Tushar Mehta wrote:
Talk about being holier than thou.
Of course, I have never met a *good* teacher who emphasized conciseness over
clarity.

I did not "emphasize conciseness over clarity". In fact, I often
deprecate the many (ab)uses of clever "concise" formulations that,
IMHO, obfuscate clarity -- most notably the over-use of SUMPRODUCT().

I am not interested in trading ad hominen attacks, especially with
someone of your caliber. But I would have serious doubts about anyone
who thinks that int(1e9*rand()) has less "clarity" than
rand()*(999999999-100000000)+100000000 for its purpose, not to mention
ignoring the many errors that I also pointed out.

In fact, every time I had a teacher who liked "concise" answers I *knew* I'd
get a good grade without doing a commensurate amount of work.

On the contrary, I have never met a "good" teacher who favored a
250-page tome where 50 pages would do just as well -- be it an essay, a
math solution or a computer program.

You seem to be confusing "conciseness" with slacking off. In fact, it
is usually just the opposite: it often takes a great deal more work
and understanding to develop a concise and still complete solution.
"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler" --
Einstein.

I have said enough on this point -- too much, in fact. I am just
utterly surprised by your thoughtless comments. I think they do not
reflect your usual high quality. In fact, I am beginning to wonder if
someone hijacked your posting id or I have you confused with someone
else.