Frazz by Jef Mallett for February 18, 2019

Ah, that look on a teacher’s face when the student actually starts learning! (Especially when they start learning to ask the right question and then (hopefully) figure out how to find the answer!)

An answer that programmers know all too well.

Well, the gears are turning after a little teacher-WD-40!

Burke is sharp. A teachable moment, i.e., difference vs the count

Something is wrong. This strip has a kid asking a question that a kid might actually ask.

Hmmmm…. I seem to remember an issue like this cropping up back in the year 1999… or was it 2000? Or 2001?

And the plot thickens

Ah! A Koan, assigned by the master. Ponder well, Grasshopper.

It’s the difference between inclusivity and exclusivity. Look it up.

If I climb floor 1 through 5, I go up 4 floors. If I count floors 1 through 5, I count 5 floors.

How arbitrary, writing “10” but also “fifteen.”

@chromosome – Exactly! Cardinal numbers (counting) vs. Ordinal numbers (order)… 8^)

PostsFrazz13 hrs ·

And therein lies the message for these times: If you don’t understand inclusivity, the same stuff is going to seem harder.

Can you say “Fence post problem”?

Because when you /start/ question 15, you’re at point 15.0, but when you /finish/ question 25, you’re at point 25.99999….

Or because 15-15 is zero, but when you answer only question 15, you’ve answered one question.

He’s a good instructor. :)