quick question

[Peter Hansen]

Bwfc10 wrote:
> 
> Thank you for your help, it isn't
> homework but whats wrong with
> me asking on here when i do get homework?

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach
a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime..."

Nothing "wrong" from our point of view, except the
feeling we might be participating in activity that is
actually detrimental to your own development.  Isn't one 
supposed to do one's homework by oneself, generally,
to benefit from the learning involved?

>From your point of view, the "wrong" would obviously be
if you got a detailed answer which showed you *exactly*
how to do it, or even included actual code, rather than
merely pointing you in the right direction.

For example, your request was quite acceptable, but
the best response would be just "have you looked at the 
sort() method for lists?".

If you were then to experiment with sort, and you were
reasonably bright, you would quickly figure out a way
to use it to find the most popular flavour of ice cream.

If that answer were not enough for you, the next good
answer would probably be something like "have you worked
through the online tutorial yet?".

A better way of asking these questions is to try to come
up with your own solution, and then post your best attempt
with the question.  That way people can (a) help you 
along the path you've already chosen (if it could work),
and (b) get a feeling that you've taken more than two
seconds to think about this and that you've actually
*tried*.

Of course, this group being what it is, someone will 
almost always post a fully functional solution with
annotated source without even questioning whether that
will hurt you more than it will help. ;-)

I actually find that a little sad, personally...

-Peter