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Yes. No. Maybe.
Depends on the circumstances. It is acceptable to reject question son the basis that it is plainly a homework question and reasonably acceptable to reject on the basis that the questioner is asking you to do their job. Other than that, just ignore it if you're not sure.
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I say just move on and ignore it and let natural selection take care of it.
Jeremy Falcon
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Jeremy Falcon wrote: let natural selection take care of it.
Tech Darwinism! 
Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect. ~ Mark Twain
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Sorry, this way you don't help the poster.
Probably it's true: he/she must go back. Anyway I would recommend another school.
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I have seen the response for them to get a specific book and work through the examples, this seems to be acceptable.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity
RAH
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My son, in a college course on energy systems, asked me why we don't add wind generators on our cars to recover energy and extend our endurance. I suggested he should wait for the next semester to re-ask the question. He didn't, but I did ask him if he understood and asked me to forget the question...
In short, I think the teaching method nowadays is to get them moving then get them to understand the background, where a bunch of years ago it was crawl, walk, run. At issue is the sense of success, and attention span.
Can we build better engineers using the older crawl, walk, run paradigm or the newer walk, build background, run paradigm.
Personally, I am a bit older, and I have always learned on the first, but am experiencing the latter as I see new things evolve (and try to learn Python), and am not sure of how effective it is.
I leave it to the younger generation to decide....
Ken
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I am from younger generation and I have seen / attended lectures that were complete BS...
Biggest problems I have experienced during college were:
1) Commitment / dedication of the professors
Many of them just are damn good at research but have no elephanting clue how to teach.
2) Commitment / dedication of the students
Many of them doesn't take it serious enough and just do the elephanting minimum to pass the exam
3) Time vs content
The "efficiency" culture of "more content in less time" is spreading and helping to increase #1 and #2.
I am 100% for the approach of crawl, walk, run and luckily enough I still had it (more more than less).
But it doesn't matter which approach you take. If above points are there, it is going to be bad anyways.
M.D.V. 
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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JAPMP (Just Another Perpetual Motion Machine).
But I tend to agree. The term Jackass-of-All-Trades, Master-of-None is really finding many devotees.
We used to hate school - but we learned to read, write, do math, history, geography. All kinds of stuff. Now - schools fun - maybe because no one stresses anything that might be stressful.
I made my kids do math without a calculator until high school. Even there, only when required. The result is that none are innumerate. All read books. If for no other reason than by default, they're generally the "smartest person in the room" - I can't tell, considering the competition, if they're really that smart compared to their co-workers, &etc.
Build better engineers - or more importantly - better scientists. Somehow get them to understand that an interesting job requires work. The ability to handle failure(s). Swim with the tide - and against it.
And you don't need to fit in or have everyone like you.
| Ravings en masse^ |
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| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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NO.
I did something similar once.
This was escalated and as a consequence I was told by several people that I was not "mature" enough to handle feedback.
%&@!@#&*!!!
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Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter wrote: But seriously how you should answer someone, who try to write a peace of software and missing all the basics of how things are moving around. They maybe got a course or book on how to write loops and methods and classes, but that's all...
Well... at least he is still trying it himself and asking you why it doesn't work / where is the error, not showing 0% effort and asking you to do it for him.
M.D.V.
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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This is a variant of the "giving a man a fish" vs. "teaching him how to fish" debate.
As someone else said here, I believe that the correct approach to someone so clueless is to recommend a good book that contains question assignments. Once they try the assignments, they will either improve, or realize that programming isn't for them.
(If they don't even try the assignments, we definitely don't want them as programmers!)
If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack.
--Winston Churchill
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Daniel Pfeffer wrote: If they don't even try the assignments, we definitely don't want them as programmers!
The masters of the guild have weighed you. They measured you. And they have found you wanting.
Guards, throw him out! First out of our guild hall, then out of the town!
The best programmers I know behave like cats. They are extreme individualists who don't care much about some assignments and also don't come when you call their names. Expecting them to demonstrate that they are carved out of the right wood by doing assignments is kindof strange.
I need a perfect, to the point answer as I am not aware of this.
Please don't reply explaining what method overloading is
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CodeWraith wrote: The best programmers I know behave like cats.
they very probably wouldn't have the errors that the OP is commenting, and where we are answering 
M.D.V.
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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Ok. The other extreme would be to get a drill instructor and put them into a boot camp. Literally. I have both trained young promising CodeCats and been an instructor (after the young heroes finished boot camp). This way you would probably get fine code monkeys and those I would not want to have.
I need a perfect, to the point answer as I am not aware of this.
Please don't reply explaining what method overloading is
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You missed at least part of my point. I was not referring to the best and brightest among us, but to someone who is (from the OP's description) completely hopeless at programming.
Even the best and brightest among us didn't spring fully-formed from Zeus' head full of the wisdom of the ages. Getting to the top of our profession is anything but easy!
If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack.
--Winston Churchill
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Your voice speaks with wisdom, Daniel. I listen.
cheers, Bill
«While I complain of being able to see only a shadow of the past, I may be insensitive to reality as it is now, since I'm not at a stage of development where I'm capable of seeing it. A few hundred years later another traveler despairing as myself, may mourn the disappearance of what I may have seen, but failed to see.» Claude Levi-Strauss (Tristes Tropiques, 1955)
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Kob kun krub
If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack.
--Winston Churchill
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My experience is that the less people know the more they overestimatw their skills.
Do it politly with some advice for a basic course and a link. 
Press F1 for help or google it.
Greetings from Germany
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Maybe something like:
Well - you spent your school years posting so others would do your homework for you.
Now - you post for others to do your job for you since you never tried it, yourself.
So, tell us - do you do your wife or ask someone to do that for you, too?
| Ravings en masse^ |
|---|
| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter wrote: peace of software
You should be wary of telling people to go back to school whilst typing the above...
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Sometimes, I will write a message (as a comment) suggesting that the OP needs to review the "basics," and providing links to some (free) C# books.
But, lately, I seem to have less patience, perhaps because of my vision problems, and I just ignore the whacko posts.
I am glad to see we don't have anyone actively "terrorizing" the QA posters in the last year !
I share a concern that Daniel Pfeffer has also expressed about those QA responders who are actually writing complete code solutions, essentially handing the OP their "finished assignment," rather than trying to teach.
I continue to believe that people do not respect what they "get for free," and that CP demands too little of QA posters.
cheers, Bill
«While I complain of being able to see only a shadow of the past, I may be insensitive to reality as it is now, since I'm not at a stage of development where I'm capable of seeing it. A few hundred years later another traveler despairing as myself, may mourn the disappearance of what I may have seen, but failed to see.» Claude Levi-Strauss (Tristes Tropiques, 1955)
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I have a potential USA-based client, a small business, that has a need for a web application. Their application will have roughly 50 users, essentially a server for small files.
I'm researching hosts that are stable, have good support, are easy to deal with, and relatively inexpensive. Can I get recommendations?
Thanks!
[Yeah, I know I'm asking for the sun, the moon, and the stars -- and will probably have to settle for something less.  ]
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Step 0 : Roll your own.
Step 1 : Profit.
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I do that. I offer Plesk based webhosting with not too many restrictions.
One .com-Domain included, from $30 each year.
Service includes user level ssh-access, custom dns-settings and much more.
Just send me a PM and we may talk about it.
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