Homework Help
groups.google.com
groups.google.com
I have to say, I don't really see the humour in these sort of replies. It's not very polite or constructive, it's the sort of thing which could turn people away from programming, and makes geeks/programmers look bad. It's pretty antisocial. Why not spend the time actually helping the guy? Instead of showing off or taking the piss...
So I'm flagging this. I don't think encouraging this sort of behaviour does anyone any good.
He/she could have written:
(1) What have they tried
(2) What errors were they getting (Compiler errors are ROUGH for someone just starting to code. That trivial missing semicolon can waste hours.)
(3) What ideas they might pursue to get it working
I've taught programming to several friends in the past (and I've also seen many other friends drop out of CS in frustration.) It seems that teaching just how to formulate such questions and walk through "what exactly does not work" is a critical step to CS education that is omitted in curricula out there.
If the OP of the article posted some of his sample code, I could see helping him out more, but not just saying "I've tried and am giving up."
I agree it can be antisocial, but it's pretty humorous to me the response shows how creative programming can be.
Sometimes it is easy to forget what it is to be a newbie. It is tough! and such nonconstructive replies are truly disheartening.
He could have said a helpful response (NOT the answer) in 10% of the time he spent in constructing the "joke" solution.
int main (void) {{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{
int z;
for(z = 0023541 / 0006441 / 0001321 / 0003221 / 0003741;
z < 0001321;
putchar(z % 011 + z / 011 > 0023541 / 0006441 && z %
011 + z / 011 < 0023541 / 0001321 && z /
011 < z % 011 + 0023541 / 0003221 && z / 011
> z % 011 - 0023541 / 0003741 ? '*' : ' '),
z % 011 - 011 + 1 || putchar ('\n'),
z++
);
putchar('\n');
{{{{{{{{{{{
return 0023541 / 0006441 / 0001321 / 0003221 / 0003741;
}}}}}}}}}}}
}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}
a) The answer was technically, completely, correct.
b) The answer did not tell the question-asker anything they did not already know.
c) The answer is completely useless.
On a more serious note though - sure programmers look at this and have a giggle, everyone else just goes "huh?". To be fair though this is what a "normal" answer sounds like to a non-programmer.
I'd love to know if the guy used it for real and if so, how did he reacts when his/her prof asked for explaination about how the code works :-D.