Re: Beginer problem: variable array size

["Marin David Condic" <mcondic.auntie.spam@acm.org>]

Do you expect to teach a student all of computer science in one assignment?
:-) My point was that given some beginning level assignment ("Read in a
bunch of numbers and sort them") I wouldn't find it necessary to add some
additional requirement ("Don't create an artificial limit on input" -
Although Tom Moran will observe that there always *is* a limit :-) to
somehow or other make the exercise more valuable. If the language doesn't
make that a trivial thing to do (perhaps because its arrays are naturally
dynamic) then why add it to the assignment?

The point of the exercise is probably to teach the student how to use the
I/O of the language and give them some experience with sorting numbers. Do
they *really* need to become human/machine interface experts on their second
assignment? Probably not. Save *that* lesson for one of the more advanced
courses - or at least until they've written a few more basic programs. And,
no, I don't think students should only have one class in data structures and
algorithms and never said that. Remember that the original illustration was
given as a "typical" second programming assignment for a beginning student.
At that level - and probably for many other levels of student assignments -
its completely fair to artificially limit the problem so that the student
spends his time focusing on the thing the assignment is supposed to
illustrate rather than get him wrapped up in all sorts of side issues that
expand the scope and make the job needlessly harder. Students are, after
all, pressed for time and have other classes besides just this one beginning
CS course, right? Have a little mercy on them. :-)

MDC
--
======================================================================
Marin David Condic
I work for: http://www.belcan.com/
My project is: http://www.jast.mil/

Send Replies To: m c o n d i c @ a c m . o r g

    "I'd trade it all for just a little more"
        --  Charles Montgomery Burns, [4F10]
======================================================================

Kevin Cline <kcline17@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:ba162549.0209251937.5b4b8cef@posting.google.com...
>
> That's great, but it doesn't teach students to produce useful programs.
> CS graduates need considerable experience using appropriate data
structures.
> One class in data structures and algorithms is not enough.