Bill MacKenty

Increasing complexity == increasing time to read

I need some advice about a common question: "can you look at my code really quickly"?

I am starting to work on increasingly sophisticated programs with my students. My students ask me to help them diagnose a problem, suggest alternatives, or figure out what is broken in their code.

My problem is reading their code takes time, thinking about what they are doing takes time, and suggesting a good alternative takes time. This isn't something I can do in 30 seconds.

How do you manage student requests for support and assistance when their code is very complex and requires more than 5 or 10 minutes to read?