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Re: A small challenge at beginner's level

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On 8/3/2017 5:57 PM, Silvio wrote:
> On 03-08-17 12:46, Stefan Ram wrote:
>>   [... a silly challenge ...]
> 
> Persisting in using a retarded formatting style is bad enough already. 
> Forcing it upon students is criminal.
> 
> And it is a pointless exercise to boot. Programming is not about 
> exploring obscurities and extremities but about common sense and good 
> taste. You are teaching neither. Your students deserve a better teacher.

     Silvio's right.  The language supports simpler, more direct,
and much clearer ways to accomplish the given task, and it's just
silly not to use those clearer, more direct, and simpler ways.
"I will remove my own appendix, without anesthesia, using only a
can opener, two teaspoons, and a jar of extra virgin olive oil" --
well, fine, how very clever, but ... why?

     When I was young and clever I figured out a way to mimic FORTRAN's
DO loop with something called a "computed GOTO."  I boasted of my
cleverness to my teacher, whose lack of enthusiasm betrayed his
near-instantaneous internal translation of "clever" to "stupid."

     Don't encourage this sort of cleverness; it's stupid.

-- 
esosman@comcast-dot-net.invalid
Twelve hundred sixty-six days to go.

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Re: A small challenge at beginner's level Silvio <silvio@internet.com> - 2017-08-03 23:57 +0200
  Re: A small challenge at beginner's level Eric Sosman <esosman@comcast-dot-net.invalid> - 2017-08-03 18:12 -0400
  Re: A small challenge at beginner's level Wayne <wayne@nospam.invalid> - 2017-08-04 04:23 -0400
    Re: A small challenge at beginner's level Silvio <silvio@internet.com> - 2017-08-04 23:55 +0200
    Re: A small challenge at beginner's level Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2017-08-07 20:11 -0400
    Re: A small challenge at beginner's level lewbloch@gmail.com - 2017-08-08 07:34 -0700

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