Question

New at learning programming. Using the fall 2008 course ware and on second lecture. Finished and now attempting problem 1 to compute and print the 1000th prime number. I read corresponding materials, but feel like a deer in head lights, because i do not even know how to move ahead. maybe someone could lend some advice. lecture one problem was much easier than this exercise!

Answer 1

on a piece of paper, write down in words the things/steps that need to be taken to solve the problem. Try to break down the solution into discrete chunks, write a piece of code for each chunk, put all the chunks together. while coding and debugging, frequently refer to and update the steps you initially wrote down on paper.

just go ahead and start coding - if you get stuck, use print statements to find out what is really happening instead of what you think is happening. use a code pasting site to post code that you have questions about - it makes it easier for everyone to refer to it (don't forget to enable syntax highlighting)

http://dpaste.com
http://pastebin.com
(there are others)

http://www.pythontutor.com/ is a good tool to help debug - but print statement rule.

Answer 2

@KevPop: For this program, first write the code for checking whether a given number is prime (think about the definition of prime numbers). Then introduce a counting variable to count the number of prime numbers generated, and keep incrementing it every time you find a prime number. Put this test in a loop which will terminate when the 1000th prime number is reached.

Answer 3

I have been struggling with this exercise also. Attached is the link to code I created - however it is not giving the correct answer - I think my for loop is messed up - Help appreciated.
http://pastebin.com/njFCyy6q
Thanks Guys.

Answer 4

@Sparky1972 you might want to start a new post so others will see it
have you tried print statements? http://pastebin.com/kk5PPRJe
(ctrl-c will stop that)

what is the definition of a prime number? does your code do that?