On Monday 06 May 2002 01:34 pm, Dave Hoover wrote: > >Could that suggestion be implemented as a column TPR though? I > > Can you tell me how this would differ from the current TPR Perl Golf > column? My goal for the column is to help beginner and intermediate > Perl Golfers understand what goes on in these compact solutions. > I would appreciate hearing how I could do a better job at this.
Well, it seems to me that the Post Mortem focuses on winning solution and explained how it does what it does. You brought up some mid-range solutions, but it again seemed to me that it was a cursory examination. Perhaps taking someone's initial solution (with permission), explaining what could have been done better, taking their next submission, explaining the changes, and what could be done to make this submission better and doing this recursively until the entire path could be seen. With (a lot of) head scratching, I can usually figure out how something is done, but I can never figure out how to get past my own bulky code to the solutions posted. Hmmm ... maybe the perldoctut discussed elsewhere should focus on *how* to golf, as opposed to what was done in a particular solution, while the monthly column could be a practical application of the 'how'. Ok, it took me all of that to figure out what the answer to your question is: The Post Morten seems to focus on how the winning solution does what it does (with some commentary on the finer points of how 1 or 2 characters were shaved from various places) and what myself (and, it seems, others) are looking for is an article that walks us through practical applications of how to condense our starting code. I realize this is asking a lot of you--perhaps you could pick someone to keep a diary and use that as a basis. I also realize that this is just a game, but I get some of my best ideas for better code in my work here. Squeezing the next little bit out of my web applications is always good and its helped me get my reputation here at work. Don't get me wrong, I don't depend entirely, or even majorly (word?) on PG, but it's another valuable resource for me and learning how to condense effectively is a Good Thing(tm). Alan -- As long as the answer is right, who cares if the question is wrong?
