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I'm not 100% convinced, while iterating fast on an early prototype, what's wrong with legitimately not knowing what e.g. the data structure will end up looking? Just let it run, check debugger/stdout/localhost page and adjust: "Oh, right, the entries are missing canonical IDs, but at the same time there are already all the comments in them, forgot they would be there – neat". What's wrong with that? Especially at uni, when working on low-stakes problems.

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> what's wrong with legitimately not knowing what e.g. the data structure will end up looking?

But that's not what the above comment said.

> Just let it run, check debugger/stdout/localhost page and adjust: "Oh, right, the entries are missing canonical IDs, but at the same time there are already all the comments in them, forgot they would be there

So you did have an expectation that the entries should have some canonical IDs, and anticipated/desired a certain specific behavior of the system.

Which is basically the meaning of "what will the output be?" when simplified for programming novices at university.

The point of university isn't to get things done - it is to imprint knowledge into your brain. If you are approaching school with the attitude of "how do I get this over with as fast as possible," you are wasting your time and the time of the teacher.

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