Anonymous user
Talk:Man or boy test: Difference between revisions
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: I should be able to code it in a language that I know (and a language where it's possible to code it) without any other examples on the page. I just don't understand how you can think that and explanation of what the man or boy test is for is an adequate task description. I shout because of absurdity. --[[User:Mwn3d|Mwn3d]] 06:30, 28 March 2008 (MDT)
:: I don't think it is an adequate task description. My problem is that I have to understand why *you* don't understand it. Which is difficult, unless you tell me (or unless you understand it yourself, because then you can just say "ah, that's where I had trouble"). Because I just look at the Algol60 program and think "ok, let's do that in a different language". And the task is made in such a way that there isn't really much else to it -- it doesn't really have some "core problem" on it's own, that could be described in words. But that's not my fault. :-) --[[User:Dirkt|Dirkt]] 07:37, 28 March 2008 (MDT)
:::First, stop giving me that little smirk.
:::: I'm using the smileys because I hoped they would calm the situation. For some reason you're yelling at me, you think it's my lone responsibility to fix everything, and you're very angry at me. I don't understand why.
::: Second, I don't understand it because there's nothing to understand. I have been trying to help.
:::: And I've also been trying to help, but I just get yelled at...
::: I can give you direct quotes of me trying to help:
:::*"[The task] needs steps or characteristics at the top of the page"
:::*"Don't hope that people can decode the task from other languages"
:::*"There are no commands in the task description. There are no restrictions."
:::*"What needs to be in a task description are words explaining what to do. What characteristics are in a man or boy test program? How are they arranged?"
:::If these things can't be done then it's a different story.
:::If these things can't be done then it's a different story. You said there is no "core problem," which would have been a helpful statement when Sgeier first asked for a clarified description. If that is true, then I think it should be at least noted. I don't think it is, though. You also mentioned nested subroutines and variables from different stack frames. If these are required for the task then they should be listed as a task description. I asked before "What characteristics are in a man or boy test program?" Make a list of things that are required and post it. --[[User:Mwn3d|Mwn3d]] 08:03, 28 March 2008 (MDT)▼
:::: No, these things can't be done. The task really boils down to "imitate the Algol60 program, all of which is does is to create a complicated tree of activation records, and then updates values inside them." If you don't like this, then you have to delete the task, but that's how it is.
::: You said there is no "core problem," which would have been a helpful statement when Sgeier first asked for a clarified description. If that is true, then I think it should be at least noted.
:::: If I had known that this would be helpful for him, I had mentioned it first thing. But I cannot read minds, and that's why we're having this discussion. You must tell me what you find difficult to understand in the task. Because I DON'T KNOW. And a general idea how a task should be structured doesn't help, because the task as it is just isn't structured this way.
::: I don't think it is, though.
:::: If you know better than me what this task is all about, then why don't you change the task description?
▲:::
:::: They are not "required" in a strict sense. This is the way the Algol60 program works, and in another language, you have to emulate them with whatever is closest. Of all the languages, I think only Smalltalk handles the activation records (i.e., "stack" frames) in a similar way; and closures work of course, too. --[[User:Dirkt|Dirkt]] 10:14, 28 March 2008 (MDT)
No one here will start the list, so I'm trying on my own. From looking at a few posts I found in various places (wikipedia not included), I think at least these things are required for the test:
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*call-by-ref and call-by-value functions
Are any of these wrong and are there any more requirements?
: None of these is "required". I don't think such a list makes a lot of sense. Since you insist that I take responsibility, I've updated the task description. It's probably still not satisfactory for you, but unless we can finally find out where the problem in understanding the task is, that's the best I can do. --[[User:Dirkt|Dirkt]] 10:14, 28 March 2008 (MDT)
=== Copyright issues ===
The fact that this page sprung into being with many language examples at once with code wrapped in <source> blocks makes me worry that the code was transwikied from somewhere like Literate Programs, which would be a copyright violation. Are you certain that you have permission to do this? (Hmm. I was going to point you at a Copyrights page, but I can't seem to find one.) --[[User:IanOsgood|IanOsgood]] 10:35, 18 December 2007 (MST)
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