A General Guide

A small portion of the challenges ask for minimal knowledge and little research on the problem at hand. The rest of them require that the user present some sort of knowledge, and apply it to the situation. The latter is the majority. While the later problems of each section undoubtedly involve more skill, the earlier problems are building blocks which are(?) designed not only to test your knowledge of the basic skills involved, but to help teach you good habits. Several of the problems deal with very specific details of certain aspects of the subjects covered within, creating a hindrance that may prevent the user from actually understanding what the challenge is trying to teach, which in turn causes them to attempt to memorize and regurgitate the methods used.

Learning requires research, or studying. You aren't actually beating the challenges unless you understand the fundamentals behind them. The first challenge that comes to mind is the Basic user agent challenge. It's very simple to read an article telling you to download a user agent switcher, and possibly how to configure it. With that however, you aren't learning how to do the challenge. You're being told how, required to think very little, and entirely missing the point of the challenge. After doing that challenge, can you explain to someone how user agents work, or why they're used? If you don't pick up on, not specifically user agents, these fundamental concepts that make the system work, you will find that it is very difficult to apply that knowledge later on. Many of the ideas contained in the challenges are minimalistic compared to the scope of the broader subjects that encase them. And all of them can be applied to much larger projects, constructive and destructive, that are entirely inaccessible without the correct knowledge.

A much more common (and threatening) hindrance; points. An extremely large number of users seem to want solely to get points. It is very difficult to be successful with that in mind. Rather than actually learning the information, they would find what would seem to be the simplest and fastest way available to solve the challenges; bothering other members for answers, or finding the direct answers through Google. Those who use those methods are only hurting themselves. It is important that you strive to learn as much as possible, rather than attempting to just beat the challenges. Generally, just attempting to beat the challenges will leave you 'stranded' later on with the more difficult challenges. No one is expected to speed through them all and get them done in a day, or even weeks. Take your time, learn what the problem is about, understand why the answer is the correct answer. Question it, challenge it. Don't submit your answers without knowing how they work. Guessing is generally a bad idea as well. You aren't in school, you aren't being timed and you get no grade for submitting an answer as fast as you can. You should take your time and not rush the problems, but rather attempt to understand them.

In consideration of the challenges it is definitely not bad to ask questions, or to ask for help. There are issues that aren't necessarily in the scope of certain problems, at your current level of comprehension. But there is an explicit difference between asking for help and asking for answers. Asking for a point in the right direction can benefit you greatly. Asking for an answer is admitting that you want points, but aren't willing to work for it. “If one seeks knowledge, one must be willing to learn”


~Sqwertle