What's your opinion about introducing some coding challenges to PM?
I see in cb people writing about participating in this or that challenge elsewhere, and I have also signed up to one. It is obviously a stir as most of us need a challenge.
There are many practical problems. e.g. whose server should the submissions be run? and should there be an IDE online?
I say, host codes to github and force a template: a Makefile and some test and benchmark files. All we need to submit here would be a test/benchmarks score obtained when running our code on our computers. Regarding efficiency benchmarks, we can make them relative (therefore comparable) to say the time it took the same computer+OS to sort a long list.
Just an idea to fight the brain-drain
bw, bliako |
Re: Coding challenges to PM
by eyepopslikeamosquito (Archbishop) on May 25, 2019 at 23:39 UTC
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Though PM has a dedicated "Obfuscation" section, it's always resisted creating a new section dedicated to "Golf" or "Coding Contests" -
despite it being suggested in the past, for example in Perl Golf - A proposal for a new section of PerlMonks.org.
Of course, nothing stops anyone from posting a Golf or other Coding Challenge as a meditation,
and that has happened many times over the years - in fact, it got so out of hand in 2001 that chipmunk
made a plea to calm things down a bit!
Golf at PM did calm down back then and serious golf contests moved to dedicated code golf web sites and mailing lists.
Just as with golf in 2001, nothing stops anyone today from posting a Perl Coding Challenge here as a meditation.
If it proves popular, someone might propose a separate "Coding Challenge" section at the Monastery ...
though we never did get a dedicated Golf section back in 2001.
For some history of various Perl programming competitions over the years, see the "Golf Competitions" section at The Lighter Side of Perl Culture (Part IV): Golf.
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Re: Coding challenges to PM
by choroba (Cardinal) on May 25, 2019 at 20:46 UTC
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Why should we crumble the community even more? Besides of all the general programming challenges, there are two specifically Perl centric ones: Pull Request Club and Perl Weekly Challenge. The former is more practical, as the participants submit improvements to existing modules on GitHub; the latter is more about finding effective algorithms. We can discuss our solutions here (I prefer to blog about them at blogs.perl.org, though).
Update: Typo fixed, thanks 1nickt.
map{substr$_->[0],$_->[1]||0,1}[\*||{},3],[[]],[ref qr-1,-,-1],[{}],[sub{}^*ARGV,3]
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[d/l] |
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"cruble"? Do you mean "crumble", as in to fragment, divide into small pieces? (Edit: in case it's not clear, I'm asking because I am curious about your meaning, not because I am criticizing your speling ...)
The way forward always starts with a minimal test.
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Re: Coding challenges to PM
by stevieb (Canon) on May 25, 2019 at 18:26 UTC
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I'm ok with this idea, to have a PM specific weekly/bi-weekly/monthly test/quiz etc.
Since I've read this post, a few ideas have been circling in my head as to the format and what the tests would entail, but maybe we could just have random monks post something that makes sense to them, and run with that? Even if it's just picking one of their favourite distributions that has active authors, throw it out, and have people update/fix docs, issues etc.
Since you've brought it up, can you concoct something for us for the first example?
If it takes off, maybe we can see about getting a new dedicated section for it.
Just my initial thoughts.
-stevieb
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Re: Coding challenges to PM
by bliako (Monsignor) on May 30, 2019 at 09:26 UTC
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My motivation in suggesting the coding challenges to PM (and an integrated, PM-exclusive XP points system) was to defuse the tension sometimes manifesting among Monks and Nuns. I sometimes feel like a war-horse doing peace-time chores like carrying a sack of flour from the mill.
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IMHO the tensions are related to the decline of traffic, which is causing frustrations.
Many core monks are also aging and start complaining about the difference to the "good old times".
Some dedicated a lot of time in the last decades to excel in answering questions.
But those questions which don't come anymore in sufficient numbers for their niche of expertise or are already answered when they show up. *
Offering coding challenges might be a way to
- divert those aggressions
- create traffic and
- attract young blood.
BUT a new section would need a lot of work which can't be justified without actual content.
Question:
- Where are these challenges supposed to come from?
- How will this justify the investment?
So if you think to have a sufficient number of such challenges, why don't you just start posting them here?
IMHO that's the most efficient way to initiate such a new section on PM.
update
*) they go turkey if you want.
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all valid points IMO. PM is the place where questions matter more than the answers!
Developing a coding-challenge-section would be too much work as you say and I will not suggest that. But perhaps a separate XP count for coding challenges can be introduced and also a CPAN skeleton module for testing and benchmarching the answers must be made.
I will soon post a challenge and see how it goes and take it from there
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