Lately, there has been discussion of creating a new section where users could offer a donation in return for answers or code to fix their problem. Several people were skeptical about such a section, especially since money is involved and it would be difficult to draw the line on what should be provided for free and what would benefit from a donation. The section I've dreamed up is nothing of the sort, though I think I started brainstorming from those posts.
I think it would be fun, educational, and helpful for many of us if we could have a section called something like 'Hard Coder' (okay, my name sucks, as I'm not very imaginative. I'm expecting you guys to come up with a half-decent name). This section would allow monks to post code that already gets the job done, but the person would like to recieve advice and guidance as to how the code could be improved. Example advice would be on where and how to go about removing redundancy, adding good programming tidbits (such as -w, use strict, CGI for web-based scripts, etc), and perhaps providing code to replace certain snippets within the script.
So what kind of benifits could we see resulting from such a section? Well, here's a short list I came up with:
- Helpful: The poster of the original code is going to be very happy to end up with a script that gets the job done faster, more efficiently, and perhaps more securely.
- Educational: This is a big one! Those assisting in improving the code will not rewrite the script: rather, they will offer advice on where and how to improve things. In this manner, the person will have to rewrite their code themselves, resulting in a great learning experience. This sort of thing on the site might help everyone here learn things they didn't know before. Then there is always the fact that we would see multiple ways in which an attack against code can be done: remember, TIMTOWTDI!
- Fun and Challenging: Those assisting with the code in question will surely be enlightened to have others make comments and challenge the ideas they post. In this way, the person asking for improvements in their script is not the only one who learns a thing or two.
So it seems to me that a system such as this is a Win-Win-Win situation (3 wins: the person asking for help, the people posting advice, and the spectators who read the thread). The system would work something like this: someone comes along and posts their script. Maybe they even point out where they think their code needs improvement, but they admit they don't know how to go about making it better. Others come along, look through the script and see some 'problem areas/topics'. They reply to the original post, indicating what they have found and suggesting how one could possibly go about fixing it. After people stop adding comments, the original poster finishes the improvements to the script and then posts the resulting code for all to see. If the new code still has some issues, discussion can then continue once again.
This one sounds great to me; I'm interested in hearing other opinions on this matter.
"User error. Replace user and press any key to continue."