championships.
With the expanding selection of weekly quizzes come an expanded set of annual championships.
This year we have four, and here are the dates and times:
And now for the lists of participants....
SQL Championship - Tuesday, February 17, 10:00 UTC
The following players will be invited to participate in the 2014 championship. The number in parentheses after their names are the number of championships in which they have already participated. See the FAQ for an explanation of the three ways a player can qualify for the championship. And congratulations to all listed below on their accomplishment and best of luck in the upcoming competition!
Database Design Championship - Thursday, February 19, 10:00 UTC
The following players will be invited to participate in the 2014 championship.The number in parentheses after their names are the number of championships in which they have already participated - they are all zero because this is the very first championship for this quiz!
See the FAQ for an explanation of the three ways a player can qualify for the championship. And congratulations to all listed below on their accomplishment and best of luck in the upcoming competition!
PL/SQL Championship - Thursday, February 26, 10:00 UTC
The following players will be invited to participate in the 2014 championship for the PL/SQL Challenge.
The number in parentheses after their names are the number of championships in which they have already participated. Wait a minute, they are all 0s. Well, we've done plenty of championships for PL/SQL, but they were for the daily quiz. So this is the first for the weekly quizzes.
See the FAQ for an explanation of the three ways a player can qualify for the championship. And congratulations to all listed below on their accomplishment and best of luck in the upcoming competition!
With the expanding selection of weekly quizzes come an expanded set of annual championships.
This year we have four, and here are the dates and times:
- SQL Championship - Tuesday, February 17, 14:00 UTC
- Database Design Championship - Thursday, February 19, 14:00 UTC
- Logic Championship - Tuesday, February 24, 14:00 UTC
- PL/SQL Championship - Thursday, February 26, 14:00 UTC
And now for the lists of participants....
SQL Championship - Tuesday, February 17, 10:00 UTC
The following players will be invited to participate in the 2014 championship. The number in parentheses after their names are the number of championships in which they have already participated. See the FAQ for an explanation of the three ways a player can qualify for the championship. And congratulations to all listed below on their accomplishment and best of luck in the upcoming competition!
| Name | Rank | Qualification | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stelios Vlasopoulos (1) | 1 | Top 50 | Belgium |
| Rakesh Dadhich (1) | 2 | Top 50 | India |
| mentzel.iudith (1) | 3 | Top 50 | Israel |
| swart260 (1) | 4 | Top 50 | Netherlands |
| Naresh Kumar (1) | 5 | Top 50 | India |
| james su (1) | 6 | Top 50 | Canada |
| Rytis Budreika (1) | 7 | Top 50 | Lithuania |
| _tiki_4_ (1) | 8 | Top 50 | Germany |
| Ivan Blanarik (1) | 9 | Top 50 | Slovakia |
| Niels Hecker (1) | 10 | Top 50 | Germany |
| Oleksiy Varchyn (0) | 11 | Top 50 | Norway |
| Justin Cave (1) | 12 | Top 50 | United States |
| Milibor Jovanovic (1) | 13 | Top 50 | Serbia |
| Chase Mei (1) | 14 | Top 50 | Canada |
| Viacheslav Stepanov (1) | 15 | Top 50 | Russia |
| Henry Abeska (0) | 16 | Top 50 | Czech Republic |
| Scott Wesley (1) | 17 | Top 50 | Australia |
| Sean Molloy (1) | 18 | Top 50 | United States |
| Andrey Zaytsev (0) | 19 | Top 50 | Russia |
| Krzysztof Helbin (1) | 20 | Top 50 | Poland |
| Hertha Rettinger (1) | 21 | Top 50 | Germany |
| Maxim Borunov (0) | 22 | Top 50 | Russia |
| Sachi (1) | 23 | Top 50 | United States |
| dmitrysk (1) | 24 | Top 50 | Russia |
| yonderboi (0) | 25 | Top 50 | Russia |
| Leszek Grudzień (1) | 26 | Top 50 | Poland |
| Dipendra Thapa (0) | 27 | Top 50 | India |
| Arūnas Antanaitis (0) | 28 | Top 50 | Lithuania |
| Ravshan Abbasov (0) | 29 | Top 50 | Uzbekistan |
| Sameer Chaudhari (0) | 30 | Top 50 | India |
| Pavel Zeman (0) | 31 | Top 50 | Czech Republic |
| Pavel Vorontsov (1) | 32 | Top 50 | Russia |
| Pavel Noga (0) | 33 | Top 50 | Czech Republic |
| tonyC (0) | 34 | Top 50 | United Kingdom |
| Anna Onishchuk (1) | 35 | Top 50 | Ireland |
| Jerry Bull (1) | 36 | Top 50 | United States |
| fsqatech (0) | 37 | Top 50 | United Kingdom |
| Sandra99 (0) | 38 | Top 50 | Italy |
| Kuvardin Evgeniy (1) | 39 | Top 50 | Russia |
| gaurav kowale (0) | 40 | Top 50 | India |
| Jason H (1) | 41 | Top 50 | United States |
| Christoph Hillinger (1) | 42 | Top 50 | Austria |
| gobruins (0) | 43 | Top 50 | United States |
| Livio Curzola (0) | 44 | Top 50 | Luxembourg |
| Chad Lee (1) | 45 | Top 50 | United States |
| Eric Levin (1) | 46 | Top 50 | United States |
| Michal Cvan (1) | 47 | Top 50 | Slovakia |
| NarendraReddy (0) | 48 | Top 50 | India |
| Tobias Stark (1) | 49 | Top 50 | Germany |
| VictorD (0) | 50 | Top 50 | Russia |
| Yuan Tschang (1) | 69 | Correctness | United States |
| Mehrab (0) | 77 | Correctness | United Kingdom |
| AndreyBerliner (0) | 89 | Correctness | Ukraine |
Database Design Championship - Thursday, February 19, 10:00 UTC
The following players will be invited to participate in the 2014 championship.The number in parentheses after their names are the number of championships in which they have already participated - they are all zero because this is the very first championship for this quiz!
See the FAQ for an explanation of the three ways a player can qualify for the championship. And congratulations to all listed below on their accomplishment and best of luck in the upcoming competition!
| Name | Rank | Qualification | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| mentzel.iudith (0) | 1 | Top 50 | Israel |
| Siim Kask (0) | 2 | Top 50 | Estonia |
| Justin Cave (0) | 3 | Top 50 | United States |
| Elic (0) | 4 | Top 50 | Belarus |
| Stelios Vlasopoulos (0) | 5 | Top 50 | Belgium |
| Niels Hecker (0) | 6 | Top 50 | Germany |
| Joaquin Gonzalez (0) | 7 | Top 50 | Spain |
| Milibor Jovanovic (0) | 8 | Top 50 | Serbia |
| Krzysztof Helbin (0) | 9 | Top 50 | Poland |
| yonderboi (0) | 10 | Top 50 | Russia |
| Chad Lee (0) | 11 | Top 50 | United States |
| Sean Molloy (0) | 12 | Top 50 | United States |
| Sandra99 (0) | 13 | Top 50 | Italy |
| Sherry (0) | 14 | Top 50 | Czech Republic |
| Pavel Noga (0) | 15 | Top 50 | Czech Republic |
| Ivan Blanarik (0) | 16 | Top 50 | Slovakia |
| Manfred Kleander (0) | 17 | Top 50 | Austria |
| Rytis Budreika (0) | 18 | Top 50 | Lithuania |
| Jan van Overveld (0) | 19 | Top 50 | Netherlands |
| Maxim Borunov (0) | 20 | Top 50 | Russia |
| Leszek Grudzień (0) | 21 | Top 50 | Poland |
| Tobias Stark (0) | 22 | Top 50 | Germany |
| Scott Wesley (0) | 23 | Top 50 | Australia |
| Pavel Zeman (0) | 24 | Top 50 | Czech Republic |
| Viacheslav Stepanov (0) | 25 | Top 50 | Russia |
| Christoph Hillinger (0) | 26 | Top 50 | Austria |
| Marcus Matzberger (0) | 27 | Top 50 | Germany |
| Jerry Bull (0) | 28 | Top 50 | United States |
| VictorD (0) | 29 | Top 50 | Russia |
| MarkM. (0) | 30 | Top 50 | Germany |
| Pavel Vorontsov (0) | 31 | Top 50 | Russia |
| João Barreto (0) | 32 | Top 50 | Portugal |
| _tiki_4_ (0) | 33 | Top 50 | Germany |
| Anna Onishchuk (0) | 34 | Top 50 | Ireland |
| dannyg64 (0) | 35 | Top 50 | United States |
| Andrey Zaytsev (0) | 36 | Top 50 | Russia |
| danad (0) | 37 | Top 50 | Czech Republic |
| EdgarsP (0) | 38 | Top 50 | Latvia |
| Ravshan Abbasov (0) | 39 | Top 50 | Uzbekistan |
| Sachi (0) | 40 | Top 50 | United States |
| Eric Levin (0) | 41 | Top 50 | United States |
| Oleksiy Varchyn (0) | 42 | Top 50 | Norway |
| JasonC (0) | 43 | Top 50 | United Kingdom |
| Chase Mei (0) | 44 | Top 50 | Canada |
| Henry Abeska (0) | 45 | Top 50 | Czech Republic |
| Naresh Kumar (0) | 46 | Top 50 | India |
| Kuvardin Evgeniy (0) | 47 | Top 50 | Russia |
| PZOL (0) | 48 | Top 50 | Hungary |
| Michal P. (0) | 49 | Top 50 | Poland |
| Michal Cvan (0) | 50 | Top 50 | Slovakia |
| Mehrab (0) | 51 | Correctness | United Kingdom |
| Dan Kiser (0) | 106 | Correctness | United States |
Logic Championship - Tuesday, February 24, 10:00 UTC
The following players will be invited to participate in the 2014 championship. The number in parentheses after their names are the number of championships in which they have already participated. See the FAQ for an explanation of the three ways a player can qualify for the championship. And congratulations to all listed below on their accomplishment and best of luck in the upcoming competition!
The following players will be invited to participate in the 2014 championship. The number in parentheses after their names are the number of championships in which they have already participated. See the FAQ for an explanation of the three ways a player can qualify for the championship. And congratulations to all listed below on their accomplishment and best of luck in the upcoming competition!
| Name | Rank | Qualification | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jerry Bull (1) | 1 | Top 50 | United States |
| mentzel.iudith (1) | 2 | Top 50 | Israel |
| Köteles Zsolt (0) | 3 | Top 50 | Hungary |
| Stelios Vlasopoulos (1) | 4 | Top 50 | Belgium |
| Chad Lee (1) | 5 | Top 50 | United States |
| Viacheslav Stepanov (1) | 6 | Top 50 | Russia |
| AndreyBerliner (0) | 7 | Top 50 | Ukraine |
| Milibor Jovanovic (1) | 8 | Top 50 | Serbia |
| Niels Hecker (1) | 9 | Top 50 | Germany |
| Elic (1) | 10 | Top 50 | Belarus |
| Kanellos (1) | 11 | Top 50 | Greece |
| Naresh Kumar (1) | 12 | Top 50 | India |
| Peter Chenery (1) | 13 | Top 50 | United Kingdom |
| Rich Dellheim (1) | 14 | Top 50 | United States |
| Sandra99 (1) | 15 | Top 50 | Italy |
| Mehrab (1) | 16 | Top 50 | United Kingdom |
| james su (1) | 17 | Top 50 | Canada |
| gobruins (1) | 18 | Top 50 | United States |
| katuinbouter (1) | 19 | Top 50 | Netherlands |
| Kuvardin Evgeniy (0) | 20 | Top 50 | Russia |
| Christoph Hillinger (1) | 21 | Top 50 | Austria |
| mark kavalaris (0) | 22 | Top 50 | United States |
| Alex Stirbu (0) | 23 | Top 50 | Romania |
| Pavel Zeman (0) | 24 | Top 50 | Czech Republic |
| Rytis Budreika (1) | 25 | Top 50 | Lithuania |
| umir (1) | 26 | Top 50 | Italy |
| Margit Biróné Sonkoly (0) | 27 | Top 50 | Hungary |
| Sean Molloy (1) | 28 | Top 50 | United States |
| craig.mcfarlane (0) | 29 | Top 50 | Norway |
| Pavel Vorontsov (1) | 30 | Top 50 | Russia |
| MarkM. (1) | 31 | Top 50 | Germany |
| NickL (0) | 32 | Top 50 | United Kingdom |
| Eric Levin (0) | 33 | Top 50 | United States |
| Yuan Tschang (1) | 34 | Top 50 | United States |
| Zoran Krekic (0) | 35 | Top 50 | Croatia |
| Dipendra Thapa (0) | 36 | Top 50 | India |
| JasonC (1) | 37 | Top 50 | United Kingdom |
| danad (1) | 38 | Top 50 | Czech Republic |
| tommyTT (0) | 39 | Top 50 | Poland |
| Jason H (1) | 40 | Top 50 | United States |
| Henry Abeska (0) | 41 | Top 50 | Czech Republic |
| Vijay Mahawar (1) | 42 | Top 50 | India |
| Cristinel Boboc (1) | 43 | Top 50 | Romania |
| kias (0) | 44 | Top 50 | Czech Republic |
| Telmoc (0) | 45 | Top 50 | Portugal |
| Krzysztof Helbin (0) | 46 | Top 50 | Poland |
| Justin Cave (1) | 47 | Top 50 | United States |
| Oleksiy Varchyn (0) | 48 | Top 50 | Norway |
| Cor van Berkel (0) | 49 | Top 50 | Netherlands |
| Hamid Talebian (0) | 50 | Top 50 | Netherlands |
| Jennifer Schiltz (0) | 51 | Correctness | United States |
| Dan Voiculet (0) | 63 | Correctness | Romania |
PL/SQL Championship - Thursday, February 26, 10:00 UTC
The following players will be invited to participate in the 2014 championship for the PL/SQL Challenge.
The number in parentheses after their names are the number of championships in which they have already participated. Wait a minute, they are all 0s. Well, we've done plenty of championships for PL/SQL, but they were for the daily quiz. So this is the first for the weekly quizzes.
See the FAQ for an explanation of the three ways a player can qualify for the championship. And congratulations to all listed below on their accomplishment and best of luck in the upcoming competition!
| Name | Rank | Qualification | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| swart260 (0) | 1 | Top 50 | Netherlands |
| Rakesh Dadhich (0) | 2 | Top 50 | India |
| Stelios Vlasopoulos (0) | 3 | Top 50 | Belgium |
| Viacheslav Stepanov (0) | 4 | Top 50 | Russia |
| mentzel.iudith (0) | 5 | Top 50 | Israel |
| Rytis Budreika (0) | 6 | Top 50 | Lithuania |
| Niels Hecker (0) | 7 | Top 50 | Germany |
| Siim Kask (0) | 8 | Top 50 | Estonia |
| Milibor Jovanovic (0) | 9 | Top 50 | Serbia |
| Ivan Blanarik (0) | 10 | Top 50 | Slovakia |
| Jerry Bull (0) | 11 | Top 50 | United States |
| Krzysztof Helbin (0) | 12 | Top 50 | Poland |
| Maxim Borunov (0) | 13 | Top 50 | Russia |
| Kuvardin Evgeniy (0) | 14 | Top 50 | Russia |
| james su (0) | 15 | Top 50 | Canada |
| Chad Lee (0) | 16 | Top 50 | United States |
| Sherry (0) | 17 | Top 50 | Czech Republic |
| Pavel Noga (0) | 18 | Top 50 | Czech Republic |
| Leszek Grudzień (0) | 19 | Top 50 | Poland |
| Yuan Tschang (0) | 20 | Top 50 | United States |
| gobruins (0) | 21 | Top 50 | United States |
| Ravshan Abbasov (0) | 22 | Top 50 | Uzbekistan |
| VictorD (0) | 23 | Top 50 | Russia |
| Oleksiy Varchyn (0) | 24 | Top 50 | Norway |
| Chase Mei (0) | 25 | Top 50 | Canada |
| Justin Cave (0) | 26 | Top 50 | United States |
| Marcus Matzberger (0) | 27 | Top 50 | Germany |
| Karel Prech (0) | 28 | Top 50 | Czech Republic |
| João Barreto (0) | 29 | Top 50 | Portugal |
| Jason H (0) | 30 | Top 50 | United States |
| Andrey Zaytsev (0) | 31 | Top 50 | Russia |
| Joaquin Gonzalez (0) | 32 | Top 50 | Spain |
| Michal Cvan (0) | 33 | Top 50 | Slovakia |
| Jeroen Rutte (0) | 34 | Top 50 | Netherlands |
| dmitrysk (0) | 35 | Top 50 | Russia |
| Manfred Kleander (0) | 36 | Top 50 | Austria |
| Patrick Barel (0) | 37 | Top 50 | Netherlands |
| Christoph Hillinger (0) | 38 | Top 50 | Austria |
| Sean Molloy (0) | 39 | Top 50 | United States |
| Alex Stirbu (0) | 40 | Top 50 | Romania |
| _tiki_4_ (0) | 41 | Top 50 | Germany |
| Pavel Vorontsov (0) | 42 | Top 50 | Russia |
| Anna Onishchuk (0) | 43 | Top 50 | Ireland |
| Margit Biróné Sonkoly (0) | 44 | Top 50 | Hungary |
| Livio Curzola (0) | 45 | Top 50 | Luxembourg |
| Henry Abeska (0) | 46 | Top 50 | Czech Republic |
| Ingimundur Gudmundsson (0) | 47 | Top 50 | Norway |
| Martin_Scholz_Berlin_Berlin (0) | 48 | Top 50 | Germany |
| tonyC (0) | 49 | Top 50 | United Kingdom |
| Paolo Zaffaroni (0) | 50 | Top 50 | Italy |
05 January 2015
Happy New Year, and....New and Revamped Quizzes for the New Year
Happy new year to the thousands of Oracle technologists who played a quiz or otherwise visited and benefited from the PL/SQL Challenge in 2014.
The Challenge continues into the very frosty New Year (as I write, it is 0 degrees Fahrenheit here in Chicago), but first, let's do (some of) the numbers from 2014.
Over 4000 Oracle technologist took at least one quiz in 2014.
Altogether players at the PL/SQL Challenge submitted over 114,000 answers to quizzes (including practice quizzes and tests).
Along the way, we had lots of help from several reviewers. Elic was our superstar, the main reviewer on PL/SQL and SQL quizzes. Livio Curzola helped Eli make sure that the Logic quizzes were top-notch. Many thanks to both of you, as well as players like Iudith Mentzel, who wrote several quizzes for PL/SQL Explore.
Thanks also to Kim Berg Hansen, our SQL Quizmaster, and Chris Saxon, Mr. Database Design (and, as of 1 January our newest Oracle Database Evangelist!), for providing interesting and challenging quizzes all year.
Wow. That's a lot of devotion (writing quizzes, reviewing quizzes, playing quizzes) to improving one's skill set in SQL, PL/SQL, Database Design and Logic.
Now let's take a look at 2015.
As you may recall, back in March, I rejoined Oracle after a 22 year absence. Not too surprisingly, I got really busy. One "victim" of my busy-ness was a decision to end the daily quiz after four years (whew). I really hated to do it, and consider that quiz one of my finest accomplishments.
So we shifted to three weekly quizzes and life went on. But since I was spending less time in every way on the PL/SQL Challenge and since it turned out that many players really thrived on the discipline of playing a quiz every day of the week (crazy people!), our numbers have dwindled a bit through 2014.
OK, fine, but what about 2015? The new year provides us with an opportunity to expand and reorganize our quizzes.
Why, you might ask, would we consider doing this? Let me count the ways.
1. We replaced the daily PL/SQL quiz with two competitive quizzes, PL/SQL Challenge and PL/SQL Explore. The former is written solely by me (Steven Feuerstein); the latter was intended to feature lots of quizzes by players, exploring "nooks and crannies" of PL/SQL. I have, however, written most of these quizzes, and there is no clear distinction in the content of the two.
2. The Oracle Database Evangelist team I have been tasked to build is now taking shape. This means that, among other things, Natalka Roshak is now a full-time SQL Evangelist, and part of that job (I have decided) is to write a weekly SQL quiz. That means that we will now have two SQL quizzes - so what will be the difference between these two?
3. We added a PL/SQL Deja Vu quiz, featuring a previously-played quiz. Now that the SQL quiz has been going on so long, perhaps we should add a SQL Deja Vu quiz as well.
We (myself, Kim Berg Hansen, Natalka Roshak, Chris Saxon and Dan McGhan) have been discussing these ideas and decided we'd generated enough interesting thoughts to share them with you for feedback.
I expect that we will start this new configuration on 1 April 2015, the start of Q2 and the fifth anniversary of the PL/SQL Challenge (!).
Here's what we are currently thinking about for....
PL/SQL Quizzes
1. PL/SQL Language quiz: covers the features of the PL/SQL language, including best practice, performance, etc. Pretty much what the PL/SQL Challenge has been. Primary author: Steven Feuerstein, others welcome! Rankings qualify for annual championship.
2. PL/SQL Built-ins quiz: focuses exclusively on the built-in or supplied packages. This would replace, in essence, PL/SQL Explore. Primary author: Steven Feuerstein, others welcome - especially with more specialized packages with which I have minimal experience. Rankings qualify for annual championship.
3. PL/SQL Deja Vu: as before, features a quiz from the past. Non-competitive.
SQL Quizzes
1. SQL Features quiz: covers the features of the SQL language, from DDL to DML. Primary authors: Kim Berg Hansen and Natalka Roshak others welcome! Rankings qualify for annual championship.This quiz would generally avoid performance-related features, because the second SQL quiz would focus on:
2. SQL Performance quiz: while I don't feel there is enough on PL/SQL performance to have a separate quiz just one that, it does seem more than possible to do this with SQL. And it certainly is a topic of endless interest and discussion. Rankings qualify for annual championship. Primary authors: Kim Berg Hansen, Natalka Roshak and Chris Saxon; others welcome!
3. SQL Deja Vu: features a quiz from the past. Non-competitive.
Database Design Quizzes
Stick with the current weekly quiz, but probably steer away from quizzes that focus primarily on performance, since the SQL Performance quiz will cover that. Rankings qualify for annual championship. Primary author: Chris Saxon, others welcome!
But we can also add a DB Design Deja Vu quiz.
Logic Quizzes
We are exploring replacing the competitive Mastermind-based quiz with a new logic quiz that uses different formats. Part of the problem with continuing with Mastermind, is that we have published (and others have no doubt built) automatic solvers.
And we can also add a Logic Deja Vu quiz.
Database Administration Quiz (?)
I have had several requests to start up a DB admin quiz, and am happy to do so, but we need someone to step forward and take overall responsibility for managing the quiz.
Any takers?
Names for Quizzes
As our quizzes grow in number, I'd also like to come up with less generic and more interesting names for our quizzes. Kim Berg Hansen offers a bunch of ideas below, to get the creative juices flowing. We'd love to hear your ideas!
The Challenge continues into the very frosty New Year (as I write, it is 0 degrees Fahrenheit here in Chicago), but first, let's do (some of) the numbers from 2014.
Over 4000 Oracle technologist took at least one quiz in 2014.
Altogether players at the PL/SQL Challenge submitted over 114,000 answers to quizzes (including practice quizzes and tests).
Along the way, we had lots of help from several reviewers. Elic was our superstar, the main reviewer on PL/SQL and SQL quizzes. Livio Curzola helped Eli make sure that the Logic quizzes were top-notch. Many thanks to both of you, as well as players like Iudith Mentzel, who wrote several quizzes for PL/SQL Explore.
Thanks also to Kim Berg Hansen, our SQL Quizmaster, and Chris Saxon, Mr. Database Design (and, as of 1 January our newest Oracle Database Evangelist!), for providing interesting and challenging quizzes all year.
Wow. That's a lot of devotion (writing quizzes, reviewing quizzes, playing quizzes) to improving one's skill set in SQL, PL/SQL, Database Design and Logic.
Now let's take a look at 2015.
As you may recall, back in March, I rejoined Oracle after a 22 year absence. Not too surprisingly, I got really busy. One "victim" of my busy-ness was a decision to end the daily quiz after four years (whew). I really hated to do it, and consider that quiz one of my finest accomplishments.
So we shifted to three weekly quizzes and life went on. But since I was spending less time in every way on the PL/SQL Challenge and since it turned out that many players really thrived on the discipline of playing a quiz every day of the week (crazy people!), our numbers have dwindled a bit through 2014.
OK, fine, but what about 2015? The new year provides us with an opportunity to expand and reorganize our quizzes.
Why, you might ask, would we consider doing this? Let me count the ways.
1. We replaced the daily PL/SQL quiz with two competitive quizzes, PL/SQL Challenge and PL/SQL Explore. The former is written solely by me (Steven Feuerstein); the latter was intended to feature lots of quizzes by players, exploring "nooks and crannies" of PL/SQL. I have, however, written most of these quizzes, and there is no clear distinction in the content of the two.
2. The Oracle Database Evangelist team I have been tasked to build is now taking shape. This means that, among other things, Natalka Roshak is now a full-time SQL Evangelist, and part of that job (I have decided) is to write a weekly SQL quiz. That means that we will now have two SQL quizzes - so what will be the difference between these two?
3. We added a PL/SQL Deja Vu quiz, featuring a previously-played quiz. Now that the SQL quiz has been going on so long, perhaps we should add a SQL Deja Vu quiz as well.
We (myself, Kim Berg Hansen, Natalka Roshak, Chris Saxon and Dan McGhan) have been discussing these ideas and decided we'd generated enough interesting thoughts to share them with you for feedback.
I expect that we will start this new configuration on 1 April 2015, the start of Q2 and the fifth anniversary of the PL/SQL Challenge (!).
Here's what we are currently thinking about for....
PL/SQL Quizzes
1. PL/SQL Language quiz: covers the features of the PL/SQL language, including best practice, performance, etc. Pretty much what the PL/SQL Challenge has been. Primary author: Steven Feuerstein, others welcome! Rankings qualify for annual championship.
2. PL/SQL Built-ins quiz: focuses exclusively on the built-in or supplied packages. This would replace, in essence, PL/SQL Explore. Primary author: Steven Feuerstein, others welcome - especially with more specialized packages with which I have minimal experience. Rankings qualify for annual championship.
3. PL/SQL Deja Vu: as before, features a quiz from the past. Non-competitive.
SQL Quizzes
1. SQL Features quiz: covers the features of the SQL language, from DDL to DML. Primary authors: Kim Berg Hansen and Natalka Roshak others welcome! Rankings qualify for annual championship.This quiz would generally avoid performance-related features, because the second SQL quiz would focus on:
2. SQL Performance quiz: while I don't feel there is enough on PL/SQL performance to have a separate quiz just one that, it does seem more than possible to do this with SQL. And it certainly is a topic of endless interest and discussion. Rankings qualify for annual championship. Primary authors: Kim Berg Hansen, Natalka Roshak and Chris Saxon; others welcome!
3. SQL Deja Vu: features a quiz from the past. Non-competitive.
Database Design Quizzes
Stick with the current weekly quiz, but probably steer away from quizzes that focus primarily on performance, since the SQL Performance quiz will cover that. Rankings qualify for annual championship. Primary author: Chris Saxon, others welcome!
But we can also add a DB Design Deja Vu quiz.
Logic Quizzes
We are exploring replacing the competitive Mastermind-based quiz with a new logic quiz that uses different formats. Part of the problem with continuing with Mastermind, is that we have published (and others have no doubt built) automatic solvers.
And we can also add a Logic Deja Vu quiz.
Database Administration Quiz (?)
I have had several requests to start up a DB admin quiz, and am happy to do so, but we need someone to step forward and take overall responsibility for managing the quiz.
Any takers?
Names for Quizzes
As our quizzes grow in number, I'd also like to come up with less generic and more interesting names for our quizzes. Kim Berg Hansen offers a bunch of ideas below, to get the creative juices flowing. We'd love to hear your ideas!
1a: PL/SQL Language
1b: PL/SQL - Language par Excellence
1c: PL/SQL - Code of Choice
1d: PL/SQL Challenge
1e: PL/SQL - Code Genie
2a: PL/SQL Supplied Code
2b: PL/SQL - Don't Reinvent the Wheel
2c: PL/SQL - Already Invented
2d: PL/SQL - Modules Supplied
2e: PL/SQL Built-ins
3a: SQL Language
3b: SQL - The Way of the Set
3c: SQL - Set to Win
3d: SQL Magic
3e: SQL - Game, Set and Match
3f: SQL - When It's About Data
3g: SQL - Dancing with Data
3h: SQL - Mind Over Data
4a: SQL Performance
4b: SQL - Go to Warp 10
4c: SQL - Go to Warp 8
4d: SQL - High Speed Pursuit
4e: SQL - Data Formula One
5a: DB Design
5b: Database - Craft Your World
5c: Build a Better Database
5d: Database - Building Blocks
5e: Database - Data Builder
6a: DB Admin
6b: Database - Operational Administry
6c: Database - Operating Theater
6d: Database - Smooth Operator
6e: Database - Data Shaman
08 December 2014
Ideas for PL/SQL Championship(s) next year
For most of this year, we have offered two weekly, competitive quizzes on PL/SQL:
PL/SQL Challenge & PL/SQL Explore
But it doesn't really make sense to offer two different championships. At least, that's how I, the fellow who would write all those quizzes, feels about it.
There is, as one might expect, lots of overlap between the top 50 ranked players in the two quizzes: only 14 in PL/SQL Explore are not in PL/SQL Challenge's top 50.
It seems to me that it makes much more sense to have a single championship for PL/SQL, overall.
But our database design doesn't easily allow us to make that change (that is, one championship per domain with merged rankings).
So here is what I would like to do instead:
For the 2014 PL/SQL Championship, participants will be as follows:
1. The top 50 ranked players in the PL/SQL Challenge
2. The additional 14 in the top 50 of PL/SQL Explore
3. Up to 20 other wildcard and correctness players, all drawn from the PL/SQL Challenge
Then going forward, even though PL/SQL Explore will remain competitive, the PL/SQL Championship will be based only on your performance in the PL/SQL Challenge quiz.
What are your thoughts on this?
Thanks, Steven Feuerstein
PL/SQL Challenge & PL/SQL Explore
But it doesn't really make sense to offer two different championships. At least, that's how I, the fellow who would write all those quizzes, feels about it.
There is, as one might expect, lots of overlap between the top 50 ranked players in the two quizzes: only 14 in PL/SQL Explore are not in PL/SQL Challenge's top 50.
It seems to me that it makes much more sense to have a single championship for PL/SQL, overall.
But our database design doesn't easily allow us to make that change (that is, one championship per domain with merged rankings).
So here is what I would like to do instead:
For the 2014 PL/SQL Championship, participants will be as follows:
1. The top 50 ranked players in the PL/SQL Challenge
2. The additional 14 in the top 50 of PL/SQL Explore
3. Up to 20 other wildcard and correctness players, all drawn from the PL/SQL Challenge
Then going forward, even though PL/SQL Explore will remain competitive, the PL/SQL Championship will be based only on your performance in the PL/SQL Challenge quiz.
What are your thoughts on this?
Thanks, Steven Feuerstein
01 May 2014
New Roundtable discussion: What's missing from PL/SQL?
PL/SQL has been around for over twenty years. It has been enhanced steadily and strongly throughout all that time, adding bulk processing, object types, automatic optimization, PL/Scope and so much more. So the question is: is PL/SQL fully baked? What is it missing that you need in order to write better code faster?
Give us your thoughts on the PL/SQL Challenge Roundtable.
PL/SQL is a critical enabling technology for hundreds of thousands of mission-critical applications around the world. Any improvement in the language can have a widespread impact. The PL/SQL development team must have a list of enhancement requests 10 miles long (no, I haven't seen it) and it is likely that anything we come up with here will already be on their list. But that's not the point. The point is to find out what active PL/SQL developers think is key for the language.
Some of you may be aware that I published the iloveplsqland.net website years ago to allow developers to sort-of-vote on enhancements to the PL/SQL language. It never generated a whole lot of traffic, but I encourage you to check it out for ideas. And if you posted an idea there, and still feel strongly about it, then post the info here as well!
I can think of several categories of enhancements to PL/SQL and I encourage you to let us know into which category your idea would fall.
- Performance: improve the runtime performance of PL/SQL code.
- Usability: make it easier or more productive to write your program units.
- Multimedia/Internet: improve the way PL/SQL "plays" in the modern world of mobile and Internet applications.
- Critical bug fixes: sure, it's not an enhancement, but if there's something that's been bugging you for years and still isn't fixed, go ahead and gripe about it here!
- Object orientation: object types have come a long way....but assuming you are trying to use them to build production apps, what's missing?
Oh, and I need to be really clear about this: Just because I work for Oracle Corporation now, that doesn't mean that I can guarantee any of your ideas will be implemented. Heck. I don't even work in the PL/SQL development team (and I sure don't belong there!).
This is a discussion which will benefit enormously from every player using the Like feature to indicate which idea they, ahem, like. Please take advantage of it!
Finally, I point out to you that it would be best if you did not reply here with your ideas. Go to the PL/SQL Challenge Roundtable and do it. But I will be happy to read your thoughts here as well.
Cheers, Steven Feuerstein
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