I may have to declare defeat. I am just not a visual person. GIVE ME PLAIN MATH.

My latest attempt to make a polygon that is based on the leaf of a plant I STILL CAN'T IDENTIFY so I can make a fractal and lose my mind.

When ChatGPT feels sorry for you...I don't know, bad. So far, ti's my most stable relationship, and I don't want to mess that up.

Also, I hate leaves.

And told me I was very insightful for not accepting leaves that looked like balls of dough.

And you know when you've truly reached rock-bottom? When ChatGPT feels sorry for you.

It generated me this leaf:

Also can't use a Barnsley fern, a Sierpinski triangle, or any of that, which I am sure would upset me, but I am having trouble wrapping my brain around how to do this at all. I assume we a.) get an acceptable polygon base shape (leaf?) and b.) fractal that hell out of it?

If anyone can tell me what this goddamn satan's plant is so I can find a way to get a clearer zoom of a leaf for my base shape for satan's plant's polygon, I'd be grateful.

I mean, when dev needed to update it or change the code later. So eventually I think I willl appreciate his notes (and to be fair, he does like a full page of feedback explaining what he liked and why something wasn't quite right.

When I think about it, it's less about elegance (though yeah, he does appreciate that) and more--I think not leaving a mess for later? I've been looking at my assignment and thinking about how many defects I've filed not because the code failed or was wrong, but because it was so weird or messy.

...to be accurately sorted when one cannot use any sort or set function. No, I have to check it ever pass instead so I don't go over by one pass.

I am cranky. That is all.

Look, I get it, efficency, but there are aesthetics to be considered here and a cond with only two options is a glorified if or weird-ass when. LEAVE MY THREE OPTION COND ALONE.

He also didn't like my formula that accurately predicted the max number of passes a list of numbers would need..

Right now, my last three programs--which worked perfectly btw--were marked down 2, 3, and 10 points respectively for 1.) using a loop instead of pure recursion 2.) something something variables, and 3.) my cond had three options and apparently you are only allowed two.

The thing is--writing a sort program from scratch isn't hard; I was done with that part before class ended. He doesn't just want this sorted; we have to output the list not just every pass, but EVERY TIME we call threeSort. Yes there are repeating lines. No, I have no goddamn clue.

The sort program has three functions: length, threeSort, that can only sort three numbers at a time, and mySort. We take a list, pull the first three numbers into a new sorted list, sort them, then remove the largest number and add it to the front of the old list. Then print both lists and repeat.

Technically I withdrew before I could flunk out. Got meds. Currently on try four, three hours from one associate degree, twelve hours from two more, and thirty-nine from a bachelor.

...yes, I do have a spreadsheet to track it all