quitting

While it's certainly possible for you to do so, better would be to check to make sure you've accomplished all the milestones provided, and then figure out why you're having trouble with the Project.

1. Did you answer all the review questions for each week?
2. Did you ask questions whenever you got stuck on a problem?

If the answer to either of the above is no, then you're short-changing yourself. It's not that your mind is "too puny", you're just not preparing yourself properly.

If the answer to the above questions are both yes, then there should be no reason you should be unable to complete the project, and it's just a matter of practice, and needing to see more code, and more projects implemented.

In which case, I'd encourage you to see how other people complete the project, and check out my annotated source code when I submit it. You can learn almost as much from evaluating other people's code as you can from doing it yourself - that is, if you then complete the project on your own based on what you learned from evaluating the other code.

However, if you're already a "few weeks behind" out of 5 weeks, then yes, you're probably going to be unprepared for the project, as it utilizes all knowledge gained up to this point. The project was based on material covering the first 4 weeks.

At any rate, I hate to see people quit, especially when they've got unlimited resources at their disposal. Feel free and learn C# at whatever pace is easiest to you, but definitely take advantage of 400+ people working together to try and conquer a language. I cant help but feel responsible and disappointed. As a teacher, I feel as though if students just asked their questions, I could answer them and they could improve as students.

But, the unfortunate truth is, sometimes the only limit to a person's potential is...themselves. Continue if you can, quit if you must, but either way, continue to learn.

Best Regards

Well I shall try my best over the next few days to catch up. I don't think I'm actually that far behind. It just felt like it last night. I have most of today off work and can hopefully get back up to speed over the next few days.
I think I shall have to create my 'proper' version of the project based on other people's code (my 1st attempt worked but was far too slow I think and did not use any classes/methods etc).
On a brighter note, I am looking at alternative accommodation later this morning which will mean I won't have to wait until the family go to bed before I am 'allowed' to get on with my studies in peace. I won't be moving out until next month at the earliest but it's a step in the right direction. Don't worry, my relationship breakdown was on the cards long before your C# workshop!
I shall also try to organise my study time better with, say, the 1st 2 hours on the weekly reading/review questions and the 3rd hour on any current projects.

Quote:

Original post by Vod I think I shall have to create my 'proper' version of the project based on other people's code (my 1st attempt worked but was far too slow I think and did not use any classes/methods etc).

Well, if it worked, isn't that the important thing?
You might get more out of refactoring your own code, than trying to piece a new solution together out of other people's code.
And of course, feel free to ask questions to help improve your solution.
But I don't recall anything in the rulebook about the solution having to be 'fast' [wink]

OMFG, you got the project done(even if its running slow) and your quitting? The most important thing is that your code works, so then you can work on the refinements and code organization.
I started the project yesterday and I thought it was really hard for me also, but I'm not planning to quit tough, I will finish it even if I have to stay behind in the workshop :D

For others who are considering quitting...keep in mind that I will be posting exercises for weeks 3-10, in addition to the review questions. These exercises will help make the future projects easier, as I intend to borrow from the project requirements when creating those exercises.

I wasn't able to do that for project 1 because we changed textbooks about a week before the project began.

At any rate, Project 1 is conceptually difficult, but technically simple. It's more about using your noodle, and taking advantage of everything you've learned. The next few projects will be conceptually easier.

So again, dont quit. Do the exercises I post, answer the review questions, continue the reading, and do the upcoming projects if you can. Although the workshop moves along consecutively, at a relatively fast pace, new content will be added for each week by myself and others after-the-fact, and the forums will remain open indefinitely as far as I know.

So don't give up, just work at whatever pace is most comfortable for you.

Cheers!

Thanks for the words of encouragement people. I am studying hard to get back on track (done 5 hours of notes & reading already since finishing work at 8pm tonight). I think where I came unstuck was to attempt Project 1 before I'd finished the required reading. Once I'd got stuck into it I was like a man possessed and spent days fiddling about with code that was just never going to cut it. I knew I needed to break off & do the reading but I just couldn't tear myself away from the compiler! Yeah ok so my interpretation of Project 1 works (not set screen buffer or set console screen title yet) albeit rather slowly. Well it might work quicker on a faster pc. Hell, it was so slow I even allowed the user to see the maze being created in real time (in a kind of epileptic fit-inducing blurry way).
I was actually quite pleased with it because it did do what it was supposed to do but I'm beating myself up about it because I didn't make the best use of my time & resources. I'm also pretty stressed because I go away on Saturday for a week, and although I'm planning to take .Net Book Zero with me,I know I won't have (or be allowed) much time on it.

Seriously though, I've never studied so hard for anything in my life before. I just need to be more methodical & disciplined. Yes I confess JWalsh that I skimped on the review questions. I need to complete week 3's questions, week 4's questions, read week 5 material (already accidentally read ch. 12 so that's one chapter I'll only need to read a couple of times), and do chapter 5's review questions. I ought to be able to do this by the time I go away. I hope...

What chapters will we be studying for week 6? I'll be on my hols when you lot start this one.

Kudos to you! Keep at it.
Cya next week when I get back peeps! Keep up the great efforts!