I noticed today that none of the exercises in the config have any topics listed. Not an urgent issue, but it might be good to add some.
Should make for a super easy fix because the xcsharp track already has valid topics listed in their config. IMO this would be a good good first patch issue.
Upon further reflection, I have realized that it may not be good to just copy topics from other tracks. Rather, I think it would be better for contributors to come up with and agree on topics for exercises.
For reference, valid topics are listed here
Smarticles101
All 17 comments
Yes, @Smarticles101... will love to incorporate topics. Yeah, and I agree that each language may trigger different topics depending on their features (that said, C# and Java are _very_ similar in feature set). Also, I've noticed that all that can _really_ be said about an exercise is what kind of problem it is. It's the solutions that invoke different language features — how people choose to solve them.
I am not aware of a feature that draws on this data, either. I suspect that the redesign will directly address the gap between a series of exercises and an actual curriculum.
For more context, digest the discussion: "Problem ordering, topics covered, and understanding of concepts required" — exercism/discussions#60.
jtigger
on 10 May 2017
This is going to become relevant as soon as #704 is merged.
Smarticles101
on 15 Jul 2017
Is there upstream consensus yet on how we should represent topics, @kytrinyx? https://github.com/exercism/discussions/issues/167 seems to suggest not?
stkent
on 17 Jul 2017
No upstream consensus yet. I'd appreciate it if you weigh in on that discussion if you have opinions.
kytrinyx
on 17 Jul 2017
Thanks for confirming; I don't have strong opinions on the mechanism used to apply labels, just wondering if we should wait on adding labels here in case the mechanism changes substantially.
stkent
on 17 Jul 2017
Yeah, that seems reasonable.
kytrinyx
on 17 Jul 2017
Putting this back on hold while upstream decisions get made.
stkent
on 25 Jul 2017
Do you think we can start working on this now @exercism/java?
FridaTveit
on 12 Sep 2017
I have seen some activity around the topics but I've not been following closely; if they are closer to canonicalized upstream and we know what the strategy is regarding tagging (tag with all topics that are unavoidable or tag with all topics that may be encountered based on implementation choices) then 👍
stkent
on 12 Sep 2017
I can't find any discussion abut tagging with all topics that are unavoidable or tagging with all topics that may be encountered based on implementation choices. From what I can see no one has asked that question? The only thing I did find was an explanation saying that topics should be "topics relevant to an exercise". So I would think it's topics that will most likely be relevant to the exercise even though you might be able to solve it without encountering that topic. What do you think? Do you think we can start adding topics based on that assumption (or based on something else we agree on)? Or should the question be asked upstream?
They do seem to have agreed more or less on a topics list from what I can see :)
FridaTveit
on 13 Sep 2017
So I would think it's topics that will most likely be relevant to the exercise even though you might be able to solve it without encountering that topic.
I like this! :shipit:
stkent
on 13 Sep 2017
Great, I'll start looking at topics for exercises then :)
FridaTveit
on 13 Sep 2017
Exercises that need topics (roughly in the order they become available and excluding ones opened as good first patch issues):
[x]
hello-world[x]
two-fer[x]
hamming[x]
gigasecond[x]
scrabble-score
FridaTveit
on 13 Sep 2017
Since there are a lot of exercises that require topics and we don't have that many good first patch issues at the moment, I think it would be a good idea to open good first patch issues for adding topics to some of the remaining exercises. If we make it some of the easier exercises but also not any of the core exercises then it shouldn't be too difficult to find topics for them while it also isn't too much of a problem if it takes a while before anyone picks them up. If we've finished adding topics to all the other exercises and no one has started doing the good first patches yet, then we can possibly start doing them then. Do you think that would be a good idea @exercism/java?
FridaTveit
on 27 Sep 2017
Love it!
stkent
on 27 Sep 2017
Great, will do that then :)
FridaTveit
on 27 Sep 2017
Phew! All the exercises have topics now (that was a lot of pull requests haha). Thanks everyone who helped! 🎉
Smarticles101
on 19 Nov 2017
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Most helpful comment
Yes, @Smarticles101... will love to incorporate topics. Yeah, and I agree that each language may trigger different topics depending on their features (that said, C# and Java are _very_ similar in feature set). Also, I've noticed that all that can _really_ be said about an exercise is what kind of problem it is. It's the solutions that invoke different language features — how people choose to solve them.
I am not aware of a feature that draws on this data, either. I suspect that the redesign will directly address the gap between a series of exercises and an actual curriculum.
For more context, digest the discussion: "Problem ordering, topics covered, and understanding of concepts required" — exercism/discussions#60.