Next | QOTW Retrospective | 15 |
My quiz questions are not specifications
Sometimes people are unhappy about this
> I think I feel a bit frustrated that I was sure I had a valid entry > and that every requirement of the quiz was fulfilled. However, your > tests make or break submissions, yet either contradict or test > against unannounced requirements. I believe there's something to be > said about explaining that the program must do X and then fail it > because it didn't do Y.
This was in the crossword layout quiz
This person's program did not handle British-style crossword puzzles
Neither did mine
Specifications are rarely complete or unambiguous
Deciding which edge cases are worth handling is an essential programming skill
Next | ![]() |
Copyright © 2003 M. J. Dominus |