> It seemed like the best idea was to let him try and learn why that was a bad idea This is exactly why it's a good idea to try your own implementations. You g

> It seemed like the best idea was to let him try and learn why that was a bad idea This is exactly why it's a good idea to try your own implementations. You get intimately familiar with the problem. You understand the trade-offs, corner cases, api design, etc. far better that way. And there might be a slight chance that you come up with a better solution. I've heard that Feynman had a motta something like "If I can't build it, I can't claim to understand it." Also, I like the idea of apprenticeships. At some point our academic culture seems to have shifted from liberal education to some kind of quasi-vocational preparation. This is probably in response to the death of apprenticeships when we started requiring a bachelor's degree for entry level professional jobs.