On 2012-12-31, Roy Smith <r...@panix.com> wrote: > There's a problem I just worked where you need to find the last > 10 digits of some million-digit prime. Python's long ints > don't help you there. What does help you is figuring out a way > to solve the problem that's not brute-force. I think that's > what Euler is all about.
I agree. The most interesting part of participating is finding out how my solution could've been improved or just completely replaced with zero programming in some memorable cases. My algebra has gotten a major workout, and I've had to resurrect the mostly-dead neurons in my skull in charge of calculus. Participants sometimes come up with terrible failures that nevertheless find the solution (I'm no exception, though I think I learn my lesson in the discussion groups). It's a limitation of the way answers are checked. Working to make a solution that's complete and extensible yields the most educational benefits, I think. -- Neil Cerutti -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
