Google Took Over My Browser!
I've been doing a lot of Python programming as I try to shift from using Mathematica as my daily programming environment to making more use of Jupyter Notebooks and Python. Modern day programming is not like the old days (I started programming in the late 70's) were you sat down and pretty much wrote an entire program from scratch using paper reference guides for the language and the hardware. These days programming is largely about finding, modifying and pasting together various packages and code snippets found on the web. I must have done quite a lot of such searches for Python code, because at one point my browser window got this strange 3d effect as if the window rotated back and I was asked if I wanted a challenge. When I said yes, I saw this:
I believe that this is one of Google's recruiting tools. With my position as a Professor, I highly doubt it is intended for people like me, but after a busy week or so, I decided to try the first challenge tonight. Using the modern method of programming (searching the web for parts of solutions) it took me only a few minutes to find a very efficient snippet of code that I could adapt to the first challenge. I spent much more time understanding how the code snippet worked, because even though I could have just used it, I much prefer understanding. My first attempt to verify my solution showed that I missed a few tests, but with one small change I was able to complete the challenge.
Now I see this:
Overall, it was fun and a good way to learn more Python. If you happen to trigger this, have fun solving the puzzles.
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LOL! I'm not sure if this is a genius recruiting tool or a downright creepy one! I've not seen anything like this since my university days... although, in some ways it reminds me a lot of wee hours in the morning trying to submit a programming task/assignment to an automated marker, which would run a whole heap of test and edge cases. ASCII Rabbit is cool though!
Oh those wonderful automated markers. Great for learning about unit testing and edge cases, and the importance of them. Not so great for encouraging useful documentation though, and the general lack of it is something I find frustrating with the search for code snippets and repurpose for your needs. So many of the snippets take so much more time to work out what they do when they aren't accurately documented.
I may also have passed a coding unit thanks to documenting my work that didn't want to work...
Oh documenting, and not just in coding but everywhere... Everyone thinks they don't need to document because 'it's obvious'.... But then they won't when they use other people's work that isn't documented... Because it was obvious to the creator!
Very much so. I'm off to a pre new job coffee and walk through the kitchen, and I'm going to have my eyes open for documented processes. Everyone likes things done a certain way, but if that way isn't documented, then when a new person comes in, they'll have their own way to do that thing, and it may not match expectations, even when it achieves the same results.
It's funny how some people think coding is easy. One wrong line - and everything is kaput!
One wrong line and it's a new feature!
True! LOL
Well I guess I will never see the challange on my journey to learn Python. I use Brave and Firefox browsers with searches thru Presearch and DuckDuckGo. I would have been concerned about hacking etc.
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Absolutely clueless about python
If it wasn't for my kids I'd just think it's a snake
I don't think I'd ever get into a conundrum like this but definitely good to know
Thank you for sharing @toddrjohnson :D
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Oh I am SOOOO computer and coding illiterate! If I was doing what you were in this post, well... I'd be buying a new laptop
That is certainly bizarre! I started programming in the late-70s, too, but never worked with Python and certainly haven't run across anything like this! So bizarre!
I only heard about the paper coding days in my nuclear computer classes and from a mentor coworker of mine...hard to believe lol.
Props to y'all though!