Moderator note: this thread was stickied by moderation, and moderation will enforce these rules on this forum.
Thanks, Andre S.
It seems to be that we've got a lot of people in this subforum at the minute looking for help with school/college programming projects at the minute. I thought I'd share my 2 cents for both askers and answerers.
#1 WE WILL NOT DO YOUR HOMEWORK FOR YOU. See below...
#2 WE WILL NOT DO YOUR HOMEWORK FOR YOU. While I don't think anyone here will refuse to help a struggling student, a certain amount of offence is taken when you try to take advantage of our help to get your homework done without putting in any effort yourself. If you copy and paste an assignment without evidence that you've attempted it yourself, you're likely to get hostile responses (see here).
#2a Show Your Work If you're struggling with an assignment, show us what you've done so far (or at least the relevant portion). If we can see what you've done, we're going to be able to help you more easily!
#3 Use Code Tags Reading unformatted code is a pain in the bum. Using code tags will make your code easier to read, and make it easier for other members to help you with your problem.
This:
int main()
{
if (true)
{
std::cout << "TEST" << std::endl;
else
{
std::cout << "WUT" << std::endl;
}
}
vs this:
int main() { if (true) { std::cout << "TEST" << std::endl; else { std::cout << "WUT" << std::endl; } }
#4 Simplify Sifting through piles of irrelevant code makes debugging a pain. If you find a bug, make an attempt to reduce it to it's simplest possible form before posting. Remove any functions or variables that don't contribute to the bug. You never know, you might even find the bug yourself in the meantime ;).
#5 Ask a Question We've got some talent in this forum, but none of us read minds (AFAIK :shiftyninja:). Dumping a load of code and announcing "it doesn't work" is likely to leave your topic unanswered and/or ridiculed. If you ask a specific question, you're likely to get a proper answer.
If you are unsure how best to ask your question, stackoverflow.com offers some great advice on how best to ask questions and stack the odds in your favour getting the appropriate answer.
#6 Give Us All The Information Like was mentioned above, saying "it doesn't work" isn't enough information for us to solve your problem. If you're getting errors, either from exceptions or from the compiler, tell us what they are. We could spend all day guessing the specific error, or you could just tell us and save hours of wasted time.
#7 We Won't Do All The Work For You Sort of related to #1 and #2 above. While we'll try to help as much as possible, it's counter-productive if we help you with your homework and you don't learn anything from it. If we modify your code for you to solve your problem, you didn't learn anything! In some more encompassing questions (e.g. here), we might provide pointers and help, but leave the actual coding for you to do. You wouldn't give us your diploma, so we won't give you it either ;).
#8 We're Not Avoiding Your Problem If We Tell You To Ask Your Teacher If someone says "you should discuss this with your tutor", they're probably not trying to avoid answering the question. It's probably because you're missing some fundamental knowledge. If you're lacking basic knowledge that's required for the assignment, you're likely to struggle later too, so asking your teacher is for your own good. If they're unaware that you're struggling, they might leave you behind and you might end up failing! Nobody wants that, even us on this forum.
Teachers are paid to help their students, and most professors will have time for students to ask questions (some will have an open door policy, others will have allocated time for you). USE THEM IF YOU'RE HAVING PROBLEMS.
#9 There are No Stupid Questions Guys, we're being pretty harsh on some of the newcomers. While it might be hilarious or frustrating seeing some poorly started topics, we should still strive to be helpful. Berating newbies for asking questions poorly or lacking fundamental knowledge or not asking a proper question makes us appear hostile, and this is a quiet subforum as it is! If we're going to shun homework topics, at least do it politely.
Question
+Majesticmerc MVC
Moderator note: this thread was stickied by moderation, and moderation will enforce these rules on this forum.
Thanks, Andre S.
It seems to be that we've got a lot of people in this subforum at the minute looking for help with school/college programming projects at the minute. I thought I'd share my 2 cents for both askers and answerers.
#1 WE WILL NOT DO YOUR HOMEWORK FOR YOU.
See below...
#2 WE WILL NOT DO YOUR HOMEWORK FOR YOU.
While I don't think anyone here will refuse to help a struggling student, a certain amount of offence is taken when you try to take advantage of our help to get your homework done without putting in any effort yourself. If you copy and paste an assignment without evidence that you've attempted it yourself, you're likely to get hostile responses (see here).
#2a Show Your Work
If you're struggling with an assignment, show us what you've done so far (or at least the relevant portion). If we can see what you've done, we're going to be able to help you more easily!
#3 Use Code Tags
Reading unformatted code is a pain in the bum. Using code tags will make your code easier to read, and make it easier for other members to help you with your problem.
This:
int main() { if (true) { std::cout << "TEST" << std::endl; else { std::cout << "WUT" << std::endl; } }vs this:
int main()
{
if (true)
{
std::cout << "TEST" << std::endl;
else
{
std::cout << "WUT" << std::endl;
}
}
#4 Simplify
Sifting through piles of irrelevant code makes debugging a pain. If you find a bug, make an attempt to reduce it to it's simplest possible form before posting. Remove any functions or variables that don't contribute to the bug. You never know, you might even find the bug yourself in the meantime ;).
#5 Ask a Question
We've got some talent in this forum, but none of us read minds (AFAIK :shiftyninja:). Dumping a load of code and announcing "it doesn't work" is likely to leave your topic unanswered and/or ridiculed. If you ask a specific question, you're likely to get a proper answer.
Examples:
If you are unsure how best to ask your question, stackoverflow.com offers some great advice on how best to ask questions and stack the odds in your favour getting the appropriate answer.
#6 Give Us All The Information
Like was mentioned above, saying "it doesn't work" isn't enough information for us to solve your problem. If you're getting errors, either from exceptions or from the compiler, tell us what they are. We could spend all day guessing the specific error, or you could just tell us and save hours of wasted time.
#7 We Won't Do All The Work For You
Sort of related to #1 and #2 above. While we'll try to help as much as possible, it's counter-productive if we help you with your homework and you don't learn anything from it. If we modify your code for you to solve your problem, you didn't learn anything! In some more encompassing questions (e.g. here), we might provide pointers and help, but leave the actual coding for you to do. You wouldn't give us your diploma, so we won't give you it either ;).
#8 We're Not Avoiding Your Problem If We Tell You To Ask Your Teacher
If someone says "you should discuss this with your tutor", they're probably not trying to avoid answering the question. It's probably because you're missing some fundamental knowledge. If you're lacking basic knowledge that's required for the assignment, you're likely to struggle later too, so asking your teacher is for your own good. If they're unaware that you're struggling, they might leave you behind and you might end up failing! Nobody wants that, even us on this forum.
Teachers are paid to help their students, and most professors will have time for students to ask questions (some will have an open door policy, others will have allocated time for you). USE THEM IF YOU'RE HAVING PROBLEMS.
#9 There are No Stupid Questions
Guys, we're being pretty harsh on some of the newcomers. While it might be hilarious or frustrating seeing some poorly started topics, we should still strive to be helpful. Berating newbies for asking questions poorly or lacking fundamental knowledge or not asking a proper question makes us appear hostile, and this is a quiet subforum as it is! If we're going to shun homework topics, at least do it politely.
Salutations!
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