in reply to Re^3: Odd Ball Challenge
in thread Odd Ball Challenge

zby,
No, the riddle would be more like:

Produce a prime number whose sum when added to itself is the same as the product if multiplied by itself.

The point is that until you know the answer is 2 + 2 = 4 = 2 * 2, you can't write a program that prints out 4. The challenge is not to figure out the solution and then write a translation of that solution into the program. The challenge is to write a program that given the rules can figure out a solution (since there may be more than one).

If it is still not clear and you need another example, see Challenge: Setting Sun Puzzle.

Cheers - L~R

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Re^5: Odd Ball Challenge
by zby (Vicar) on Jun 24, 2005 at 13:37 UTC
    The question is how much knowlege can I use in the solution. That is you need to define the proces of 'finding the solution'.
[reply]
      zby,
      You can use only the information outlined by the riddle itself:
      • Given: 12 balls identical in appearance
      • Given: 11 balls are identical in weight, 1 is not
      • Given: A balance scale with 2 sides
      • Given: The use of the balance 3 times
      • Goal: A set of groupings and weighings that when followed will determine which ball is odd and how it is odd.

      I really don't know how else to say it. You are designing a program to solve a problem that is presumably too difficult to solve otherwise. You feed it rules to follow and a desired outcome and it churns away until it has satisified the goal.

      Cheers - L~R

[reply]
        The problem is that there is only one rule to follow - output a string (that is a program solving the riddle). If you find the right string you need only print it. And you cannot say that finding the right string is too difficult - many people cannot program at all so for them programming is for sure much more difficult.

        You don't have any inputs only output.

[reply]

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