#What is an example?

Meriam Webster defines example as:

1 : one that serves as a pattern to be imitated or not to be imitated [a good example]

 

2 : a punishment inflicted on someone as a warning to others; also : an individual so punished

 

3 : one that is representative of all of a group or type

 

4 : a parallel or closely similar case especially when serving as a precedent or model

 

5 : an instance (as a problem to be solved) serving to illustrate a rule or precept or to act as an exercise in the application of a rule

So let's see where Alfred falls.

1. The code does not seem to be a pattern to be imitated, but an imitation of a pattern. Alfred is not an example.
2. Inapplicable to code.
3. Alfred certainly is not representative of all a group or type. Alfred is not an example.
4. The project is a parallel or closely similar case. In fact the project is meant as a learning exercise. The project is an example.
5. The code is an exercise in the application of a rule (or pattern). The code is an example.

Alfred fails the common usage of the word example, not because the project is an example, but because the code is. Many of us feel that the project is an example, yet the code is not. That is at odds with the common usage of the word example. How can we feel it is not an example, if it clearly would be commonly defined as such? Because that the common usage of the word "example" isn't good enough for us. We (like scientists) must rigorously define what the word means to us.

###Ok, so what is an example then?

An example is a piece of code that has had it's complexity stripped away.

I will also refer to @200_success's example. In that example, the complexity of a real piece of code had been stripped away. It was an attempt to limit the scope of the review. Which, as others have said, goes against the spirit of the site. Here is another example which has had it's complexity stripped away. I should not have cast that reopen vote. It is example code and it is off-topic.

###What makes Aflred Different?

Alfred is different because it has not had it's complexity stripped away. It is functioning code that was purposely built as a learning exercise. It was not built one way, and then presented to us here as something else. It was given to us the way it was written.

I think that's the big test here. Was the code modified just for us? There no benefit in any OP posting code that they modified for the sake of posting here. Alfred wasn't modified just for us. So, it is on-topic.

What is an example?

Meriam Webster defines example as:

1 : one that serves as a pattern to be imitated or not to be imitated [a good example]

2 : a punishment inflicted on someone as a warning to others; also : an individual so punished

3 : one that is representative of all of a group or type

4 : a parallel or closely similar case especially when serving as a precedent or model

5 : an instance (as a problem to be solved) serving to illustrate a rule or precept or to act as an exercise in the application of a rule

So let's see where Alfred falls.

1. The code does not seem to be a pattern to be imitated, but an imitation of a pattern. Alfred is not an example.
2. Inapplicable to code.
3. Alfred certainly is not representative of all a group or type. Alfred is not an example.
4. The project is a parallel or closely similar case. In fact the project is meant as a learning exercise. The project is an example.
5. The code is an exercise in the application of a rule (or pattern). The code is an example.

Alfred fails the common usage of the word example, not because the project is an example, but because the code is. Many of us feel that the project is an example, yet the code is not. That is at odds with the common usage of the word example. How can we feel it is not an example, if it clearly would be commonly defined as such? Because that the common usage of the word "example" isn't good enough for us. We (like scientists) must rigorously define what the word means to us.

Ok, so what is an example then?

An example is a piece of code that has had it's complexity stripped away.

I will also refer to @200_success's example. In that example, the complexity of a real piece of code had been stripped away. It was an attempt to limit the scope of the review. Which, as others have said, goes against the spirit of the site. Here is another example which has had it's complexity stripped away. I should not have cast that reopen vote. It is example code and it is off-topic.

What makes Aflred Different?

Alfred is different because it has not had it's complexity stripped away. It is functioning code that was purposely built as a learning exercise. It was not built one way, and then presented to us here as something else. It was given to us the way it was written.

I think that's the big test here. Was the code modified just for us? There no benefit in any OP posting code that they modified for the sake of posting here. Alfred wasn't modified just for us. So, it is on-topic.

#What is an example?

Meriam Webster defines example as:

1 : one that serves as a pattern to be imitated or not to be imitated [a good example]

2 : a punishment inflicted on someone as a warning to others; also : an individual so punished

3 : one that is representative of all of a group or type

4 : a parallel or closely similar case especially when serving as a precedent or model

5 : an instance (as a problem to be solved) serving to illustrate a rule or precept or to act as an exercise in the application of a rule

So let's see where Alfred falls.

1. The code does not seem to be a pattern to be imitated, but an imitation of a pattern. Alfred is not an example.
2. Inapplicable to code.
3. Alfred certainly is not representative of all a group or type. Alfred is not an example.
4. The project is a parallel or closely similar case. In fact the project is meant as a learning exercise. The project is an example.
5. The code is an exercise in the application of a rule (or pattern). The code is an example.

Alfred fails the common usage of the word example, not because the project is an example, but because the code is. Many of us feel that the project is an example, yet the code is not. That is at odds with the common usage of the word example. How can we feel it is not an example, if it clearly would be commonly defined as such? Because that the common usage of the word "example" isn't good enough for us. We (like scientists) must rigorously define what the word means to us.

###Ok, so what is an example then?

An example is a piece of code that has had it's complexity stripped away.

I will also refer to @200_success's example. In that example, the complexity of a real piece of code had been stripped away. It was an attempt to limit the scope of the review. Which, as others have said, goes against the spirit of the site. Here is another example which has had it's complexity stripped away. I should not have cast that reopen vote. It is example code and it is off-topic.

###What makes Aflred Different?

Alfred is different because it has not had it's complexity stripped away. It is functioning code that was purposely built as a learning exercise. It was not built one way, and then presented to us here as something else. It was given to us the way it was written.

I think that's the big test here. Was the code modified just for us? There no benefit in any OP posting code that they modified for the sake of posting here. Alfred wasn't modified just for us. So, it is on-topic.

#What is an example?

Meriam Webster defines example as:

1 : one that serves as a pattern to be imitated or not to be imitated [a good example]

2 : a punishment inflicted on someone as a warning to others; also : an individual so punished

3 : one that is representative of all of a group or type

4 : a parallel or closely similar case especially when serving as a precedent or model

5 : an instance (as a problem to be solved) serving to illustrate a rule or precept or to act as an exercise in the application of a rule

So let's see where Alfred falls.

1. The code does not seem to be a pattern to be imitated, but an imitation of a pattern. Alfred is not an example.
2. Inapplicable to code.
3. Alfred certainly is not representative of all a group or type. Alfred is not an example.
4. The project is a parallel or closely similar case. In fact the project is meant as a learning exercise. The project is an example.
5. The code is an exercise in the application of a rule (or pattern). The code is an example.

Alfred fails the common usage of the word example, not because the project is an example, but because the code is. Many of us feel that the project is an example, yet the code is not. That is at odds with the common usage of the word example. How can we feel it is not an example, if it clearly would be commonly defined as such? Because that the common usage of the word "example" isn't good enough for us. We (like scientists) must rigorously define what the word means to us.

###Ok, so what is an example then?

An example is a piece of code that has had it's complexity stripped away.

I will also refer to @200_success's example. In that example, the complexity of a real piece of code had been stripped away. It was an attempt to limit the scope of the review. Which, as others have said, goes against the spirit of the site. Here is another example which has had it's complexity stripped away. I should not have cast that reopen vote. It is example code and it is off-topic.

###What makes Aflred Different?

Alfred is different because it has not had it's complexity stripped away. It is functioning code that was purposely built as a learning exercise. It was not built one way, and then presented to us here as something else. It was given to us the way it was written.

I think that's the big test here. Was the code modified just for us? There no benefit in any OP posting code that they modified for the sake of posting here. Alfred wasn't modified just for us. So, it is on-topic.