I’m fairly new to the monastery and to Perl, so in the course of trying to orient myself (and figure out how to wear my habit properly) I’ve read several of the “how to deal with homework” nodes. I understand frustration with posts that seem to show no effort, and I’m not defending those, but I’d like to point out some benefits to homework posts in general—

1. They give those of us who are still muddling through the earlier chapters of Perl by Example something to read on this site that we understand (besides the tutorials).

2. They give younger monks some way to give back and in so doing, to grow.

3. They give everyone the opportunity to show kindness to the clueless. Some of them, like me, will be encouraged enough to keep learning and trying to improve.

My suggestion would be to let younger monks have a day or so at these kinds of posts, and have the more experienced monks who care to, look through both question and answers and offer advice thereafter. Even if the original post is worthless, a lot of the stabs at it by the newer folks won’t be. If the original poster learns something from the dialogue, so much the better. This suggestion also has the virtue for those worried about cheating, of giving such students exactly the kind of answer they deserve, if they take the first, likely wrong, one.

All that said, thanks for welcoming me to the site. And I hope when I post my next Kindergarten Perl question, I can continue to count on kindness, as well as wisdom. At least I’m learning how to word such questions so as to reduce my brothers’ irritation, and that, too, is valuable.

Pax vobiscum.

NovMonk