Re: Perl Monks good for Beginners?

[Masem]

One of the dangers of PM, given the speed of response time over email and USENET, are new users that come in, see how fast their (not-quite-FAQish) questions get answered, then start asking more questions that are typically at or below the same level in regards to being FAQish.

Now, since I've done the TA/tutoring stint in the past, I know how easy a trap that is to fall into as a student not understanding the material. I've had cases where students come in and ask a question which usually helps them get started with a problem, then because I'm right there, continue to ask more and more questions that one might consider as less-than-elementary (like how to do algebra, for example, in a thermo course). This is typical of students that are only interested in the right answer and not fully understanding the material, and it's hard to deal with them. After the first 2 or 3 questions, I generally try to tell them that they've got the setup of the problem right, and to go back and look at the book. Of course, you can imagine how many of them actually do that...

The simularities to PM is staggering. While not all newbies are only intent on solving a particular problem in perl and not learning the language, that number is probably close to 30 to 50% of those new users; it is sufficiently high that when these 'closed minded' learners continue to ask questions, the terseness and attitude of some of the replies shows quite well. (I know exactly how some of the more advanced monks feel at this point; after an hour or so of dealing with 10-20 of closed-minded students, I was typically very rattled).

So while it might be possible to ask those that might seem harse to tone down, it's better to approach the problem at the other end, and to encourage open-mindedness before asking a question; encourage the use of FAQs, perldocs, other websits, etc, before asking a question. Encourage asking more open-ended questions, or ones where you've exhausted what sources are known to exist but still lack an answer. Discourage the "do my work for me" questions and FAQish questions. This would help to reduce the problems outlined above (terseness due to closed-mindedness), and would cast a better light on PM.

But I still think that PM is a good site for newbies, much better than USENET currently is or email lists, assuming that the newbie thinks open-mindedly. This is partially because PM encourages a "give and take" approach with voting and experience, something that email and USENET lacks and tends towards the "take only". But again, the key is the open-mindedness of the newbie; one that is intent on finding the right answer and not learning is going to get a hostile reception here, and this is a significant fraction of new users out there.

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Dr. Michael K. Neylon - [e-mail] || "You've left the lens cap of your mind on again, Pinky" - The Brain