CS373 Spring 2019 Final Entry

What did you like the least about the class?

The thing I liked least about the class is the fact that even though most people come into the class without knowing anything about web development, no aspect of the 4 part project is explained in class. Other than a quick initial AWS or GCP walkthrough, none of the tools are talked about in class.

What did you like the most about the class?

A lot of what we did learn in class was interesting though. From learning some of the intricacies of Python, to learning basic SQL, to the refactoring in class in Java.

What's the most significant thing you learned?

The biggest thing I learned was a lot of different things on what it takes to bring a website together from scratch. Since I mostly worked on the frontend, I didn't learn much of went into the backend, but from what I was a part of, I learned a lot.

How many hours a week did you spend coding/debugging/testing for this class?

It varied a lot between projects, but on the high end when we had procrastinated I spend upwards of fifteen hours in one week, and on the low end just a couple.

How many hours a week did you spend reading/studying for this class?

In regards to the reading assignments, I did them all in the beginning of the semester, but as the class went on, he started actually quizzing on that material less and less often, so I spent less time reading. With regards to studying, I did poorly on the first test because I did not know how to study for the kind of tests in this class, but I did for the second test, so for the week up to the last test I spend about 10 hours studying.

How many lines of code do you think you wrote?

Throughout all the projects, and not counting all the code writing I did while practicing for the tests, I think I wrote a couple thousand.

What required tool did you not know and now find very useful?

The Jest testing harness for React App. It was a lot nicer to use in my opinion than the other required testing harness it replaced, Mocha.

What's the most useful Web dev tool that your group used that was not required?

I don't think we used a tool that wasn't required.

If you could change one thing about the course, what would it be?

Go over more about the tools in class.

CS373 Week 14

What did you do this past week?

This past week was mostly spent finishing up the final projects in most of my classes. I finished the programming projects in both of my CS classes that had them and mostly finished my Chinese final project presentation. I also seriously started going over the Hackerrank exercises again and again until I can do them without looking for help. I've gotten decent at it so far, but I still have a little ways to go before I will feel prepared for the test.

What's in your way?

Currently in my way is worrying about the test for this class. I did not do well for the last one and am very worried about how well I will do now. Granted, now that I know how the tests work and can study for them properly, it shouldn't be too much of an issue, but nevertheless, I am worried.

What will you do next week?

Since next week is the last week of classes, I have a whole slew of things that need to be done before I can start studying for finals. I will keep practicing the Hackerrank exercises, even the old ones, and as time permits I will review the quizzes and notes so I don't miss a single thing. I will also finish preparing for the final presentation for Chinese, but since it is a video, once our group finishes recording, we will just have to watch it in class which will be torturous, but it needs to be done.

What did you think of the talk by Miriam?

It was very informative, and I especially liked that she allowed time in the end for a significant number of questions. It is always helpful to hear examples of how people make the transition from college to the work environment.

What's your pick-of-the-week or tip-of-the-week?

Although most of this class probably already knows to do this, my tip of the week is still to do the Hackerrank exercises whenever you get the chance. Do them until you don't need outside help to complete them. Doing this will almost assure you don't get hung up on syntax or compile errors during the test, and will probably help you solve the actual problem as well.