6 posts were split to a new topic: Exercise proposal: dragon curve
In the last few months I proposed three new exercises.
- An unnamed exercise that can be solved efficiently with bitwise operations. I presented a rough sketch on the forum, got some feedback and corrections, was asked to present an example solution (which I did.) That was the end of it.
- Battlefield Strategist, an exercise about matching two lists. This time I spent some time polishing my presentation, with images(!), a story, instructions, tests, and an example solution. I got some positive feedback but after a final “(I will get back to this eventually)” by @iHiD nothing more happened.
- Moving Day, an exercise about re-ordering a list. Again, with a story, instructions, a diagram, tests, and three example solutions. I got positive feedback but nothing else happened.
Funnily, just one minute before my post about “Moving Day” somebody else posted an idea for a new exercise Camicia. They received lots of comments, the exercise was accepted, and right now the last few details are finalized in a PR to the problems-specification repository. (Congratulations FraSanga, BTW.)
Right now I’m a little bit frustrated, especially since I saw a comment by @ErikSchierboom on the Camicial exercise: “I always encourage new exercises!”
I spent hours creating these exercise and I have no clue what I could have done differently to make them acceptable.
Are my ideas or presentations just not good enough or not suitable for Exercism? If so, please tell me so that I can either do better or stop wasting time.
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I’m truly sorry! I’ve been visiting the forum quite infrequently (and Discord even less) and definitely haven’t been good at keeping track of things. This is in part due to me not being an official (paid) Exercism team member, but also my fault.
So let’s make this concrete and see what we can do to get these exercises merged!
To encourage this exercise to be solved using bitwise operations, we can either:
- Well, encourage it by mentioning it in the instructions
- Provide more specific, bitwise operation specific instructions
I like this a lot! My only gripe is with the theme, where we probably want to stay away from anything war-related. But this should be easily solved, e.g. with a sci-fi or fantasy theme.
I like it!
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I stayed out of the bitwise exercise thread since my math skills aren’t great and I figured I would be in over my head at this early of a stage.
For the Battlefield thread, I didn’t see the thread on Discord so I’d assume others similarly did not see it. Can we continue that conversation here on the forums?
I’m gonna go out on a limb here and suggest that if Jeremy doesn’t raise any issue here by, say, Monday night, you should go ahead and PR all of them. And then I’ll hope @iHiD doesn’t get cross at me 
Or maybe just for the two discussed on the forum and post the third here for discussion, too.
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Thank you for your reply. Re-reading my comment after a full night’s sleep I have to admit it sounds whiny. Sorry.
My first proposed (unnamed) exercise needs some work, specifically (1) a story, (2) a title that matches the story, and (3) instructions.
I posted a first attempt of a story and instructions in the other thread. Let’s continue the discussion there.
I like this a lot! My only gripe is with the theme, where we probably want to stay away from anything war-related. But this should be easily solved, e.g. with a sci-fi or fantasy theme.
I understand and agree. In the thread on Discord I posted two alternative descriptions: one where the problem appears in a video game with knights vs. orks (working title: " Knightly Commander"), one where a group of people want to look over a old-fashioned batten-fence (working title: " Stingy Spectators").
Which do you like more?
Good idea, I’ll do that.
I have to pick a theme for my post. What do you like more, the fantasy video game (working title: “Knightly Commander”) or the soccer fans looking over the batten fence (working title: “Stingy Spectators”)?
My vote is on fantasy over sports, highly biased by my personal interests.
Knightly Commander is fine, but I think the Stingy Spectators is easier to grasp. The fact that people can be different heights so would need different boxes to see over the fence at different spots makes a lot of intuitive sense. The setup is also a lot more visual and succinct than the Knightly Commander setup which is more dense with information.
Soccer/football is unquestionably one of the world’s most popular sports so I’d imagine most students are at least aware of it. However, we could change the story slightly if that’s an issue. Perhaps the fence is along a popular parade route. There are too many spectators along the road so your group wants to watch from behind the fence instead.
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I like both ideas (the Knightly Commander reminds me of a Rush song “The trees are all kept equal by hatchet, axe, and saw.” …aaaand yes, that makes me old 
)
But to avoid complexity and/or sportball bias, this parade story works quite nicely. 
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If we go with the Knightly Commander theme, I’d prefer an enemy besides orcs because that word has connotations for folks affected by the war in Ukraine. To paraphrase Jeremy elsewhere, we have Ukrainian users and Exercism should be a safe place for them. We could drop in ogres, dwarves, elves, goblins, gnolls, hobbits, lizard folk, forest trolls, and so on without greatly changing the overall story.
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Let me join you in Rush corner. I absolutely love The Trees!
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I like the parade story best.