The Electric Sheep Company has announced today that IBM/Rational Software has opened up the IBM CODESTATION region within Second Life.

For non-experts, there is an open source library of scripts and objects. As a non-coder, I’ve always found that code syntax is handy, but to really advance in a language, I need to see it applied to practical uses. I hope CODESTATION can be that resource for SL scripters, complementing the LSL wiki (which, frankly, I’ve found useful but weak on examples). Right now, the library has been seeded with 15 script and 16 object examples.

For more advanced coders, there is a fun maze challenge with an open source bot that you can take apart, improve, etc. The maze even has bugs for the bots to eat and a scoreboard tracking time. There are workstations to the side of the maze if you want a quiet place to tinker with the bot code and create your super-bot. If you are an advanced coder, I also hope you consider participating in and enhancing the open source library.

I just had a visit and here are some snapshots:

The IBM CODESTATION Welcome panel:

The Library Donation Box:

The Library Donation Box:

The Script and Object libraries:

The Labyrinth, me sitting on my mazebot:

The Labyrinth, me and my bot at the exit of the IBM maze:

The Labyrinth Scoreboard:

More reports at Ambling in Second Life and 3pointD.