[Tutor] Homework was: Re: Tutor Digest, Vol 84, Issue 8

[Alan Gauld]

Please do not send the entire digest message,
As the instructions say below:

"Nevins Duret" <duretn at bellsouth.net> wrote
>> Send Tutor mailing list submissions to
>> tutor at python.org
>>
....
>>
>> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
>> than "Re: Contents of Tutor digest..."
>>

And also edit out the messages that are not relevant to your reply.
It saves a lot of frustration on the part of your readers.

>> On Wed, Feb 2, 2011 at 2:30 AM, ian 
>> douglas<ian.douglas at iandouglas.com>  wrote:
>>> It bugs me that so many people are quick to jump on the "we wont' 
>>> do your
>>> homework" bandwagon

> ..., I would definitely have to learn to code.  I think the stigma 
> of the "homework bandwagon" comes from the very nature of coding and 
> it's secretive and cryptic undertones,

Nope, it comes from the high number of requests we get on the list 
from
students who suddenly discover they have an assignment due and
think they can post the assignment here and get somebody on the
list to do it for them. Doing so is a waste of contributers time and
does not help the student learn anything. This is why we have the
policy.

If students (or any other newbie) have made a decent stab at solving
the problem we are more than happy to resolve specific issues and
to suggest different strategies.

Coding has no "secretive and cryptic" undertones in my experience
it is simply a branch of mathematics and shares much of the same
approaches to learning that traditional math does. ie. Lots of 
examples
which you need to work through yourself before you can understand it.

> sense that, although there is usually more than 1 way to solve a 
> problem, there's always "THE MOST" and more efficient way IMHO, that 
> some people are just not willing to share.

There is very rarely a single most efficient way. And much of
what is good in programming is subjective. How much do we
bias towards readability versus sheer speed? It depends on the
exact circumstances, and that's rarely clear on a mailing list.
The good news is that it very rarely matters as much as posters
think it does! ;-)

> efficient way utilizes less memory and resources.

And again this is yet another angle on the problem. Reducing
memory usage may increase execution time or reduce readability.
They don't call it software engineering for nothing - and
engineering is all about choosing the "best" compromises
based on the needs.

> feel apprehensive to post so I purchased many books on python,

IME, This forum is one of the most polite and friendly lists on
the internet. You will rarely get insulted or savaged here,
especially if you provide a good background to the question
and its context. Compared to many other lists (try Perl!)
we are all pussycats here! :-)

> feel a little bet more human and inspires me not to give up.

We are all human and trying to contribute our own little
something. Sometimes we don't agree, but that's because we
are human and there are rarely right and wrong answers,
just opinions. And we all have different experience levels.
And we are all volunteers who may have had a hard day,
or be reading very late at night or early in the morning...
Making allowances has to be done on both sides of the
poster/replier fence.

HTH,

-- 
Alan Gauld
Author of the Learn to Program web site
http://www.alan-g.me.uk/
(and list moderator)