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Ask Slashdot: Should Coding Exams Be Given on Paper?

Slashdot reader Qbertino is pursuing a comp sci degree -- and got a surprise during the last exam: being asked to write code on paper. Not that I'd expect an IDE -- it's an exam after all -- but being able to use a screen and a keyboard with a very simple editor should be standard at universities these days... I find this patently absurd in 2018...

What do you think and what are your recent experiences with exams at universities? Is this still standard? What's the point besides annoying students? Did I miss something?

A similar question was asked on Slashdot 16 years ago -- but apparently nothing has changed since 2002.

Leave your best answers in the comments. Should coding exams be given on paper?

2 of 274 comments (clear)

  1. Comp Sci by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You are going for a computer science degree. You must be able to express your ideas on paper, a white board, napkin, back of your hand, ....anywhere.

    The poster apparently needs to transfer to a code monkey program.

    I hear DeGree Mill will take anyone with the $$$$ or student loans.

  2. There's a point to it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I don't know about the author's instructor or course, but there's generally a point to this.

    * Can the student write a correct algorithm, bug-free without the crutch of running the code. Running code often leads to writing code by trial-and-error without much thinking.
    * Does the student know the language well enough to write code without the suggestions of an IDE?
    * Avoid all technology problems. My computer crashed. My battery's dead. I accidentally deleted the file. I have the wrong version installed.