
Solving Exercism Problems – Learn with Peers - jineshpaloor
http://exercism.io/
======
agentultra
I've been using the site extensively for the past six months or so. I have
about a dozen Python exercises complete, one C++, and about a half-dozen
Common Lisp and OCaml exercises to boot.

Some languages get more reviews than others. The big problem is taking the
time to review other peoples' code. There isn't a lot of reward for doing
that. Solving the challenges and receiving a comment or two is far more
rewarding... so it tends to be pretty one-sided in the less-populated corners
of the site. The Common Lisp group has been the most vocal for me so far
followed by Python.

It's worth mentioning that the project is open source and you can contribute
features on github (or add requests to the growing queue)[0].

It's a useful tool for dipping your toes in a new language if you're an
experienced programmer. Code reviews are essential for learning the in-grained
idioms and conventions of a language that make things easier. I think there's
a lot of potential in a site like this if it were able to attract more users
and reward reviewers.

[0]
[https://github.com/exercism/exercism.io](https://github.com/exercism/exercism.io)

~~~
swanson
I think it depends on how you frame it. Personally, reviewing other people's
code on exercism can be an invaluable chance to practice giving feedback on
code. I've yet to find a better mechanism for practicing code reviews - and it
something that even senior developers can benefit from.

Excerism is a great way to practice giving polite and thoughtful feedback to a
captive newbie. I've gotten more practice at code reviews in 15 minutes a day
on Exercism than I could have in several weeks at work.

~~~
agentultra
Too true! It's a valuable exercise and worth investing in. My observation was
simply that the mechanics of submitting code and reviewing it have different,
unequal reward mechanisms at present.

There doesn't appear to be a way for users to provide feedback to reviewers on
whether they're being helpful besides leaving a comment. It might also be
worthwhile to collect karma for taking the time to give a thoughtful review.

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srameshc
I feel it would be better if the website has a few examples of how people are
using it. Also there should be a way to anonymously post code and get feed
back.

~~~
typedweb
I'm using it for the Common Lisp exercises. The command line client is nice,
keeping you from having to upload your code through a browser or copy pasting.

Basically you are given a set of unit tests and you have to make them pass, so
it's good practice for TDD without havingto write the tests. The exercises so
far are pretty basic being <10 liners, but it's a fun way to practice your
coding.

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beernutz
Maybe it's just me, but WOW those red/purples are hard to look at.

Maybe it would be better if they were not quite so intense/vibrant?

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bdcravens
This site has been in beta since it launched (I first heard about it at Lone
Star Ruby 2013)

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afarrell
This is fantastic! If I'm helping out with a conference (djangocon) is there a
way we could hold an event using this as part of it?

