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The question in question (no pun intended): Cutting stock recursion

OP basically dumped the problem definition and a solution on us. There is no indication to if the code actually works, it is homework and there is no indication to what the poster want's help with.

This is something I've struggled with for a while on CR, and I do not feel inclined to give a considerable amount of my time for someone who cannot be bothered to state what they want us to look at and help them with. To me it looks like "Here's my code, fix it please!".

On this particular occasion one user commented to "just give a general review". Is this the way to go? Can we not require at least some effort from the reviewee (is that a word?) to state what they want help with what they are looking for?

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    \$\begingroup\$ reviewee (plural reviewees) 1.One who undergoes a review. (it is indeed a word) \$\endgroup\$
    – Phrancis
    Aug 28, 2014 at 16:27
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    \$\begingroup\$ related: meta.codereview.stackexchange.com/questions/790/… \$\endgroup\$
    – Simon Forsberg
    Aug 28, 2014 at 16:30
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    \$\begingroup\$ @EmilyL, I'd just like to say that this edit comment made me laugh, and I very much approve. meta.codereview.stackexchange.com/revisions/65/2 \$\endgroup\$
    – RubberDuck
    Aug 28, 2014 at 18:32
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    \$\begingroup\$ Ehehe yeah that kind of usage of male pronouns sets my overflow bit (^.^; \$\endgroup\$
    – Emily L.
    Aug 28, 2014 at 18:35
  • \$\begingroup\$ The problem here is CodeReview is not StackOverflow, so if they just paste their code here and asks for a review... Well, it's ok. But i can understand why you feel annoyed of this. If they don't care about posting what parts they want to review or if it's a homework question. Ignore it, go ahead and if you still want to review it, just surf between the code and write down parts you think could be improved. \$\endgroup\$
    – Marco Acierno
    Aug 28, 2014 at 22:44
  • \$\begingroup\$ If they asked for a review that's fine but some just paste the code without as much as a please which I guess is what annoys me the most. \$\endgroup\$
    – Emily L.
    Aug 29, 2014 at 6:38

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It is important to verify that the code actually works--if it doesn't, it's off-topic.

Assuming it works though, and isn't off-topic for any other reason, I don't see a problem.

Why should homework questions be treated special (in terms of potentially closing them)? We allow users to post non-homework questions asking for general reviews, so I don't see why a homework question asking for a review wouldn't be allowed.

It is however useful to know it's a homework question because it clues a reviewer in and they might tailor their answer to be more didactic than they might otherwise write.

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    \$\begingroup\$ I think that homework questions shouldn't be treated any differently but do require more attention by the reviewer in order to provide feedback that is useful without becoming spoon-feeding which I think is detrimental to learning. Hence it's important to see what the OP thinks of the code to begin with to see where one should focus their attention. But then again that could just be me... \$\endgroup\$
    – Emily L.
    Aug 28, 2014 at 18:26
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    \$\begingroup\$ @EmilyL. shouldn't all of our answers have an educational mindset? It makes me think maybe we do too much spoon feeding in general. \$\endgroup\$
    – RubberDuck
    Aug 28, 2014 at 22:30
  • \$\begingroup\$ @nhgrif i think they should all have a educational mindset but homework questions even more so. And maybe we do... \$\endgroup\$
    – Emily L.
    Aug 29, 2014 at 6:36

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