Programming Assignment Guide For CS Students 761
kennelbound writes "For those students just getting started in a Computer Science degree or a career in software development, this guide has been written to help you understand what NOT to do when coding a project. Those with a little more experience should still read it to get a good chuckle (and hopefully the mistakes stated within will not seem too familiar!)"
Slashdotted. Already. Here is article text. (Score:4, Informative)
Computer programming students invariably fall into more than one bad habit. It can be extremely difficult to eradicate them (and many lecturers and professional programmers keep succumbing to them time and again). I wrote this when, in the days leading up to an assignment deadline, I saw these things happening so often that I couldnt help but recall my classmates and I a decade earlier doing exactly the same things as my students.
This article is an attempt to show these irrational attitudes in an ironical way, intending to make our students aware of bad habits without admonishing them.
NOTE: This text was published by ACM [acm.org]'s SIGCSE [sigcse.org] in the June 2004 issue of Inroads, the SIGCSE bulletin [sigcse.org].
All about programming, in the strictest sense of the word Ignore messages
Compilers, operating systems, etc. generate error messages designed only to be read by their creators (maybe to justify their salaries). Precious time is wasted reading these messages; time that could be better spent writing code, of course! Error messages make us less productive. Dont fall into the trap. Ignore them.
As for warning messages, ignoring them makes you feel like a professional programmer whos not scared of computers. What better way of showing ones experience as a programmer than delivering a program that generates dozens, no, hundreds of warning messages when it compiles without its author feeling the slightest bit concerned? Everyone can see that youre an experienced, laid-back programmer who is too busy to waste time on drivel.
Dont stop to think
Lets not kid ourselves here. What are we building? A program. What is the only thing that really matters in a program? Code. What really works? Code. Why use outdated resources like pencils, pens or paper? You are a paid-up member of the SMS generation; you dont make a fool of yourself writing time-consuming syllables, right? Then, stop messing around thinking about nothing when theres so much code to write.
You should never stop coding. We all know that error messages are an unacceptable interruption, a pointless obstacle as we go about our work. So what do you do if you get a compiler error message? As you should know by now, reading and understanding it is just not an option.
You can try making some random change to the source code. You never know, you might pull the wool over the compilers eyes. But if this doesnt work, dont waste any more time. NO, dont be tempted by trying to read the message or understanding it. Just keep churning out code - thats the only way of finishing off this horrendous assignment. Youll get to sort the error out later on. And as we all know, errors tend to disappear by themselves if theyre ignored. At the end of the day youll compile, youll
Re:Slashdotted. Already. Here is article text. (Score:3, Funny)
your code should read like a novel (Score:5, Funny)
your code should read like a novel.
After finishing the program, compiling, and debugging it, get out your microphone and one of those speech-to-text programs. Train it if you haven't done so already by reading the presented text for twenty minutes or so. Do the training twice: once when sober and properly intoxicated. (Myself, I grew up in the 1970's and consider alcoholic beverages déclassé, but everyone has their own favorite intoxicant).
Get a picture of your favorite dreamboat celebrity and put it next to the screen. Load your source code on the editor and start the speech-to-text converter in the background.
Take a deep breath and gaze adoringly in eyes of the person in the photo. Pretend that they are hopelessly infatuated with everything that you say and just love to hear you talk about your programming.
Then start talking. Talk about your code. Start at the beginning. Talk about every line and what it does. How it works. How it fits. How totally cool it is. Just go on and on.
When you're done, turn off the speech-to-text generator running in the background and save the hopefully rather large text file.
Go back and cut and paste lines from the source file into the spoken description text file. (Use the speech-to-text engine to make this step go fast.)
Hopefully you will now have about a half a page or more of rambling, but technically dense and accurate, speech text for every line of source code.
This is the proper amount of commentary that every line of code needs.
Put comment markers around your spoken text and lots of white space above and below the actual source lines.
Your program is still good: it compiles and runs. But it now looks like a novel.
This is good! The single line coding format that we all use is an obsolete product from the 1950's when a byte of computer RAM memory cost more than a good restaurant dinner. Those days are gone.
Now you want to be able to read and understand the code quickly. It's far easier to glance and read through pages of rambling dictation describing the code than it is to try to understand 'normal' code with little pissant comments pasted randomly through it.
You're a professional now. Anything that makes your job easier is good
If your CS professor disagrees, give them a copy of your speech-to-text software and a picture of Lindsey Lohan to place next to their screen and have them try it themselves.
Re:your code should read like a novel (Score:4, Insightful)
However, it should read like that _without_ comments! If you need to add long comments to make the code clear then fix the code first. In general, it is better to say something in code than in comments, for example 'const int x' is better than 'int x' plus a comment saying 'x will not be changed'. Well-chosen variable and subroutine names are also important. Finally arrange things in a sensible order: when writing you can either lay out the simple concepts first and use them to build up more complex things (like writing a mathematical proof) or you can start with a broad overview and then fill in the details. Either of these two styles may be appropriate depending on what your program does.
Remember: comment _how_ and _why_, not _what_.
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Always blame the compiler or even the computer (Score:4, Informative)
Say things like: Ho! That computer in the computer lab is so crippled, I am sure that my code would run fine on a fresh Windows install.
Re:Always blame the compiler or even the computer (Score:5, Insightful)
The great irony, of course, is that at some time in your programming career you probably will come across a genuine compiler bug, and no-one will believe you...
Re:Always blame the compiler or even the computer (Score:4, Interesting)
Oh so true... I once hit such a bug (be it compiler, OS or whatever, I didn't investigate that deeply), I was compiling an OpenGL/Qt application with g++ on an IRIX platform, and something just wasn't right... One of the most basic ways of debugging being sending output at just about every line of code, here's what I saw on the console :
I lost about 2 days just trying to find that stupid "bug", but damn did it feel good that I could actually prove I was not wrong on that one.
I never knew exactly what caused it, but fixing it required to scrap 2 files (declaration and implementation of the class) and write it again.
Compiler bugs *do* exist, you just need to find a way to prove it to your boss.
Re:Don't bother testing. (Score:4, Insightful)
So where is the, not testing, part? Dry testing is testing as well. And not the worst way of testing, imho.
Re:Slashdotted. Already. Here is article text. (Score:5, Funny)
Bad Idea (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Bad Idea (Score:5, Insightful)
A smart man learns from his mistakes
A wise man learns from others mistakes.
Re:Bad Idea (Score:5, Insightful)
We cement our knowledge by doing hands on programming and working out problems, but we have to learn from someone/something in the first place, otherwise we'd be always reinventing the whole process.
i can't get to the article, but... (Score:5, Insightful)
Most of the Prof's lecture notes are plagarized (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Most of the Prof's lecture notes are plagarized (Score:5, Informative)
It's one thing to use somebody else's lecture notes. But this guy clearly didn't even read them before coming to class. You'd ask him a question and he'd just say "Uh, I don't know, these aren't my notes." For crying out loud! And I was paying $700 or so for that course! The prof was Mavaddat [uwaterloo.ca] in case you're curious. If you're ever scheduled to have a course with him, SWITCH as fast as you freaking can! You're better off Googling for stuff and reading other people's PowerPoint slides by yourself.
Re:Most of the Prof's lecture notes are plagarized (Score:3, Funny)
MAVADDAT SPEECHLESS!!! (Score:5, Funny)
mavaddat work very long time downloading lecture notes for ungrateful kids paying only $700!
mavaddat remind you 30" lcd monitor needing to purchase but cost much more!!!!
MAVADDAT THE PROFESSOR!!!!! MAVADDAT BREAK HEAD WITH PLAGIARIZED CD!!!!!
Re-use is ok after you graduate ... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:i can't get to the article, but... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:i can't get to the article, but... (Score:5, Interesting)
There are a few things that you can still look for, here:
This includes names, indenting, order of functions, spacing conventions, and so forth. Some similarity could be coincidence. Nearly identical style is very suspicious, especially if any of the other flags come up too.
Many assignments (like the ones I'm currently marking, for instance) require a short write-up explaining what they did. This may only be a few sentences, but people who cheat tend to either copy it word for word, or do a broken copy of it taking key words and trying to paraphrase the rest. Usually badly. This leads into the next point.
Two assignments. Both would fail on their own lack of merits, but curiously, they both made exactly the same set of errors, in addition to having very similar style. Not likely to be concidence, that. Especially since they were...
These assignments are put in a drop box. Electronically submitted assignments are usually datestamped. Cheaters, once they finish cheating, tend to submit at the same time (at least in this course). Finding two matching assignments in a stack of a hundred would take a good memory (or a heuristic checker). Finding two matching assignments that are right on top of each other, or within a few entries of each other, is much easier.
Despite the fact that it's _possible_ to cheat without detection, a large number of people don't. Remember, the people who are cheating are the ones who can't hack a first-year CS course. While there will be exceptions, the kind of person who can't figure out how to make "hello, world" or set up a very simple Excel spreadsheet, with the instructions in front of them, is probably not going to be very good at cheating either.
If, however, the professor assigned a creative problem solving exercise and a proper solution could take many different paths, 2 or more identical submissions would be a dead giveaway of cheating.
The problem is that it's very hard to do this in a way that's easy to mark. In an ideal world, that wouldn't matter, but in practice, some poor TA is going to have to try to mark 200 assignments in 3 hours. That's hard enough when they _are_ written to be easy to mark (I still wince at the memory of one marking assignment that involved digesting a 5-page report and then visually determining whether another 5 pages of non-trivial code worked or not).
In summary, despite the fact that we're stuck giving cookie-cutter assignments for practical reasons, the cheaters (that I see, at least) seem to be as bad at cheating as they are at doing the work.
Heh, I think this may be wishful thinking... (Score:3, Insightful)
plagarize code from Many.... integrate and deliver (Score:4, Interesting)
Take a program done by 3-4 people , pick the best parts, integrate
Macros from one, sortings from another, recursion from yet-another...
It's a lot less hard than writing it yourself and the result is often better than the originals .. Most of all, you actually learn from other people's mistakes .
Even after getting a job, I find that this is a much more stable way of programming newish things -"find a lot of similar things, pick the best strategies & adapt".
Btw, these days - that's called "Research" :)
True story (Score:4, Funny)
Half the class confessed.
Additional Advice (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Additional Advice (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Additional Advice (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Additional Advice (Score:5, Funny)
No, no, no. Just patch the iterpreter or compiler to allow floating point line labels!
Re:Additional Advice (Score:3, Funny)
You might goto line 1.9999 when you meant to goto line 2. But hey, that's one of the prices you should be willing to pay for living on the bleeding edge of line numbering technology.
Re:Additional Advice (Score:3, Funny)
And classes, they don't add anything you can't get with functions. All they do is restrict you.
But why even use functions? All that happens is you try to make one piece of code serve multiple uses when you'll be better off tailoring the code to each instance where it's needed.
FOR and WHILE loops are for babies (Score:3, Funny)
That'll teach those dirty corporate &%*@!s. Lay me off will you? I hope the Indians like puzzles!
Besides, nothing's cooler than that which has the rule "Just have faith it [recursion] wi
Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Advice from a fellow student (Score:5, Interesting)
Well, the code was 100% accurate and fast, but when I went to refactor it, the logic was so bizarre that it was easier to rewrite it from scratch. It didn't run any faster [insert snide comment about my lack of skill here], but at least some random person could sit down and figure out what was going on afterwords.
Re:Advice from a fellow student (Score:4, Interesting)
This was actually a rule at a company for which I worked. We'd occasionally have beer or wine at company parties and such, and writing code after drinking was verboten. You could go back to your desk and work on design, documentation, etc. But no programming after drinking.
It's a damn good rule.
Re:Advice from a fellow student (Score:5, Funny)
My motto: code drunk, debug sober
Re:Advice from a fellow student (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Advice from a fellow student (Score:5, Interesting)
Round about 8pm, he realized he was getting overly stressed, and he still had about half the code left to write. So he decided to take an hour break, smoke some pot, and come back to the project after he was a little unwound.
The next thing he remembers is waking up the next day. He had that dawning moment of realization that I'm sure all of us have experienced at one point in our lives - "Oh CRAP I screwed up" - and ran to his computer to finish the code as fast as he could.
The code was finished.
Several thousand lines, all commented, all readable even without comments. The interface was clean. The implementation was clean. It was finished.
To this day, he has never remembered writing even a single line post-toke. He has also never found a single bug, and he's used that code quite often. Now, I don't recommend relying on this technique - but once in a while, it seems to work.
Programming Mistake #1 (Score:5, Funny)
Slashdotted ... (Score:5, Informative)
One thing not to do (Score:5, Funny)
if (condition);
{
myvar = 1;
}
The block was a lot bigger than myvar = 1, and my eyes kept skipping over the ;
Re:One thing not to do (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:One thing not to do (Score:5, Insightful)
Oh I just know I'm going to open up a huge bag of worms with this one, but this is why I vastly this sort of syntax:
It makes it easier to identify which statement the block is intended to begin with, and makes it easier to spot if there are un-intended characters between the condition and the block-opening (besides reducing vertical space wastage).
Yaz.
Re:One thing not to do (Score:4, Insightful)
Besides it looks ugly the way you have it.
Re:One thing not to do (Score:3, Interesting)
Yes, in fact I do. It makes it obvious what statement a close-brace goes with, in the event the indentation is screwed up, or if it's on a separate page from the block opening. Take this class, for example [sourceforge.net].
I'll give you an example of where this is useful:
(Note: I tried typing up this post using <ECODE> with spaces and non-breaking spaces, but /. appears to strip them all out. The code below was intended to be indented, but it doesn't look lik
Re:One thing not to do (Score:5, Insightful)
}
should be
}
Or some such. The point being that you should have meaningful comments, and chances are with oodles of If's, sticking end-if after each closing brace will probably be less than informative.
Re:One thing not to do (Score:3, Interesting)
I don't know, but now that you know, feel free to use it in your own projects :).
Actually, for anyone interested in how I typically write easy-to-read code, check out this PDF document [sourceforge.net] (or the HTML version [sourceforge.net]). These are the coding guidelines I wrote up (and follow) for the jSyncManager Project [jsyncmanager.org]. And yes, they're enforced (albeit not in a draconian manner -- if another developer misses something, I usually just fix it for them as opposed to nailing them to the wall :) ).
Good Op
Re:I prefer relying on my tools (part 1). (Score:3, Insightful)
"Since modern code editors force tabs or spacing in these scenarios, I find comments like "// end if" to create more noise overall."
It's additional meta-information. And if you're working in a group where each developer gets to choose their own editor (such as in virtually any Open Source project on the web), if one user sets their tabstops to something different from the rest of the group, and/or someone starts using spaces instead of tabs (or vice-ver
The choice of FONTS (Score:4, Insightful)
Many a programmer will give you tons of insights on what not to do, but everyone and their great-granduncle seem to forget that the use of FONTS is of great important on eye-balling bugs.
Your example of the ";" could have easily caught if you use a font that makes stuffs like ";" "." "," "`" and so on FAT and OBVIOUS.
And on more thing - ENLARGE the size of the font to a comfortable degree, instead of squiming your eyes to look for ridiculously faint dot.
For programmers, although our brains are important, it's our eyes that have often been over-strained.
Re:One thing not to do (Score:3, Interesting)
Unfortunately, if I'm not mistaking neither C++ or Java designer had the guts to make {} mandatory after an if,for..
C is a language with lots of pitfall, but usually they are not too difficult to catch:
1. read a document which list the pitfall.
2. when you have a problem, first a. stop 10min to free the mind, b. use debugger, printf to narrow the search, c. if it doesn't work ask for help: two are be
Annoying bugs (Score:4, Interesting)
Only one problem: my "test" app didn't appear to be doing anything. It would run fine, with no error messages, and then exit quietly. In fact, it was producing no output at all. I began removing code, and adding printf()'s, desperately trying to get my app to say something, anything. After a couple of hours, I had stripped my "test" app down to little more than a "Hello, world" app, but it still wasn't producing any output! I would just type
dragon:/home/kombat/> gcc test.c
dragon:/home/kombat/> test
dragon:/home/kombat/>
Can anyone spot the problem? Anyone?
It turns out that "test" is actually a built-in system utility for regular expressions, used in scripts. That was the day I learned what my $PATH means, why
That day ranks as one of my most stressful, and yet most educational, at university.
Re:One thing not to do (Score:3)
{
myvar = 1;
}
because of the semi-colon at the end of "if (condition);" the {} are simply considered a block and myvar is set to one no matter if condition is true or not.
Or maybe you are being sarcastic and trying to make fun of my stupidity.
high school (Score:5, Informative)
At the time I along with most students didnt have a computer, not did I have access to one properly.
I did my first BASIC coding on paper. Looking back, working that way worked extremely well.
Since then I always do some sort of rudimentary pseudo code on paper before implementing using a computer.
note: I never finished high school and I haven't been to university
Re:high school (Score:5, Interesting)
I didn't have a computer, but I became insanely interested in them and I did write my first dozens of programs on paper and traced them that way. Wrote games something like robots and FPSs on paper. Later was able to type them into translators and they worked.
Argh, where is my childhood?
i thought it was going to be something serious... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:i thought it was going to be something serious. (Score:3, Insightful)
This is intended to be educational. Rather, it is intended (at least in part) to be yet another thing to point first-year (and later!) students to, in the hopes that they decide to absorb it for a change. Give the advice in enough forms, and maybe one of them will take.
That, and it reads a bit like it was written to vent frustration. I know I can sympathize with a lot of what was expressed ther
Ye old Slashdot Effect (Score:5, Interesting)
12:32 EST 20 octubre 2004 1223... Took 300 hits since 2 minutes ago.. Neat
Guide to programming languages (Score:5, Funny)
Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:The best advice[sic]-off topic but (Score:5, Insightful)
Rudolf Diesel, the inventor of the engine, graduated from University and then went and trained as a skilled mechanic. Isaac Newton could use a lathe by the time he got to Cambridge. And Alan Turing could machine his own relays. Apart from the career options, acquiring both academic and practical skills makes you a more rounded person, and thus more employable generally.
My advice for young programmers (Score:5, Informative)
1. Get a software engineering book, and study the concepts of software design. Even if you're just doing some small little "print a schedule" type assignment, thinking about how you would design a bigger project will help you.
2. Get a good book on algorithms. I'm partial to Introduction to Algorithms [mit.edu] but there's lot's of good choices. So when your prof assigns you to do a project using a circular linked list, think about what might be better. But resist the temptation to smart off and try to do better, and complete the assignment the way (s)he says to. Perhaps ask the instructor what they wanted you to learn from the assignment if you feel that the algorithm is particularly inappropriate.
Don't just read the alogrithms, write them from scratch as well until you understand them. Be aware that some algorithms are completely different if you're using a language that starts arrays at [0] than at [1].
3. Take good technical writing courses. Many CS majors can't write well. Being able to clearly communicate is a great skill to have, regardless of what your position is, and it's a good way to differentiate yourself from the masses. Being able to write in American style English is something that many Indian/Chinese/etc. programmers won't be able to offer.
Take business courses, etc. Broaden your horizons in profitable ways.
4. Network, network, network. Not LANs and wireless, but people. They are the ones that will get you jobs in the future, who will provide you with sales leads and consulting. Mingle with people in the field. Mingle with business majors. Start it now, not in your senior year. Today's seniors may be the one's e-mailing you about a great position three years from now when you're about to graduate. I've seen very smart, very talented people sit for months without a job because they didn't start this process early.
5. Get out and enjoy yourself. You have the rest of your life for LAN parties and coding sessions. If you're in college and not working, you are likely never to have the same freedom that you do now. (Excepting unemployment...) Get out, go hiking, meet people of the appropriate sex, see concerts, learn to cook. Virtually no one dies wishing they'd spent more time in front of an LCD screen.
Let me expand on #1... (Score:4, Interesting)
AMEN BROTHER!!!
Better yet, take a software engineering course if it is offered. Granted, it was back in the early 90's when I was in college, but my software engineering course was what got me my first job out of college with a big company. I took my senior project with me on my interview and showed it to the first person I talked to - she said "show this to every person that interviews you today". There was ZERO code for this project. What it did have was requirements, design, budget, test plans, mock-ups, documentation outlines, etc. All the stuff that is done outside of actual coding. This is how things work in the real world. It was the most important class that I took in CS. I probably won't be coding in Pascal any time soon, but I still use the principles I learned in that Software Engineering class.
I will admit that it has been a while since I did any hardcore coding, but if you are doing any kind of project, design it first. Draw pictures. You'd be surprised how much easier it can be. I am still amazed after working in the industry after 10+ years how little software engineering education a lot of coders have. And there is a HUGE difference between a coder and a software engineer. Learn the concepts early and try to use them as much as possible. I couldn't write requirements to save my ass in college, but just the fact that I tried, and knew where they fit in the process made a huge difference. Do you know what a testing organization does and why? Where I work, we just got a set of issues out of a "lessons learned" session for our release that just went out. Many of the questions that came out of our development group were along the lines of "What does our QA group do, and why?" Some of these people have been coding for 10 years or more, and they don't understand why we have a QA group (QA and testing, which aren't the same thing)
Wait until the PENultimate minute. (Score:3, Informative)
Real Programmers (Score:4, Informative)
Why aren't people learning to code properly? (Score:3, Insightful)
The result? Word Processors which ship on 5 CDs and do little more than similar products from a decade ago.
More RAM, bigger hard-drives, faster processors, and for what? A new version of software that doesn't do a whole lot more to justify the upgrade?
Meanwhile, a lack of formal coding education also means we still see buffer overflows and other security nasties that should never have happened in the first place.
The good news, is devices like the Palm have forced people to operate in the limited hardware/memory environments of years ago. The result, clean efficient code in just a few kilobytes.
Time to go back to school people...
People never coded properly (Score:3, Insightful)
What people forget is that old games and GUIs only had 1/50th of the pixels (and 2 of the 16 million colors) a modern display has to contend with, that their old 100KB "word processor" was really a stripped-down text editor with 3 fonts and no spelling check, DOS could fit on o
Bad Joke (Score:3, Interesting)
Actually that's uncalled for. Compiling frequently is not good because you should not be thinking about such details as syntax and var name spelling until the very end.
For most of the time you're writing code, what you have should not be compileable. Well, doesn't need to be. Since you (hopefully) are doing things top-down, at first you're going to have a lot of empty functions and comments.
Then you're going to fill in code. During coding, why bother compiling? Who cares if you get a 100 compiler errors at the end when you compile once, vs. getting 1 error each time, but having to compile 100 times?
Don't bother. Focus on the higher picture. Implement your vision. Only once you've done that, fix what the compiler is bitching about. Doing the same things along the way can sidetrack you from your higher-level view of the program.
Besides, it's a lot less annoying. Say, you're done coding. All you have to do is go make tiny changes to shut up the errors. Probably won't have to think too hard how to fix them. And then you're DONE!
The other way, you go fix your errors, and you still got mad code to write. And now you're annoyed and distracted so it won't even come out as good.
Also, sometimes I actually shock myself by writing code for an entire day and then having it compile w/o errors the first time! I really don't expect that, and it's a "wow" thing when it happens.
Re:Bad Joke (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Bad Joke (Score:3, Interesting)
If you can code all day with minimal errors and minor cleanup afterwards, great, you've found what works for you.
But compiling frequently is sound advice for the vast majority of programmers, in line with the maxim to keep your code in a shippable state at all times so that bugs don't fester. Also, you're violating another maxim that may be false in your case, but i
Don't compile now, diagram instead (Score:3, Interesting)
They recommended strict diagramming techniques like Warnier-Orr. They said use a white board with big erasures and little markers because large sections are going to be junk.
Strict and systematic Warnier-Orr diagramming can be a real discipline.
I've gone back to it in order to code very tight , time-dependent 50 nanosecond mulitple interrupt routines in assembler for microcontrollers and embedded systems. I've even p
Re:Bad Joke (Score:5, Insightful)
As of tomorrow I will have done 5 assignments in C++ this year. For 4 of those assignments I didn't have a compiler at my home (our program had to compile in Turbo C++, you could tell who used different compilers at home). Instead I had to go to school to debug my programs, so what I did was I'd write out my code at home in a day, go to school and then spend a few days debugging it. For 1 of my assignments (my last one) I had a compiler at home so I could debug as I go. Guess which assignment I actually enjoyed. That's right, the last one. Not knowing if my code will work makes coding unfulfilling. Spending days debugging is tedious and stressful. This just sounds plain lazy. Your code should (with as minimal effort as possible) always be compilable. If you've got a menu that calls 5 modules, write stubs for the modules. Utilise flags. This allows you to compile as you go along. Actually it's closer to "create 100 errors get 10000 error messages, try to sieve through all the messages to find the correct 100." Whereas it's much easier to go through 10 error messages to find the correct 1. You'll notice you tend to get the same 9 error messages each time, whereas having 1000 makes it a lot more difficult. And this is just syntax errors. We're not even talking about logical errors (and yes, there will be some, no-one's perfect). Actually you won't be implementing anything. You haven't implemented it until it's working. And focusing on the higher picture should be done in the PLANNING STAGE. NOT the CODING STAGE. Ideally you shouldn't even be on a computer when writing the algorithm (which is where you focus on the higher picture). You should have a pencil, a rubber and lots of pieces of paper. But even if you are on the computer it should be done in Pseudocode. I bow before your intelligence, for you can write code without debugging it at all and only have "a couple of errors." You must truly be a coding genius. That or you're talking out you're ass. I haven't met anyone who can do what you just described. Not any students and not any teachers. Either you write simple code or you're a liar and/or a troll. Because the chances of that being true is (IMO) very small.
Re:Bad Joke (Score:5, Insightful)
If you don't compile every few minutes, you're running your tests every few minutes.
If you're not running your tests, how do you know your code works?
If you're not compiling and testing, how are you figuring out what the code you're writing is meant to be doing?
I used to code for a day without compiling, then sit in amazement as my code compiled first time. Luckily computers are faster now and it doesn't take the better part of an hour to recompile - it takes a few seconds - long enough to pick up my coffee, take a sip and think about the next test I'm going to write.
Now that I compile more often, and run tests several times an hour, my code is immensely higher quality, I write it faster, I spend far less time sorting out compile errors and random bugs and I can safely walk away from the computer with just a couple of minutes notice without worrying about leaving a nasty mess that it'll take me a couple of hours to understand, finish and compile the next day.
In other words, thanks for the advice, I'll follow it if I want to return to where I was a decade ago.
Hint for programming. (Score:5, Insightful)
THINK UML.
THINK OBJECTS.
THINK MULTI-TIER.
THINK BOTTOM-UP.
USE A NOTEBOOK.
If you start designing on paper the functions/object/interfaces/etc for your program, then start coding. As you begin to code, you'll start realizing that you'll need auxiliary functions (like an array searcher or something - most of the time lazy guys like you or me want to do everything in one function or method. Don't fall in the trap. If a series of steps is going to be very difficult, thing bottom-up and put it in a separate function or method. But before you start coding it, add it to a "to-do" list in your notebook.
That way you can keep coding your current function, by calling the not-yet written function that only exists as a declaration on paper. But the idea is there.
In the end, you'll end up with practically a completed
That helps a lot when programming (specially for low-termed memory guys like me). When you're finished designing the code, all you got to do is start typing and see which functions need to be coded, or which details . Why? Because you've already solved the problems in your code.
In one day i could design an OOP SQL wrapper (business tier) for my database project, and i only had to adjust minor details (i.e. bugs) when finished coding.
So, believe it or not, paper SAVES TIME. Trust me.
Re:Hint for programming. (Score:4, Insightful)
get your hands on an old 386, a debugger and an assembler. Figure out your way through building simple tools for cutting and concatenating files, fixing file system, writing simple menu driven apps. Attempt a calculator, a text editor (try this one in assembler, I am dead serious,) try a few games. A labyrinth game, an FPS, maybe some sort of a space ship game.
Write all this stuff first the way you like, don't worry about style and comments. Stick to it, work on your own spread sheet, graphics library, TSR programs (ah, good old DOS.)
Once you are comfortable (this will take at least 6 months, maybe more,) go back and revisit your own code. Now you will learn that all your good old code will not stay in your own head forever, you will learn to appreciate structure and comments.
Noone can make you do it unless you realize it yourself - structure is important.
From procedural programming, move into something more esoteric - try to write an adventure game in Prolog so that you will have to learn more and more about that way of programming. You will spend a minimum of 3 days learning and writing that shit. You know - you are in a room, now the lights are off, you have this in your hands... what are your actions.... etc.
Now you can go into OO. OO is not a natural way of writing code or even thinking about software. You will make common mistakes, like using OO as a procedural language. But if you are still interested at that point, you will continue learning and you will understand the difference between OO and procedural or imperative. Don't use OO for everything, please, network is not object oriented. Neither is HTML. Whatever.
But start with a 386, on that platform you will really have an opportunity to learn and control the hardware. If you will like that you will know that programming is for you.
Some F/OSS develpers need to read this. (Score:4, Interesting)
Or, perhaps not read this...
Okay, I know that there are a lot of professional developers out there who follow some of the "rules" in the article, especially those involving ignoring warnings. I've been in professional programming environments, and I've seen this sort of thing excused all too often (personally, my code isn't done until it compiles 100% cleanly). However, for good or bad, this is typically hidden in closed-source projects -- how many compilation warnings does Microsoft get in its nightly Windows builds? I have no idea.
Unfortunately, in Open Source Software everyone gets to see where the developers ignore warnings, and IMO there isn't much excuse for it. Honestly, there are far too many Open Source projects which seem to do the things this article "advocates". And everyone gets to see it.
I remember all of the warning messages I get when building the Linux 2.4 series kernels. And I recently looked into forking the recently cancelled JPluck [sourceforge.net], but its near complete lack of code commenting makes the effort exceedingly difficult.
This has long bothered me. If you're going to release your code as Open Source so others can work with it, it should at least have some comments in it (even just simple things like the expected input.output values for procedures, functions, or methods, expected use for variables/fields, etc.), and it should generally build without a single warning [1], in order to make it easier for others to work with the code, and to ensure them that there aren't going to be any unexpected results due to ignored warnings.
Yaz.
------------
[1] Okay, I know someone is going to call me a hipocrite when they go and grab the sources for the Open Source project I administer (the jSyncManager [jsyncmanager.org]), build it, and find well over 100 warnings. I just want to preempt this by stating that these deprecation warnings occur because I've specified parts of the jSyncManager API to be deprecated to ensure developers currently using these deprecated classes move their code over to their replacements.
While we are on the subject (Score:5, Funny)
http://mindprod.com/unmain.html/ [mindprod.com]
My favorite:
Another Tip (Score:5, Funny)
I was playing with obfuscated Perl code, and got about 300 lines out. It was a script to go through my gaim [sf.net] logfiles, and generate stats for how much I talked to each person, how verbose they were, and so forth. It mostly just shelled various shell commands like wc, and my PIDs jumped by about 1,000 at the end (meaning that it was spawning about 1,000 processes from start-to-finish.) It wasn't well-written or anything, but it was kind of cool. And writing obfuscated, hack-job code is kind of fun. It ended up producing an HTML file.
I finally decided that it'd be cool to have the program read its own source and output it to the HTML file. It was pretty easy, and, as with anything else done just for fun that isn't too challenging, I just assigned stuff to random variable names. $hats and $fog were the most commonly-used.
I simply opened the source as $hats, and opened $fog for write, and then wrote $fog to $hats. No errors or anything!
The output file was blank. So I went back to edit the source code. Umm, it's blank too. And, of course, I was just messing around, so I had no backups.
Then one day it suddenly occured to me: I probably screwed up the variable names for the input and output, reading the blank output file and writing it over the program's source code.
So, remember, kids, use meaningful variable names. Using $hats instead of $fog could be the end of your program.
What to do an not to do in CS (Score:5, Insightful)
Do not cheat on code assignments. Once again, it may take time but you need it. Messing up and looking through code more than writing it is what really makes you good.
Take hard CS classes. Take advantage of rare courses your school may offer in CS. Take tough classes like compilers or computational geometry. Make sure you take some diverse classes but also try and focus on something a bit that you enjoy.
Take more math. This is a skill that can really differentiate you from other programmers in the industry, If you have good math skills, you can get good paying, secure jobs in fields like computer graphics, physics, medical and other science fields that demand proficient math skills. It will also change the way you think if you really take it seriously and understand that much of the early math is indeed lame, but necessary to understand useful math that you will eventually learn.
Take other classes, like art. You can learn a lot from these things and apply them to what you are doing. Knowing about various things will come in handy at some point.
Learn more than what your school will teach you. It is up to you to read about things in the field, both theory and practical. Learn languages not needed in your school. Play around with things. Put together a cheap Linux computer at home and play around in it if you haven't already. You are interested in this anyways, so this shouldn't be something you have to do.
Maybe CS is not for you. The future is not guaranteed in this field as far as job security is concerned. You may spend a lot of time taking hard classes only to have to end up doing something else. You may not even make it through the program. Personally, I think there will always be a need for well educated, creative, smart people. The analytic skills you can learn will do more for you than anything else. Pay attention.
If you love it and are good at it and really spend the time in school to really learn this art, you could enjoy a career working in an industry you love. If you are ambitious, there will be many trails to be blazed in the future in this young, ever changing field. It's not about "computers". It's about computation, a modern subset of math that we can abstract in electronics. The possibilities are endless and you may invent the next big thing.
My favourite (Score:4, Insightful)
What would've been more helpful (Score:5, Interesting)
As for compile errors, one that ususally scares newer programmers is making a mistake in a header file that in return causes a whole lot of other errors. This happens when you forget to put a ";" in a class definition in a header file, then in the source file, you include "someheader.h" and then include "" below it, I've noticed a lot of compilers spew out odd errors that can very confusing.
Another common compile error deals with mismatched curly brackets, editors like vim will point this out, but I know some 2nd year students here in Computer Engineering that still want to use Notepad and refuse to try anything else.
Anyone know of any others?
Re:What would've been more helpful (Score:3, Informative)
Re:What would've been more helpful (Score:4, Informative)
E.g.could be rewrittenor simply(I just finished reading "C Traps and Pitfalls". It contained many amusing errors, but it was very sparse on defensive coding advice.
I wouldn't recommend the book. Read "Code Complete" instead, that's a gem!)
not stopping to think (Score:5, Insightful)
Basically, they try to understand the whole problem fully before writing the first line of java or C. My feeling is that this is not possible for a new student. There is just too much. Rather you just have to write code at some point. Forcing yourself to try things in code is often the only way to really get started in your first programming language. (After the first one, you should be able to think as much as you want because you should have enough background not to get lost).
I have actually noticed this problem more in girl then guys. Guys tend to rush right in and try to hack it while girls try to understand it fully first. Sometimes the hacking approach is just the necessary one. (Of course this then flips in the second or third CS course where NOT fully thinking through the problem hurts more).
Suggestions for instructors.... (Score:3, Insightful)
Classes should try to focus on teaching as much of the subject as possible in the time alotted especially if it's further down the prereq list. The subject should not be if you got your flowchart right! it should be if you got the program right AND knowing how you did it. Require the documentation, but don't let it weigh in heavy on the grade.
In my current class, there are also group projects (in a web class no less). While a little hard to deal with, it's not too bad as that is the way alot of developers are meeting.....just in e-mail or IRC or what have you.
In any case, as far as supporting others work, comments in the code and decent end user documents is all I ask.
Also, alot of languages don't lend themselves to flowcharting...so why require it?
Sorry, just venting on how far back in the times some instructors are! I spent the first 3 weeks of class learning basics....basics I learned 15 years ago.
Advice from a student (Score:5, Insightful)
Learn to love whitespaces. I don't know how many times i've seen people try to cram their code down as small as possible by removing every possible whitespace. A few extra spaces can really help you catch mistakes when your using a lot of nested parenthesies. ( ( (th) ( (i)(s) ) ) is much easier to read than (((th)(i)(s))) if your trying to make sure you don't screw up your parenthesies.
DO NOT comment every line. Seriously. Comments are a good thing, but when you comment every single cin and cout, every single bracee and function call, then it can make it a lot harder to find what you are looking for. A good rule of thumb I tell people is to comment every line you have to think about for more than 30 seconds, comment every function and class, and comment every block of code that you have to spend more than 2 minutes pondering over.
Learn to use your editor. Whatever IDE or editor you decide to use, learn to use it well. Learn to use the debugger specifically, but also get used to the environment. I don't know how many people I've helped who's problem was not with their code, but with an improperly configured IDE.
READ Error messages. This sounds obvious, but I swear people don't read them, or don't think about what they could mean. I think a lot of this comes from programmign classes that teach people to memorize syntax, without giving them an understanding of what's going on at the machine level, or what the compiler is actually doing.
If you miracously fix something, understand why. Students seem like they can not resist randomly moving code around, and sometimes this does fix things. If this happens, take some time to understand what you moved and why it might have fixed the problem
Take Breaks. This one applies to everyone. I've seen a lot of good programmers go crazy over simple problems simply because they are too stressed out to think clearly. If you start to feel stressed, tired, or your mind starts to wander, then step away from the computer, have a cigarette or a cup of coffee, take a walk, and get your mind away from the problem for a bit. Even if you have a deadline, a 15 minute break can often save an hour of frustration at the computer.
Re:Advice from a student (Score:5, Interesting)
A few extra spaces can really help you catch mistakes when your using a lot of nested parenthesies. ( ( (th) ( (i)(s) ) ) is much easier to read than (((th)(i)(s))) if your trying to make sure you don't screw up your parenthesies.
Personal preference, I guess. I was able to almost immediately tell that the tighter set was correctly balanced, but I had to spend a lot more effort to determine that the first set is missing a closing parenthesis.
I can't help but wonder if your mistake was intentional humor, or unintentional irony.
How about... (Score:4, Funny)
-Bullseye
Zero tolerance for errors (Score:4, Interesting)
In many cases, it will accomodate common errors, such as strings not being quoted, etc seemingly without complaint.
However, I recently changed my strategy to one of "zero tolerance", which entailed me reducing the error reporting threshold to 0 (all errors) as well as defining a standardized error handler callback function. I spent about a month just going thru the existing codebase to quote all the strings, etc.
However, now having done paid that price, I'm quite surprised at how often bugs that would have previously gone un-noticed pop out in clear view.
Undefined variables previously translated to equal false now stand out as a mis-spelling. Database errors previously un-noticed suddenly highlighted and shown to me. Hiccups in the code previously shown to users now archived and hidden away so that I see them instead.
It's made a HUGE difference - I'm more productive despite the appearance of having more to look out for!
I also have a generic error() function defined that's really a wrapper for the error handler - so the error logging system now in place works for language errors and logic errors alike.
It's awesome!
Develop a programming conscience (Score:5, Interesting)
Over the years, I've developed a little voice at the back of my head that speaks up every time I am having problems with code I've written.
It asks me, "Is the problem you're having a result of a broken implementation, or is it the result of a design that lends itself to a broken implementation?"
With a good design, the code is not only easy to bang out, but the good design will tend to prevent you from making errors in the implementation. With a poor design, the code is hard to bang out, and it actually tends to cause you to make errors.
Develop this programming conscience. Constantly ask yourself, "Is my bone-headedness in the code itself, or the design?".
This will make your life easier.
Way too advanced. (Score:5, Insightful)
As far as I can tell, especially with people from an academic background (PhDs! argh!), this guide is way too advanced -- something like this might be more useful to start with:
-- Do not keep the entire project in
-- Use source control
-- Run the code before delivering it
-- NOT JUST ON YOUR OWN WORKSTATION, BUDDY!
Then, from that one could work up to 'try and ensure it is possible to install the software by some deterministic process', and only then would it be worth actually starting with actual code...
Well, they learn eventually I guess, in most cases.
Suggestion for Instructors (Score:3, Funny)
this copy thing seems... (Score:3, Funny)
They forgot (Score:3, Funny)
Time wasted coding error handlers is better spent implementing more features in your program. You can always wait for version 2 to implement real error handling where it is needed based on user reports.
They Missed One Thing (Score:4, Insightful)
Computer Science is a good major to be in. It is useful, hard and interesting at the same time. However, given the fact that IT job cuts are on the rise, students should learn more things than just coding.
I am a recent CS grad. I work in the field and yet I am thinking of getting a second degree that is not related to computer science because I realized that in several years developers who know only one thing -- that is coding -- will become extinct. What you need to teach CS students is how to develop valid and correct solutions that can be used by real people and businesses. These solutions must be well designed first; then developed. If I got a cent for every piss poor designed program that I have seen in my life, I'd be Bill Gates :)
Developers solve problems with code; however, just because you have an ability to write a program does not make this program a valid solution! I have noticed that there are too many people with excellent software engineering skills that are simply out of touch with reality and its business side. If your "cool" program does not solve a problem it is absolutely useless in the real business world (the world where you get a pay check for what you do).
Despite being relatively young, I have been employed in the field during all downturns. I managed to survive using only one rule: you must come up with solutions that are valuable for customers who are willing to pay for it. Unfortunately, many of the recent comp. sci. grads do not understand this rule. Instead of focusing on real life and its business needs, they spend their time learning languages without even knowing what these languages are good for. Then they use wrong tools for wrong tasks. My favorite example is my friend who used J2EE to build a site that could have been (and should have been!) done in PHP. He spent half a year on the fucking thing just to realize that a simpler solution could do everything that he wanted!
Then there are people who run into terrible coding problems because their design is flawed. For some odd fucking reason people never think before they start implementing. I use one great rule: software engineering does not provide efficient solutions for some of the problems. Period. Too many people jump into coding without even thinking about the problem. They waste their time on something that can either be done manually with lower cost OR cannot be done at all. The worst thing is that most of these people are afraid of throwing their initial design away and starting from scratch...
With this in mind, here is what I think every comp. sci. student should know:
How to meet business needs with software engineering. How to "read" requirements and come up with solutions that meet them.
How to realize that your design leads to implementation problems and when to throw such a design away.
A well-written program is good. A well-written program that meets customers' needs is better.
How to use a right tool for the right task.
How to become employed and stay employed.
How to use computer science in various aspects of real life. When I am talking about real life, I am talking about something useful that can be actually used by people. I found out that this can be achieved by taking a second minor or getting a second major that is not related to technology.
Re:Compiler Warnings (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Compiler Warnings (Score:5, Funny)
Old comments:
-1 Missing ";"
-1 Changed case of variable; not recognized by the compiler.
-2 Need a closing bracket "}"
-3 Trying to write from an unassigned pointer.
New comments:
-1 Missing weasels exception error.
-1 I just felt like taking a point off here.
-2 For great justice
-3 Disco Inferno at this point in the code.
I never got up enough nerve to actually do it. Plus, I don't really want to risk any students suing the school.
Re:Compiler Warnings (Score:3, Interesting)
In case you are wondering whether you are really going to break something, the error message relates to the debugger not being able to handle >255 chars.
The problem with this warning message is that it can obscure real error & warning messages.
Re:In my experience.. (Score:5, Insightful)
Besides, if you knew anything of CS you would know Java and command lines have as much to do with it as telescopes do to astronomy, to paraphrase Dijkstra. In fact, I had professors who could care less about Java or command lines because their interests are in theoretical computer science, algorithms, math, theory, etc.
Perhaps you are in the wrong major. Maybe you belong in a traade school for programming?
Re:In my experience.. (Score:3, Insightful)
Well I was under the impression that they join the program to learn CS and not the otherway round. I have seen smart students who have never used a computer before do real
Re:Cheating. (Score:3, Insightful)
I feel like I'm taking more math than CS so when I get into a CS class it's just plain fun. If you have to cheat at something that is your major, for crying out loud, what are you doing in that major?
Re:Cheating. (Score:5, Funny)
Yeah. Thats what the college of business is there for.