[AccessD] FW: MS Access Skills Assessment and Testing

Arthur,

Could I just send you my whole mdb.  Should cover my entries for a few
years.

Max
Ps. I remember your column well.  As you say, hard to do. Especially one
that compiles ok and no cheating.

By cheating I mean, for example, having a routine which is located in an
attached mde and is there when compiling but then the mde is removed and
nothing goes wrong until the code is accessed.




-----Original Message-----
From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
[mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Arthur Fuller
Sent: 12 May 2009 15:47
To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving
Subject: Re: [AccessD] FW: MS Access Skills Assessment and Testing

Way back in the days of DOS and Clipper, I used to write a column called
Seek And Destroy, whose purpose was to present a buggy routine in each
column, and to challenge the readers to correct the problem. Typically I
would receive lots of answers, and then based on the quality of the email
and the quality of the code, make a decision on who would win the prize (a
tee shirt).

You might be surprised at how difficult it is to create a new bug once a
month. We all can do it when trying to write good code, but when you're
trying to write subtly buggy code you suddenly realize how difficult it is.
The emphasis being on "sublly" -- it's easy enough to write a routine with
undeclared variables or trying to add an int and a string, or create a
boundary error when referring to an error, etc. It's much more difficult to
write a routine that a seasoned programmer can read through and not
immediately see the problem, and to puzzle through it for a while until
finally noticing the problem. And if you don't think I am correct, try it.

Since this is the Access group, let's confine the discussion to Access. See
if you can write a buggy procedure or function whose problem is not
immediately obvious.

Arthur
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