Timeline for What NOT to do when you're trying to help a newbie?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
26 events
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| Mar 7, 2019 at 20:48 | history | edited | AndréC | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Mar 7, 2019 at 20:47 | comment | added | AndréC | @shmuel I recommend that the answer be given in two stages: - the only answer to the problem without improving the code - a second part entitled for example addendum which explains the possible improvements. | |
| Mar 7, 2019 at 20:43 | comment | added | shmuel | If I have something in my code that is a ticking time but, then I appreciate a polit explanation of why it is dangerous. I'd rather fix it now than when it blows up. | |
| Mar 3, 2019 at 6:55 | history | edited | AndréC | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Mar 3, 2019 at 6:52 | history | edited | moewe | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Mar 3, 2019 at 6:49 | history | edited | AndréC | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
split the answer
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| Mar 1, 2019 at 16:57 | comment | added | AndréC | Let us continue this discussion in chat. | |
| Mar 1, 2019 at 16:47 | comment | added | AndréC | @user0 A short code with a series of foreach loops or with complex calculations is much longer to compile than a long code without complex calculations and without foreach loops. | |
| Mar 1, 2019 at 16:34 | comment | added | AndréC | @user0 i just do it. Is it better ? | |
| Mar 1, 2019 at 16:34 | history | edited | AndréC | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
explain the point 4
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| Mar 1, 2019 at 15:58 | comment | added | AndréC | @user0 I'll try, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to write too long a paragraph. I'll try to keep it as short as possible. | |
| Mar 1, 2019 at 15:51 | comment | added | AndréC | @user0 What should I change in my answer that is not clear to you? | |
| Mar 1, 2019 at 15:19 | comment | added | AndréC |
@user0 Not with LaTeX where the text code of the source file is interpreted in terms of token. The PDF output is not proportional to the length of the source file. The compilation time and memory used during compilation is not related to the length of the source file.
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| Mar 1, 2019 at 12:15 | comment | added | AndréC | @moewe LaTeX is difficult and the one who posts a question does it as he knows how. Improvements to the question code make it even more difficult to read the solution. If we want to show possible improvements, it is possible to add an addendum to the answer explaining what can be improved and why it adds value. | |
| Mar 1, 2019 at 11:58 | comment | added | moewe | I'll think about it, though I'm not sure how much positive stuff I can contribute. Most things I wrote here were direct comments on your points and may not warrant an answer in their own right. | |
| Mar 1, 2019 at 11:48 | comment | added | AndréC | @moewe I really appreciate your comments. Can you give us an answer? | |
| Mar 1, 2019 at 11:33 | comment | added | moewe | I can even almost understand that some people may feel criticised when I 'improve' their code and that they feel that I'm trying to show off my impressive skills or much worse that I'm just trying to make them feel bad. On the other hand, some people are happy if they get additional help and code that is easier to understand and maintain. | |
| Mar 1, 2019 at 11:28 | comment | added | moewe |
... involving hyperref and other packages. New users might not know about this and might not have hit the issue that comes with the 'wrong' order, but knowingly leaving the issue in just to avoid offending people would not help if you look at the overall picture. I will also modernise the code when I answer biblatex questions: Deprecated commands like \labelnamepunct can be replaced by their more powerful successors. I appreciate that some people might not want spend time thinking about using nicer or 'better' interfaces as long as everything works.
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| Mar 1, 2019 at 11:23 | comment | added | moewe | Re 4) This one is tricky: It is important to remember that answers on this site are intended to help not only the OP, but also a wider audience of future visitors with similar problems. It can then be extremely helpful to make sure that the code example in the answer does not contain some pitfalls, potential issues or outdated code used in the answer. This is not so much about performance or simple length-of-code-in-characters (about which you are probably right). But it is about coding practices and using good and stable interfaces: Take things such as package loading order ... | |
| Mar 1, 2019 at 11:12 | comment | added | moewe | Re 3) Agreed, but I think it is sufficient to leave a link to one of the established MWE tutorials. Coming up with good MWEs is an art and trying to teach it in the constraints of the comments section might just not work out. Of course it helps if can answer concrete questions about the MWE creation that the OP might have, but again I think that linking to other resources is fine. | |
| Mar 1, 2019 at 11:11 | history | edited | moewe | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Mar 1, 2019 at 11:07 | comment | added | moewe | ... In my time on this site I realised that it is much easier to find a duplicate if you know the answer already or have answered something similar yourself. Closing of duplicates (if they are indeed duplicates) is a fundamental part of the workings of this site: It helps keep content concentrated at one place and avoids that the same things are said over and over again with no real gain. | |
| Mar 1, 2019 at 11:05 | comment | added | moewe | Re 1) One important thing to teach or keep in mind is that suggesting duplicates is in no way a hostility in itself nor should it be seen as such (of course there are non-neutral ways to do that that are hostile, but that is true of so many things). It should definitely not be interpreted as a low-key insult along the lines of 'you don't know how to google, here is the answer I found with only ten keystrokes'. It is very, very unfortunate if people (new to this site or not) see it that way. ... | |
| Mar 1, 2019 at 10:39 | comment | added | AndréC | What I mean is that LaTeX documents are compiled in such a way that they can be read by processors that cause machine language. We write in a high level of language. Just because the text document is short does not mean that the machine language document will be shorter and vice versa, just because a text document is long does not mean that the machine document will be longer. | |
| Mar 1, 2019 at 10:32 | history | edited | AndréC | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Mar 1, 2019 at 10:27 | history | answered | AndréC | CC BY-SA 4.0 |