Re: After doing a lot of the problems on codingbat.com

From	David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no>
Newsgroups	comp.lang.c
Subject	Re: After doing a lot of the problems on codingbat.com
Date	2020-02-27 22:59 +0100
Organization	A noiseless patient Spider
Message-ID	<r39e3f$uio$1@dont-email.me> (permalink)
References	<2f146b5c-e025-46ef-af7b-7c328c9f4206@googlegroups.com> <20200227200243.157a5e51fe7577f22aa37378@g{oogle}mail.com> <r396mg$uob$1@dont-email.me> <87mu93vk1j.fsf@bsb.me.uk>

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On 27/02/2020 21:42, Ben Bacarisse wrote:
> Lew Pitcher <lew.pitcher@digitalfreehold.ca> writes:
<snip>
> For me, this is a step too far.  The double midpt calculation and test
> for both array[midpt] != key and array[midpt] == key would make me
> investigate alternatives.  I think I've always ended up using a while
> loop for this sort of search.
> 
>> A good programmer doesn't limit themselves to using for() strictly as a
>> counted loop.
> 
> Ack.
> 

To me, a "for" loop does :

1. Set up the start of an iterator.
2. Check for an end condition.
3. Make a step from the start towards the end.

If it is not obvious what each of these steps are, how they work, and 
that they /do/ work, then there is too much in the "for" clauses which 
should be moved before the "for" loop or inside it.

I've got to know that iteration moves forward from a start to an end - 
that every round of the loop makes progress, and that you will reach an 
end.  (My code almost invariably has a "while (true)" main loop, due to 
the nature of my target systems, but that's a different matter.)

If the clauses need to be spread over several lines - either due to 
their length, or to leave space for comments - then they are highly 
unlikely to be "obvious".

I'm fine with pointer steps and the like in "for" loop clauses.  But I 
don't like doing much calculation in them.

Thread

After doing a lot of the problems on codingbat.com chad <cdalten@gmail.com> - 2020-02-25 06:55 -0800
  Re: After doing a lot of the problems on codingbat.com Anton Shepelev <anton.txt@g{oogle}mail.com> - 2020-02-27 20:02 +0300
    Re: After doing a lot of the problems on codingbat.com James Kuyper <jameskuyper@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2020-02-27 11:41 -0800
      Re: After doing a lot of the problems on codingbat.com Joe Pfeiffer <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> - 2020-02-27 14:48 -0700
      Re: After doing a lot of the problems on codingbat.com Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2020-02-27 23:17 +0000
        Re: After doing a lot of the problems on codingbat.com James Kuyper <jameskuyper@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2020-02-27 16:40 -0800
          Re: After doing a lot of the problems on codingbat.com Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2020-02-28 01:08 +0000
            Re: After doing a lot of the problems on codingbat.com Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2020-02-28 01:37 -0800
            Re: After doing a lot of the problems on codingbat.com James Kuyper <jameskuyper@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2020-02-28 06:21 -0800
              Re: After doing a lot of the problems on codingbat.com Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2020-02-28 16:15 +0000
                Re: After doing a lot of the problems on codingbat.com James Kuyper <jameskuyper@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2020-02-28 10:37 -0800
                Re: After doing a lot of the problems on codingbat.com Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2020-02-28 19:22 +0000
                Re: After doing a lot of the problems on codingbat.com David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2020-03-01 14:54 +0100
                Re: After doing a lot of the problems on codingbat.com Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2020-03-01 15:36 +0000
                Re: After doing a lot of the problems on codingbat.com David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2020-03-01 17:08 +0100
          Re: After doing a lot of the problems on codingbat.com Richard Damon <Richard@Damon-Family.org> - 2020-02-27 21:57 -0500
          Really??? (Was: After doing a lot of the problems on codingbat.com) gazelle@shell.xmission.com (Kenny McCormack) - 2020-02-28 13:06 +0000
            Re: Really??? (Was: After doing a lot of the problems on codingbat.com) chad <cdalten@gmail.com> - 2020-02-28 05:47 -0800
            Re: Really??? (Was: After doing a lot of the problems on codingbat.com) James Kuyper <jameskuyper@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2020-02-28 05:59 -0800
          Re: After doing a lot of the problems on codingbat.com Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2020-02-28 14:04 +0000
            Re: After doing a lot of the problems on codingbat.com Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2020-02-28 17:50 +0000
              Re: After doing a lot of the problems on codingbat.com Anton Shepelev <anton.txt@g{oogle}mail.com> - 2020-02-28 20:59 +0300
                Re: After doing a lot of the problems on codingbat.com Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2020-02-28 22:37 +0000
              Re: After doing a lot of the problems on codingbat.com Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2020-02-29 00:17 +0000
                Re: After doing a lot of the problems on codingbat.com Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2020-02-29 01:01 +0000
        Re: After doing a lot of the problems on codingbat.com Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2020-04-02 19:22 -0700
    Re: After doing a lot of the problems on codingbat.com Lew Pitcher <lew.pitcher@digitalfreehold.ca> - 2020-02-27 14:52 -0500
      Re: After doing a lot of the problems on codingbat.com Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2020-02-27 20:42 +0000
        Re: After doing a lot of the problems on codingbat.com David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2020-02-27 22:59 +0100
      Re: After doing a lot of the problems on codingbat.com Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2020-02-27 20:48 +0000
      Re: After doing a lot of the problems on codingbat.com Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2020-03-27 20:06 -0700
    Re: After doing a lot of the problems on codingbat.com chad <cdalten@gmail.com> - 2020-02-27 15:28 -0800

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