JAVA UNUSABLE

[amstan]

I'm sorry, it is pretty difficult for us to update Java.

[kevin_flynn]

[dutchflyboy]

[amstan]

For now all that us, the organizers, know is that 2 submissions time out and they're both using java. This could be the source of anything from java vm crappieness(since we're not changing this it's your responsibility to test it on what we're running) to bad code.
There is an ample amount of languages to pick from, if java does not suit you perhaps you should try something else. We installed the language packs the way it is found on other systems too(from the repository) and this does not mean bleeding edge.

[kevin_flynn]

Thank you for a response.

The requirement that every entrant needs to install Redhat to test their entries seems to have escaped all of your documentation.

[amstan]

[kevin_flynn]

[thedeadwalrus]

I strongly suspect the problem is with the VM; specifically with the VM and its access to the system timer.

The result is that it is impossible for me to time my bot's moves. When I remove the timer function and just guesstimate how many iterations can be run, my bot will work fine -- as long as I'm properly conservative.

But this is a crappy hack of a solution. It would be lovely to be able to call System.currentTimeMillis() or the like without generating random timeouts.

NOTE: I am not suggesting that it is not my "crappy code" that is causing the timeouts. This is a distinct possibility. But without any debug information when I get a "1s/move" timeout this is really impossible for me to determine.

It would be awesome if I could get a log when this happens. But, barring this, Would it be possible to at least let us look at the game up until the timeout occurred? I.e., a partial game up until the 1s timeout disqualified my bot?

[mspang]

[callinwire]

Well, anyways, a few days ago I converted my entire bot from Java to C++, without making any changes to the algorithm. After doing this (I was even able to copy and paste a lot of the code), I no longer experienced any timeout issues.