Would you rather pick up a completely solved Rubik's cube, or a cube unsolved, with peices still out of place? Of course, most people who love solving the puzzle would tell you that they want to solve it themselves. At Coder Camps, we ask for feedback every week. This week, the group moving into their last three weeks of camp expressed their frustration at the prospect of picking up the peices of the previous group and working on a code base they did not have any experience with. I definately agree with them. Picking up a project that you didn't start is always a bit jarring.
But just like with the Rubik's cube, an unsolved puzzle can still be fun even if only half solved. The trick is to get really curious really quickly. Try to jump right in and fiddle and figure your way through the code. Move the peices and try to make them fit into the right positions. We still have work to do on the curriculum in order to smoothe out the transitions between groups starting and finishing projects. We also need to make sure they are ready for them, but I believe whether a group starts or picks up someone else's project, it's always just another puzzle to be solved.