Checking a Number for Palindromic Behavior

[Lie Ryan]

rurpy at yahoo.com wrote:
>>> 1) It may look like a homework problem to you but it
>>>  probably isn't.
>>>  Seehttp://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.python/msg/8ac6db43b09fdc92
>> Homework comes in many forms - school driven homework should be
>> treated the same as self driven research, IMO. You're not doing it to
>> be told the answer, you're likely doing it to learn.
> 
> As I said in point (5), you are not in a position to
> decide how someone else best learns, even if your guess
> that the question is homework, contrary to the evidence
> in the url, is correct.

Yes we do. If the person wanted a direct and straight answer (like most 
cheaters) for such a simple question (like integer palindrome), googling 
takes less time and efforts compared to posting to a mailing list.

OTOH, since the poster took the trouble of registering to a newsgroup, 
posting his problem, waiting a few hours for replies, and checking the 
group for replies, requesting clarification, thanking, and getting back 
to normal day activities; this implies that he wanted explanations which 
can only be provided with the more interactive newsgroup instead of a 
relatively static websites.

>>> 3) You are not responding only to the original poster;
>>>  there are many other silent readers who are interested
>>>  in the answer and whom you are depriving of knowledge
>>>  by refusing to answer.
>> MRAB provided a perfect answer - anybody who wants to know more, or
>> could not connect the dots, can always ask for more information.
> 
> No.  Forcing people to beg for bits and pieces of an answer
> one at a time, doled out by a cabal of elite "gurus", is
> humiliating and a disincentive.  If you can answer the question,
> do so without all the farting around.  If you don't want too,
> or you feel answering in bits and pieces is helpful, fine, do
> that, but don't object to someone else providing a direct
> answer.

Yes we have the right to complain, because a single post containing a 
direct answer will *destroy the purpose of giving hints*.

Giving direct answer is too tempting for an OP that originally wanted to 
try to solve by their own. It is too easy to copy and even the most 
determined would have a difficult time to resist.

If the OP had wanted a direct answer, he should make an explicit note 
about it. When that happen, the OP is not interested in studying about 
the solution anyway and hints are useless.

Writing a direct answer is much, much, much easier than understanding 
where specifically the OP is having trouble with. We wanted OP to post 
their solution or at least their thought on the problem because we 
wanted to see why the OP is having problems, so we can tailor the reply 
specifically for the OP.

Not giving direct answers promotes active thinking, which is much more 
important for programmers, direct answer gives rote memorization, which 
is useless for programmers due to sophisticated documentations.

>>> 4) When you post a specific solution to a question,
>>>  usually a number of other people will respond with
>>>  alternate or better solutions.  While perhaps overkill
>>>  for the original poster who likely will be satisfied
>>>  with any answer, such discussion greatly benefits
>>>  other readers.
>> See previous.
> 
> Most of what I have learned about python from this group
> I have learned by reading responses to other people's
> questions.  I would not in most cases bother to post a
> request for clarification if the answers weren't clear.
> So "see previous" is also my response.

If you're still having problems but won't bother to post a request for 
clarification, that means you don't take your *own problem* seriously 
enough.

>>> Of course, whether you choose to provide a specific
>>> answer to something you think is homework, or not,
>>> is ultimately a personal decision and you are free
>>> to follow your conscious.  Just please don't demand
>>> that every other participant in this group adopt
>>> your personal standards.
>> When you join a long standing community, you're expected to follow
>> their conventions. Don't top post, don't do someone else's homework,
>> etc.
> 
> This is the only thing you wrote that resonates with me.
> I would never dream of moving to Spain and immediately
> start agitating to end the cruel sport of bullfighting
> (though if it were already a contentious issue I might
> join those already objecting).  I would not move to
> France and demand that French people stop drinking wine
> because of the problems alcohol causes.  But clp is
> somehow different, even assuming that the no homework
> help rule is actually a tradition 

it actually is, in most (if not all) newsgroups. Most technical forums 
follows this tradition;

as opposed to a few
> dominant personalities and a bunch of wannabe followers.

We ARE all wannabe followers. All humans copy from their elders and, if 
you haven't realized, that is what education is about. Also, tradition 
means "handing over, passing on" (wikipedia), a "dominant personalities 
and a bunch of wannabe followers" fits into that description; the 
culture of the dominant personalities is passed on to the wannabes.

Improvisations is an evolution, it happens slowly over a 
veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeery long period of time. The fundamental nature 
of a community does not change with an overnight revolution; a 
revolution will simply change the skin but the fundamentals will still 
be the same.

Humans is the most advanced species in the world because we copy our 
ancestors instead of reinventing the wheel all the time. If we hadn't 
copied our ancestors, we will have people inventing fire and wheel all 
the time.

As a metaphor, which one do you think is better in the long term: 
charities or microcredits?