Page 1 of 1
Why do problems sometimes change slightly?
Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2009 3:40 am
by forgot
Why is it that occasionally some problems have their parameters tweaked? Is it because that specific parameter configuration left the problem open to some really obvious brute-force or something, or is it just because the admins are bored? Because there's probably certain solutions that will work on one parameter but not another, and some people will run code for days only to find that the parameter has changed..
I'm just curious.
Re: Why do problems sometimes change slightly?
Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2009 10:12 am
by hk
Project Euler problems shoudn't require code that runs for days. The about page states that code should not run for more than 1 minute on a moderate computer. That's why.
Re: Why do problems sometimes change slightly?
Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2009 4:31 pm
by daniel.is.fischer
In other words: To encourage the writing of programmes that work in the general case, with the specific parameter as input.
With a programme that runs less than a couple of hours, the probability that the parameters are changed while the programme runs is very low.
If you're prepared to wait days for an answer, a couple of days more won't devastate you, will they?