Level 5 (Important Decisions) - Size Challenge

[BlueRaja]

For anyone else having issues with this one, re-read the instructions.

[Futae Yamagawa]

Originally posted by Zyro:

What many people, including me, didn't notice is that you' don't have to actually take the cubes. When making this mistake, the instruction optimization target is impossible as far as I can see.

Funny, I tried that same thing early on. Didn't see a way to make it work, so I threw away the solution and tried something different.

Stepping back from a problem can also help. You don't need to OCD solve the problem on day one (and there is a level-skip function).

If you can't make the OCD solution work, start with ANY solution that works. Then work on optimization.

And yes, the yellow sticky with the program requirements tells you, virtually step by step, what your program needs to do on this level.

[Zyro]

Originally posted by randomkeys:

Though I certainly didn't have a moment of enlightenment -- and in fact, I feel kind of disappointed. I mean, the program with ELSE and the program with an implied ELSE are fundamentally the same thing. It feels a little like "gaming the system" to use IF without ELSE.

Isn't optimization all about reaching fundamentally the same thing with more optimal means?
And ommitting an else would spare you instruction(s) in real world, too...

[Zyro]

Originally posted by Futae Yamagawa:

Originally posted by Zyro:

What many people, including me, didn't notice is that you' don't have to actually take the cubes. When making this mistake, the instruction optimization target is impossible as far as I can see.

Funny, I tried that same thing early on. Didn't see a way to make it work, so I threw away the solution and tried something different.

Stepping back from a problem can also help. You don't need to OCD solve the problem on day one (and there is a level-skip function).

If you can't make the OCD solution work, start with ANY solution that works. Then work on optimization.

I always start with a solution just working. In level 10, I counted the instructions I would absolutely need and didn't see how I could do it in 5 instructions when I thought I needed to pick up the cube.

[Karlodinium]

Originally posted by randomkeys:

the program with ELSE and the program with an implied ELSE are fundamentally the same thing.

True for this level, but certainly not for later puzzles. (Think about puzzles where you need further commands after the IF-ELSE block.) IMO putting things in the ELSE provides more precision, so it's natural that it "costs" a command.

[BlueRaja]

And ommitting an else would spare you instruction(s) in real world, too...

Er, maybe in typing, but the compiled code would end up the same.

Even more upsetting, though, is the fact that "else if.." counts as two instructions...

[Futae Yamagawa]

Originally posted by BlueRaja:

Even more upsetting, though, is the fact that "else if.." counts as two instructions...

The rules of the game are what they are. It may be upsetting, it may even feel unfair.

But everyone has to play by those same rules.
The playing field is level.

[Zyro]

Originally posted by BlueRaja:

Er, maybe in typing, but the compiled code would end up the same.

An Else should normally translate to a second jump. See this example:
https://stackoverflow.com/a/40602098

[BlueRaja]

Zyro, we were talking about the case where removing the 'else' statement doesn't change the logic (an "implied else"). In that case, the machine code is the same.

[Zyro]

Originally posted by BlueRaja:

Zyro, we were talking about the case where removing the 'else' statement doesn't change the logic (an "implied else"). In that case, the machine code is the same.

Do you think evaluating this differently from the normal case would be useful and totally not irritating for normal gamer?

"If we'd translate this made up language to a machine language you don't even know, the else would sometimes translate to an instruction and sometimes not - copy with it..."

No, seriously: The numbers on the left show what's counted and what's not. It's clear and understandable rules.