Thread: This has really anoyed me

Hey guys.

I been using C++ off and on for years, I got about 7 or 8 books on it, and I been looking at this and other sites for a good number of years, all the books and web sites have always said to implement a number we can use Test++ to of course add by 1. Way I been raised on C++.

So in England, I have stated for anyone in the rest of the world who might not know this a Open University degree in computing, basically its an degree you learn from home and send assignments to your tutor, you have about 1 or 2 classes for the whole course and an exam at the end.

So what they have decided to do on the one and only C++ course (all the others are Java) is not to use ++ because they feel it is a lot easier to get confused by it.

I am sorry but that is just stupid, why would a course decide not to use ++ when everything I have ever looked at as said do it like that. I even told them that I don't agree with that, not that it will do any good.

Chris

It probably wont do any good but.

Create a petition on a website like http://www.petitiononline.com/petition.html

Then register on a few other programming forums, normally cross-posting, which is posting the same message on several forums is looked down upon, but I imagine this would be alright.

Try and get as many people to sign it as possible. Post it in a newsgroup which you feel is most closely related to the subject. (cross-posting is not tolerated on usenet) Email people you know, just get as many people to sign it as possible.

It may only seem like a little thing, but when you are a beginner at programming you are most likely to pick up bad habbits, it is also hard to lose a bad habbit once you have gained it.

I would only recommend doing the whole online petition thing if you feel very strongly about it, some people may think it is petty, but you need to do whatever you feel is right.

To be honest though, I don't think most of the home study degrees are taken too seriously by people. But you more than likely have a reason for choosing to do this. Besides it beats sitting down doing nothing.

It could be of the post/pre thing

The Open University is different to normal home study in this country it is considered a proper university and not one of them cheap things. Hard to explain if your not English, but its not like some of that SPAM mail degree courses from America I sometimes get. Your right I will get over it, and at least when I programme my own stuff I will keep using ++.

Chris

My course instructors are weird too. The like to use stupid non-standard functions that are simple enough to implement yourself in a matter of minutes

What do you mean by them not using ++? Are you talking about the operator, or do you mean they are teaching C and not C++?

Well... It's just as easy to write int = int + 1, instead of int++... What's the big deal?

Originally Posted by two31d

Well... It's just as easy to write int = int + 1, instead of int++... What's the big deal?

Because the two aren't always equilvent. Say you wrote a class and defined ++ to mean you move on to the next object. It may or may not make sense to add 1 to it.

Also no programmer would be caught dead using x = x + 1; when you have things like ++ and x += 1;

Also consider the case where you want to increment it and do something with the old value. Oh but you need to do it in one statement.

Removing tools out of your toolbag is a stupid idea unless the tool is self destructive (IE gets() );

Originally Posted by Thantos

Because the two aren't always equilvent. Say you wrote a class and defined ++ to mean you move on to the next object. It may or may not make sense to add 1 to it.

If ; x++; doesn't mean the same thing as ; x = x + 1;, then the class is designed poorly. Not that x = x + 1 is better to use than x++...

Originally Posted by Thantos

Also consider the case where you want to increment it and do something with the old value. Oh but you need to do it in one statement.

This case does not exist.

it does exist, in student assignments

What happens if you go ahead and use it anyway? I mean, they can't really mark you wrong for having n++ instead of n += 1 or n = n+1

I've seen similar stuff though, the wonders of the Aussie HSC. You learn an equation in year 10 for science, but then in year 11 it's considered too advanced and you aren't supposed to know it.

I've never heard of something being banned from use when it's not being taught, as long as it is proven correct.
I've in fact made good use of that in university. I was taught a rather rapid method to perform a calculation by one teacher, then switched institutions and got another teacher and book that didn't teach that method. Saved me something like 15 minutes on the exam for that course.
Teacher made a remark that the way I'd done it wasn't what he'd intended but that it was correct (so he did know about it, just considered it too advanced for the level of the course as it relied on knowledge we weren't supposed to have yet ) therefore I was given full credits for the solution.