Re[2]: RPG instruction

     
        Portion of Original:
<snip>
               'Step 2: Have everyone in the class hand their program to 
     the person on the right (or left) and ring shift (last guy on row 
     takes to first guy on row).
                Step 3: Have everyone in the class make a non-trivial 
     change to the programjust handed them.'
     <snip>
     
     Portion of reply:
     <snip>
'The problem I see with this (in an academic environment, where grades 
mean everything), is that a lousy student can receive the program written 
well by a good student, so he fares well. Then the good student receives a 
*really* lousy program to modify.
     
Granted this is what happens in the real world, but when grades and GPA's 
are so important, it's a bit unfair to make the good student work ten times 
as hard as another student just because he received bad code. '

<snip>
     
then you make maintainability part of the grading criteria that is reflected 
upon the student that wrote the original code.  this might help drill in the 
idea that not only must the input, processes and output be correct in order to 
have a good program, but that the logic flow should be clear and understandable 
to any other programmer. (along with performance and ease of use etc etc) it's 
not necessarily unfair to challenge the good student to work 'harder.' you 
could also award extra credit to a student who, upon receiving bad code, did an 
entire re-write to make the code better, faster, stronger, rather than just 
doing the minimum required.  

jw
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