On 2/3/24 10:58, Thomas Passin via Python-list wrote:
In my view this whole thread became murky and complicated because the OP
did not write down the requirements for the program. Requirements are
needed to communicate with other people. An individual may not need to
actually write down the requirements - depending on their complexity -
but they always exist even if only vaguely in a person's mind. The
requirements may include what tools or languages the person wants to use
and why.
If you are asking for help, you need to communicate the requirements to
the people you are asking for help from.
The OP may have thought the original post(s) contained enough of the
requirements but as we know by now, they didn't.
The person asking for help may not realize they don't know enough to
write down all the requirements; an effort to do so may bring that lack
to visibility.
Mailing lists like these have a drawback that it's hard to impossible
for someone not involved in a thread to learn anything general from it.
We can write over and over again to please state clearly what you want
to do and where the sticking points are, but newcomers post new
questions without ever reading these pleas. Then good-hearted people
who want to be helpful end up spending a lot of time trying to guess
what is actually being asked for, and maybe never find out with enough
clarity. Others take a guess and then spend time working up a solution
that may or may not be on target.
So please! before posting a request for help, write down the
requirements as best you can figure them out, and then make sure that
they are expressed such that the readers can understand.
Indeed. I've occasionally practised the following technique (in some
form) over the years without knowing it had grown a name, and wikipedia
page to go with it. It may be handy to use to help come up with a
clearer explanation before sending off a post to a mailing list or other
static medium, because of the inevitable delays in going back and forth.
Interactive formus like the Python Discord have a bit of an advantage in
that you can try to tease out the intent more quickly. But as you
say... a newcomer won't know this.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_duck_debugging
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