What to do when faced with a seemingly insoluble limit situation?

Question

I am a computer science student and usually have very difficult programming tasks. I do not know if this only happens to me, but sometimes, especially when the deadline is approaching, I find myself in a harsh situation.

I cannot find my mistake in the code or come up with another great idea. Then comes boredom, and the problem begins to seem insoluble.

I would like to know their ideas to deal with this situation. Is it better to focus on something else for a while? Or try again? Or try harder and look for a solution online, etc.

Answer 1

Sleep is good, or if not sleeping, then at least take a break, walk in the fresh air, etc.

Brainstorming problems with colleagues / fellow students can help. Even just explaining the problem to someone else might be enough to make a decision a click in your brain.

Failed to complete all of the above, ask about Stackoverflow :-)

Answer 2

I always like to talk about a solution with another programmer. Just talking makes me use another part of my brain, and most of the time I hear me talking through a solution.

Answer 3

Try to break the problem down into smaller, simpler problems and solve them. Do not try to solve everything at once and avoid trying to crack your way.

If you are still stuck, a break can be a good one. Sometimes the answer becomes apparent when a lighted pair of eyes is viewed. Solutions to problems often come to me in a dream, and I wake up knowing the answer.

Answer 4

For me, I came across a couple of times when it took quite a while (from 10 to 30 minutes) to identify a problem in writing, to present a question about SO, and received ideas that led to a possible solution, while typing a question.

I find that when I document your problem in a way that others can understand without understanding the unrelated parts of your entire application / project, I deliberately break down the problem into isolated, independent parts that help me or another developer analyze and solve the next course of action.

Only my two cents :)

Answer 5

In your case (school work) I would probably be looking for a teacher / professor or TP. Although they, of course, will not “give” you an answer, at least you can find out something else in the process.

In particular, I would explain the difficulties that you encounter, what you did to try to solve this problem and any other things to show that you really worked.

Many times, walking on this occasion, you can come up with solutions. Perhaps they can give you tips and suggestions.

The worst case scenario is that they tell you to leave and leave them alone.

Answer 6

Others have posted a dream (@sjobe, and Vicky) and are asking for someone good (@ Christopher Altman). BTW, which is often called the "rubber grade".

My personal problem is that you want to see and get something to get to the end, almost always to my own despair. What I have learned over the years, if a little research does not help (& 30 minutes) and talk about it, does not explain it, and you cannot or do not want to sleep on it, do something for the mind, body and spirit : Go outside!

Seriously, go for 30-45 minutes by bike, run, walk, swim, whatever. Try to come up with something else. Tell yourself a story or mentally work on another problem if you want. Cool down and come back. You will be amazed at how much you will feel. Endorphins will help.

If you're embarking on a career leading to the table, this is a great habit to join.

-Cheers

Answer 7

The whole art of survival, or rather, conquest in such situations, is to remain decision-oriented. By this, I mean that I am sure that even if the solution does not work, believe that your attempts bring you closer to this.

Yes, I strongly agree that a break is an integral step in achieving your goals, but take a break to come back with a strong spirit to solve the problem.

Get yourself involved in a variety of decision strategies with the spirit to enjoy the same.

Solution strategies may include:

• Talking with friends who do not understand the problem to a good level and help them understand. This will help you explore all the possible scenarios. Sometimes other people's explanations help us understand the problem in much better scenarios.

• Sit down with paper and pen or better, so that you have a diary where all ideas are written when they hit you. Take your diary with you always, as it helps to write ideas differently than we forget. Also sometimes the game is about connecting the dots. The idea in the morning of the first half and evening time can be the perfect combination to solve the problem.

• Go to a brainstorming session with several friends and entertain all the ideas that they put on the table and consider them. Remember that no idea is a stupid idea. Either this decision, or a way to move towards a solution.

• There are times when you need to visit an industry expert or researcher to delve deeper into the concept of technology. Before you visit an industry expert, keep all of your research papers and brainstorming collected. Share it with the researcher correctly. You also have a SWOT analysis of the person you are trying to meet, so that you understand in which part the person is strong and can help you. Also carry such a meeting with you, because recording everything becomes difficult.

• Do not believe in everything that is always offered, be sure to return home and do the whole research on the Internet on what is available. This will help you increase your knowledge.

• Do some experimentation. Some hits and attempts at random and based on the results reach conclusions.

Each of these steps plays a very important role in brainstorming and reaching a solution. We look forward to hearing from you what your impressions were.

Answer 8

A similar question has already been asked here https://stackoverflow.com/questions/427532/what-do-you-do-when-youre-stuck .

Sleep is my personal favorite, although if you are like most college students, you probably do a lot of coding at the last minute and you don’t have enough time to sleep and send your work in time [I was guilty of this].

Answer 9

What I like to do when I encounter a problem, I usually try to identify my problems. I just take a piece of paper for myself and write down the problems that I receive. By doing this, I like to create class diagrams / sequence diagrams to simplify things. It really helps to just go back to the old pen and paper and not look at the screen for a while.

Answer 10

As a student, I occasionally come across this problem. What helps me quite often is to get away from the computer, take a pencil and paper and start writing code manually. I don’t know why, but often it’s easier for me to solve it on paper than using the IDE / editor. Probably because your brain works differently.