R. Clayton (rclayton@clayton.cs.monmouth.edu)
Wed, 17 Jan 2001 19:01:09 -0500 (EST)
I am going to add detailed syntax error checking on the pattern file and take
care of the variables matching based on your previous email to me, but there's
no way can I finish this by 2 p.m.
Would you extend the submission time to midnight without the 5 points penalty
(perhaps considering that this assignment has been so extremely difficult)?
No, for a number of reasons:
1 You've got the program working except for error checking, which I said you
didn't have to worry about. Error checking is important; you can't call
yourself a good programmer if your programs blow up when reading the
slightest deviation from expected input. However, error checking is
difficult both in the large and small issues, and I'd rather you assume
correct input and spend your time and effort designing and implementing
good algorithms to solve the problem.
2 You've been working on this problem for two weeks now, and you're right:
it is a difficult problem. It's time for a rest.
3 I developed this mail-based system in response to the little games that
students play when there's no hard-and-fast deadline they can depend on.
If I start changing the deadline, not only would I be diddling with
software I'd rather not diddle with, but I'd be playing those little
deadline games again, which I have neither the time, patience, or desire
to play.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.0b3 on Thu May 17 2001 - 12:00:05 EDT