Rules and Guidelines
IMPORTANT: Did you read the Important disclaimers about contest status below, and did you check the current IOCCC status?
You may also wish to review the mkiocccentry tool repo, especially when the rules and guidelines are official, to be sure you are using an up to date official mkiocccentry tool set.
Important disclaimers about contest status
When the IOCCC status is closed
While the IOCCC status is CLOSED, the rules and guidelines are OUT OF DATE.
A very tentative proposal for the next IOCCC that is VERY LIKELY to be updated before the next contest becomes pending. They are are provided as a tentative hint at what might be used for the next IOCCC.
IMPORTANT: All tentative rules and guidelines are subject to change by the IOCCC judges at ANY time. See both the IOCCC news and the IOCCC Mastodon feed as sometimes the IOCCC judges mention changes there.
When the IOCCC status is pending
While the IOCCC status is PENDING, the rules and guidelines are tentative.
One might think of them as a beta release for the IOCCC that is about to open.
IMPORTANT: All tentative rules and guidelines are subject to change by the IOCCC judges at any time. See both the IOCCC news and the IOCCC Mastodon feed as sometimes the IOCCC judges mention changes there.
You may register for the IOCCC while the contest is pending, however you will NOT receive your own Email message containing your very own Username and Initial Password until the contest is open. You will need these to be able to upload your submission when the contest is open.
Once contest moves from pending to open an announcement Email will be sent out to the mailing list of those have successfully registered for the IOCCC. In addition, an announcement will be made to the IOCCC news in case you miss that announcement Email.
While you are waiting for the contest to open, we highly recommend that you review the IOCCC rules, IOCCC guidelines, and IOCCC mkiocccentry tools.
Should you have any comments, suggestions, and concerns about the above, and while you waiting for the contest to open please see the FAQ on “comment or make a suggestion on IOCCC rules, guidelines and tools” as well as the FAQ on “best way to ask a question about the IOCCC rules, guideline and tools” for how.
See also about how upload your submission when the contest is open.
When the IOCCC status is open
While the IOCCC status is OPEN, the rules and guidelines are OFFICIAL.
Unless some significant problem turns up (such as a need to delay in when the IOCCC will close, or some major bug is discovered) they will remain OFFICIAL for this IOCCC.
SUGGESTION: Watch both the IOCCC news and the IOCCC Mastodon feed for the latest news about any changes.
The IOCCC rules, IOCCC guidelines, and IOCCC mkiocccentry tools are now official. Should you have any questions about these, please see the FAQ on “best way to ask a question about the IOCCC rules, guideline and tools” for how to ask them.
Be sure to review the official IOCCC rules, IOCCC guidelines, for any changes, as well as updating your IOCCC mkiocccentry tools as changes to them may have been made while the contest was “pending.
See also the FAQ on “how to submit” for more information on the submission process when the IOCCC reopens.
When the IOCCC status is judging
While the IOCCC status is JUDGING, the rules and guidelines are for the when the was previously OPEN for new submissions.
See the IOCCC news as well as the IOCCC Mastodon feed for updates on the IOCCC judging process as well as for the announcement of who won the IOCCC.