Re: puzzle



Gerry Quinn wrote:
> In article <Pine.LNX.4.60-041.0506101825130.6453
> @unix49.andrew.cmu.edu>, ajo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx says...
>
> > The "trick" answer, which has already been posted, is definitely
> > the one the OP['s instructor] was thinking of. It's actually quite
> > elegant, IMHO, if not terribly useful for anything.
>
> It's a pity he posted it (the 'hint' was as good as posting) as it
> might have stimulated a few more attempts at solving the puzzle.
>
> The 'trick' solution can be generalised into the separation of a single
> number that is present any odd number of times from ones that are
> present any even number of times. That seems to me like it just might
> be useful now and again.

It's a bad way of teaching algorithm complexity because ac is
independent of whether or not you have cheap XOR. It would be better
for this pencil neck of an instructor to show how algorithms can be
analyzed, without short-circuiting thought into trick answers to trick
questions and other forms of grab-ass.
>
> - Gerry Quinn

.

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