At the end of the day, if you're doing a course which requires you to do a exams where you have to write some code, then you will end up doing exams where you have to write code.
So side stepping all the arguments like "is this an effective way to test peoples abilities" etc.
Here are some practical tips which I use when taking such exams:
1. Write all your code AT LEAST double spaced, this leaves plenty of room to make corrections, insert new lines etc.
2. Leave whitespace everywhere, particularly at the end of a question. This will make it easy to come back to a question latter and pad it out if you have more time. This is pretty general exam technique, although its particularly relevant if we're talking about having to writing code for algorithms where you may suddenly remember you've forgoten something.
3. If like me your natural style of coding is an itaritive approach (i.e. first you write the function outline, then the outer loop, then the inner loop, slowly fleshing out your codde etc), make heavy use of functions!. Write all the complex parts of your code into seperate simple little subroutines. This will not only make your code more readable for the examiner (if you name your functions clearly), it is also easier for you as crossing out a little subroutine and re-writting it is easier than having to rewrite one big function because you forgot something.
4. Finally as has been said before, unless you are taking a course which purpose was to specifically teach you the syntax of your target language, little mistakes are unlikly to make a difference to your grade. One would hope that someone marking an exam with snippets of code in the answers has been a programmer (or at least had to write a program) at some point themselves. Despite evidence to the contrary examiners are human, and will realise that the odd minor syntatical mistake should not reflect badly on your knowledge of the subject being tested.
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At the end of the day, if you're doing a course which requires you to do a exams where you have to write some code, then you will end up doing exams where you have to write code.
So side stepping all the arguments like "is this an effective way to test peoples abilities" etc.
Here are some practical tips which I use when taking such exams:
1. Write all your code AT LEAST double spaced, this leaves plenty of room to make corrections, insert new lines etc.
2. Leave whitespace everywhere, particularly at the end of a question. This will make it easy to come back to a question latter and pad it out if you have more time. This is pretty general exam technique, although its particularly relevant if we're talking about having to writing code for algorithms where you may suddenly remember you've forgoten something.
3. If like me your natural style of coding is an itaritive approach (i.e. first you write the function outline, then the outer loop, then the inner loop, slowly fleshing out your codde etc), make heavy use of functions!. Write all the complex parts of your code into seperate simple little subroutines. This will not only make your code more readable for the examiner (if you name your functions clearly), it is also easier for you as crossing out a little subroutine and re-writting it is easier than having to rewrite one big function because you forgot something.
4. Finally as has been said before, unless you are taking a course which purpose was to specifically teach you the syntax of your target language, little mistakes are unlikly to make a difference to your grade. One would hope that someone marking an exam with snippets of code in the answers has been a programmer (or at least had to write a program) at some point themselves. Despite evidence to the contrary examiners are human, and will realise that the odd minor syntatical mistake should not reflect badly on your knowledge of the subject being tested.
- Cj