Thread: C++ tests.

  1. #1
    Registered User VirtualAce's Avatar
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    C++ tests.

    Why do I find programming in C++ much easier than taking tests concerning C++?

    It's as if the test writer has to come up with the most ridiculous situation just to fool you because the answer to his question is actually quite simple.

    I took some tests last night and did not score well, yet I consider myself advanced to expert level in C++.

    Anyone else have this problem?

    Not so sure I'd ever want to go to school for it - it would probably kill my enthusiasm.

    I would like to get certified in C++ so I have some type of backing, but not so sure now. Just because I cannot answer some lame stupid question about an issue in code that would probably never arise, does not mean I cannot program.

    And if I see one more class hierarchy like this:

    Code:
    class A
    {
    };
    
    class B:public A
    {
    };
    
    class C:public A, public B
    {
    };
    
    class D:public C
    {
    };
    I'm gonna scream. Who codes like this?

  2. #2
    Lurking whiteflags's Avatar
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    Programming tests are evil, at least the ones online. Programming classes have better tests because they set you out to do a task and then you have to explain how your solution works. That's all that matters right?

  3. #3
    Supermassive black hole cboard_member's Avatar
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    I have the same problem as you, Bubs. The same when someone asks me a question (especially on algo's) in class - it's like my mind goes blank. I prefer to write it than look at pseudocode or a description of a problem.

    That class hierarchy is sick.

    EDIT: Prefer as in I find it easier to understand / do.
    Good class architecture is not like a Swiss Army Knife; it should be more like a well balanced throwing knife.

    - Mike McShaffry

  4. #4
    Computer guy
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    Think about it, if ur expert in programming, usually you cannot answer some simple questions in the book. I had that same problem in the test (not that i'm an expertise in C++, but i'm alright). Sometimes, test questions just so stupid.
    Hello, testing testing. Everthing is running perfectly...for now

  5. #5
    S Sang-drax's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bubba
    Why do I find programming in C++ much easier than taking tests concerning C++?
    Because in normal programming you seldom use all the advanced features of C++ -- it is a very advanced language and it takes time to learn.
    Last edited by Sang-drax : Tomorrow at 02:21 AM. Reason: Time travelling

  6. #6
    Code Goddess Prelude's Avatar
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    >Why do I find programming in C++ much easier than taking tests concerning C++?
    Because tests cover a feature range that's much broader than the working knowledge of your average C++ programmer. And of course, test writers think they're being clever by giving you trick questions.

    >Who codes like this?
    That's a surprisingly common hierarchy, so common that it has an ambiguity problem named after it, but it's screwed up because the inheritance should probably be virtual.
    My best code is written with the delete key.

  7. #7
    (?<!re)tired Mario F.'s Avatar
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    Truth is, most people don't really know how to write one. Few people outside US have had much exposure to american-style standardized tests. This is changing for a few years now, but regardless we have little knowledge of how to write these tests and, mainly, why it should be done so.

    Among a few others, there is one fundamental truth about standardized tests that most people seem to forget. Answers must be evaluated objectively (the american-style subset of tests answers this perfectly). It matters little how one achieved the answer. What matters is if the correct answer was given.

    Many test writers destroy this concept by inserting trick questions. If any, it should be trick answers that should be inserted in a standardized test. Not questions. As prelude said, they think it makes them look smart. But in fact, for anyone that knows what is the real purpose behind a standardized test, it makes them look rather dumb. For anyone else, it makes them annoying. It's a no-win situation.
    Originally Posted by brewbuck:
    Reimplementing a large system in another language to get a 25% performance boost is nonsense. It would be cheaper to just get a computer which is 25% faster.

  8. #8
    Crazy Fool Perspective's Avatar
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    >It matters little how one achieved the answer. What matters is if the correct answer was given.

    huh? What matters most is how you achieve the answer......

    If I give you a sort problem and you give me an exponential time algorithm that gives the correct answer... you certainly don't get the job, and you shouldn't get full marks for the test question. The solution is what matters, not the answer. Of course a correct solution produces a correct answer.

  9. #9
    (?<!re)tired Mario F.'s Avatar
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    That is not the purpose of a quizz or standardized test, Perspective.
    Originally Posted by brewbuck:
    Reimplementing a large system in another language to get a 25% performance boost is nonsense. It would be cheaper to just get a computer which is 25% faster.

  10. #10
    C++ Witch laserlight's Avatar
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    If I give you a sort problem and you give me an exponential time algorithm that gives the correct answer... you certainly don't get the job, and you shouldn't get full marks for the test question. The solution is what matters, not the answer. Of course a correct solution produces a correct answer.
    I think Mario F. intended that statement to apply to 'standardized tests', not interviews or general tests of the application of programming (related) knowledge and skill.
    Quote Originally Posted by Bjarne Stroustrup (2000-10-14)
    I get maybe two dozen requests for help with some sort of programming or design problem every day. Most have more sense than to send me hundreds of lines of code. If they do, I ask them to find the smallest example that exhibits the problem and send me that. Mostly, they then find the error themselves. "Finding the smallest program that demonstrates the error" is a powerful debugging tool.
    Look up a C++ Reference and learn How To Ask Questions The Smart Way

  11. #11
    Devil's Advocate SlyMaelstrom's Avatar
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    Yes, it is. If you've ever taken a programming class in a University, then you'd see that they mark points off for poor efficiency. I could write the most obfuscated algorithm for the simplest problem and on any standardized test I've ever taken, I'd get bad marks on it. They do that because they know that same code would never get you a job. Even standardized tests, which multiple choice questions, I've received questions with multiple correct answers in which you have to choose the best.

    Where I feel we're in disagreement is that you may be considering efficiency to be subjective, but it's really not. You could easily have dozens of working answers to a question and only one could logically be considered the correct answer.
    Last edited by SlyMaelstrom; 06-22-2006 at 01:20 PM.
    Sent from my iPadŽ

  12. #12
    C++ Witch laserlight's Avatar
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    I could write the most obfuscated algorithm for the simplest problem and on any standardized test I've ever taken, I'd get bad marks on it.
    My impression is that these so-called 'standardized tests' usually have multiple choice questions, or at least very controlled answer possibilities.
    Quote Originally Posted by Bjarne Stroustrup (2000-10-14)
    I get maybe two dozen requests for help with some sort of programming or design problem every day. Most have more sense than to send me hundreds of lines of code. If they do, I ask them to find the smallest example that exhibits the problem and send me that. Mostly, they then find the error themselves. "Finding the smallest program that demonstrates the error" is a powerful debugging tool.
    Look up a C++ Reference and learn How To Ask Questions The Smart Way

  13. #13
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    Maybe you don't score as well on a test because it doesn't have a compile button, or a google search bar. I.e. you're limited by exactly what you know, and not what you know you can figure out given a compiler, a seach engine, and a little time.
    The crows maintain that a single crow could destroy the heavens. Doubtless this is so. But it proves nothing against the heavens, for the heavens signify simply: the impossibility of crows.

  14. #14
    Devil's Advocate SlyMaelstrom's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by IfYouSaySo
    Maybe you don't score as well on a test because it doesn't have a compile button, or a google search bar.
    Mmm... most tests keep you off the compiler intentionally because of that. It gets new programmers out of the habit of guess and check and leaves them to be able to run through the code themselves without the help of a compiler. ... and last I checked, most real tests are meant to be done without the help of a search bar. It's like my Pre-Calc teacher used to let us do... you can take the test with another student, but you have to split up your grade between the two of you.
    Sent from my iPadŽ

  15. #15
    (?<!re)tired Mario F.'s Avatar
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    That is correct laserlight. I'm under the impression this is the kind of tests Bubba is referring too.
    Originally Posted by brewbuck:
    Reimplementing a large system in another language to get a 25% performance boost is nonsense. It would be cheaper to just get a computer which is 25% faster.

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