[Marc P.]

I think this rule is a good thing. In previous years, it was up to the team to develop their own tools/code to perform required functions. This year, with the majority of the more difficult code already written and available in non-complex forms (scripting language), there's no reason coding basic to intermediate functions should take longer than the 6 weeks. The tools are there to help both rookies and veteran teams produce functions that were out of reach of many teams last year. However, the controllers are still essentially the same, and the basic software can still be written in C. More advanced teams interested in complete customization can still do so, while all others can still rapidly develop with the avaliable tools. If it comes down to the last 2-3 days of the build season, or even during the service window at a competition, and the software still has bugs and/or isn't working, these tools are still avaliable, and can provide emergency relief should the need arise. Heck, any team capable of writing complete custom code should have no problem integrating provided functions and hammer out some working code within hours. Because the coding can be so easy this year, it's good to limit the time things can be coded, just as the mechanical and electrical teams have to follow the limits of the competition, so should it be with software.