homework v.s. reuse

[xddxogm3]

I've been reading the forum for some time now.
I have been advised to write the code myself and I have been provided help.
What does the forum define as cheating v.s. help?
I feel we should define this for the people that come on and say give me code.
I usually do the research on the problem, then ask for help when it doesn't work. I never ask for the code.
I may need guidance when I do not understand the code, but I feel I'm not a cheater.
I think providing a programmer with assitance is important for developement.

[Prelude]

>What does the forum define as cheating v.s. help?
Help is when the student has given the problem at least one honest attempt, and is truly stuck. Cheating is when the student shows up without proof of an honest attempt and asks for solutions. Naturally, each situation is taken individually. What I would consider cheating may not be by more tolerant members, or I may be in a generous mood and give code for what others would consider cheating.

>I think providing a programmer with assitance is important for developement.
I think that teaching a programmer to assist him/herself is far more important for development. When you have to find the answer on your own, you find answers to questions that you've had before and are yet to have in the process of searching. This is clearly more productive than asking a specific question and getting a specific answer. On these forums, we do both.

[DougDbug]

I assume you've read the board guidelines:

The purpose of these board is not for other people to do your homework for you.

As long as you don't simply submit the entire homework question, or post a question that seems like you want someone to do all of the work for you, you should be OK. If you don't have any code because you don't know what to do, it would be OK to post the assigment and ask "How do I get started?"

Homework is for learning, exercise, and practice. It is better to get help, than to turn-in something that is incorrect or incomplete. Some high school teachers may discourage "working together" on homework. In college, it is generally encouraged... often highly encouraged! For school, the important thing is that you learn the homework assignment well enough to get the answer/solution on your own when you get a similar problem on a quizz or test!

In my (technical) college classes, homework wasn't given much weight. About half of the time it wasn't even collected. (Attendance was almost never taken either.) Most lectures started-out with "Are there any questions about the homework?" The instructor/professor would work-through any problems requested by any student.