Spikepl, your criticism is valid but at the same time, I avoided actually writing the code. I tried to stay at high-to-mid-level concepts, lay a little groundwork, offer food for thought - that sort of thing. I find that using English (however fractured and convoluted) rather than writing code works better for beginners at getting concepts across. Not to mention that shoe-horning my code into someone else's program might be more than they wanted to do.
Besides, I have to admit that working for the U.S. Government, I have had to take a particular style of writing and I have become somewhat mentally locked in on that style. My response was at least partly in that style.
Or, as my dog used to say, "You can't teach an old human new tricks." Perhaps that's why he got frustrated and left me for that French poodle?