Google 'Code-In' Calls on K-12 Students To Become Open Source Developers
Google wants to get middle and high school students interested in open source software, and the company is betting that a new "outreach contest" that includes cash prizes and a grand-prize trip to the Googleplex in California will appeal to budding programmers.
Google's new "Code-In" competition, which gets underway Nov. 22, presents 13- to 18-year-olds with eight tasks, ranging from refactoring code and interface design to such not-so-techie jobs as writing and editing software documentation and developing marketing materials. For every three tasks they complete, the students earn $100, up to a maximum of $500. Ten grand prize winners will get an all-expenses-paid trip with a family member to Google's Mountain View, CA headquarters. The trip includes a tour of the sprawling Googleplex facility and meetings with some of the company's engineers.
The contest is designed to introduce K-12 students to "the many kinds of contributions that make open source software development possible," Google said on the contest Web site. Carol Smith, program