I'm always helping out a girl in my class with her coding assignments but her code is absolutely atrocious. I don't have the heart to tell her that her whole method, file and variable naming, and process is wrong and is causing her so many headaches.

You should, but explain it gently. How else is she supposed to learn the right way?

@MisterArie I basically don't wanna seem like a know it all. Because I don't, just more than her.

Just explain. Both benefits and drawbacks of both concepts.

@Nato I've got the book but haven't read it yet. Just a neat freak

@CoffeeNcode I know a couple guys who get pissed off if you criticize them at all. Not the best environment to work in.

@lordmirziteh assign her some book readings starting with clean code. It helped me a lot

Oh yeah real talk if you're doing this for sex, you won't. We had a similar rant like this that was a couple of months advanced from your position, so just giving you the condensed tldr from the other rant.

@beggarboy I’m definitely married

You should try to hint it to her first so she’d realize it along with your guidance 👍 then decide on how she reacts if it’s worth to continue sharing your knowledge with her.

Does she want to learn how to do better or does she want you to do the assignment for her? I had issues with both kinds in college. If they actually want to learn then you can use a hinting technique like @bnwbear mentioned. Basically be slightly more actively-helpful than the rubber duck. Accept that what she produces is not going to be the same level as what you would have produced, but it can still be better than what she'd have produced last time. Improving a little bit with each project is achievable and can end up putting her in a great place over several projects.

If this is someone who's beyond hope, then you just need to cut the cord. I knew a guy once who was firmly convinced it was a good idea to name all his variables after cartoon ghosts, another guy who thought he could win at roulette by applying conditional probability, and a girl who purchased her bachelor's and wanted me to do her masters' assignments for her. Those kind of people you just need to drop.