http://www.jasonmorrison.net/content/2008/the-most-difficult-problems-you-will-ever-face-as-a-programmer/ Usability, web development, and design Fri, 21 Nov 2008 20:50:45 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 http://www.jasonmorrison.net/content/2008/the-most-difficult-problems-you-will-ever-face-as-a-programmer/#comment-1539 Bruce Sun, 03 Aug 2008 17:55:41 +0000 http://www.jasonmorrison.net/content/?p=191#comment-1539 One tool I used to make learning the hard stuff easier was to learn the art of proof. In maths, you can use something as simple as statistical analysis to intuit the theory, and in compsci you can use simulators. Some of my greatest leaps in compsci and maths were in discoveries resulting from simulating the problem space. And,writing simulators (and analysis tools) is solid learning in itself. One tool I used to make learning the hard stuff easier was to learn the art of proof. In maths, you can use something as simple as statistical analysis to intuit the theory, and in compsci you can use simulators. Some of my greatest leaps in compsci and maths were in discoveries resulting from simulating the problem space. And,writing simulators (and analysis tools) is solid learning in itself.

]]> http://www.jasonmorrison.net/content/2008/the-most-difficult-problems-you-will-ever-face-as-a-programmer/#comment-1503 Jim Sun, 03 Aug 2008 00:51:22 +0000 http://www.jasonmorrison.net/content/?p=191#comment-1503 I find that math is scary for me, (I'm still twitching from the two lines on a plain comment), however logical puzzles can be fun and engaging. They can also drive you right up a wall until that moment when you realize the answer. The best ones take a few sentences (or even only one) to setup the situation and leave you to come up with the answer. So, here is one for you. The answer is quite simple, once you figure out the shortcut through all the clutter. Riddle: A man lives on the 8th floor of an apartment building. Every day after work he walks home and takes the elevator to the 3rd floor and then takes the stairs the rest of the way up. On days when it rains he rides the elevator all the way to the 8th floor. Why? I find that math is scary for me, (I’m still twitching from the two lines on a plain comment), however logical puzzles can be fun and engaging. They can also drive you right up a wall until that moment when you realize the answer. The best ones take a few sentences (or even only one) to setup the situation and leave you to come up with the answer. So, here is one for you. The answer is quite simple, once you figure out the shortcut through all the clutter. Riddle: A man lives on the 8th floor of an apartment building. Every day after work he walks home and takes the elevator to the 3rd floor and then takes the stairs the rest of the way up. On days when it rains he rides the elevator all the way to the 8th floor. Why?

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