Topcoder: Always run system tests in practice.
by Abhijeet Kashnia
This post is just to note something that I missed all along.
When practicing in Topcoder practice rooms, just submitting the solution and getting a "submitted for X points" is not enough. There is also a run system test option that should always be tried to ensure that the code really was correct. I wonder why running system tests is not the default in the practice rooms?
Maybe it is because in the real environment, system tests are run after the coding phase had ended, and they expect the coder to think about other cases that have not been mentioned in the problem statement.
I learnt this the hard way, since one of my solutions for the div 2 500 points was successfully challenged, and this prompted me to look for ways to develop more confidence in the code I write.
When practicing in Topcoder practice rooms, just submitting the solution and getting a "submitted for X points" is not enough. There is also a run system test option that should always be tried to ensure that the code really was correct. I wonder why running system tests is not the default in the practice rooms?
Maybe it is because in the real environment, system tests are run after the coding phase had ended, and they expect the coder to think about other cases that have not been mentioned in the problem statement.
I learnt this the hard way, since one of my solutions for the div 2 500 points was successfully challenged, and this prompted me to look for ways to develop more confidence in the code I write.
