CS373 Spring 2022: Yifan Zhou, Week 2

What did you do this past week?

I have been dealing with homework and previewing materials for courses I take in the past week. One course I take, computer behavioral ethics, requires everyone in the class to introduce themselves, and I took some time preparing for it. Also, the first project for this class is due next Monday, and I started it early to make sure I do not submit it late.

What’s in your way?

The new paper Makefile takes time to understand, and I’ve been putting effort into reading it. As said on the syllabus, the material explained in the class is very different from what we do in the projects, and we need to try to understand those project-related materials ourselves.

What will you do next week?

I will keep previewing the classes and do the homework next week as usual. There is nothing special that I will do. Next week will be the time most classes move back to campus, which would make a very different experience and I am looking forward to it.

What did you think of Paper #1: Syllabus?

At the beginning I did not understand why we need to comment on a syllabus, since it is just a syllabus and we can just read it and understand it. However, when reading it I actually found some questions to ask, and making it a homework allows and motivates other people to respond to the questions people ask. It is a good way to help students better understand the syllabus and helps students solve problems for each other.

What was your experience of assertions and Collatz? (this question will vary, week to week)

They are easy to understand and makes sense. I never use assertions since it is generally bad in testing, but it is still useful in some other ways I did not notice before. It is fun to hear about the different uses of it.

What made you happy this week?

Something that makes me happy is that next week we can take courses on campus for most classes. It would be easier to talk face to face because in online classes many people just mute themselves in discussion session.

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

Fortune recently published an article “How to become a software engineer”, which is pretty fun to read. It lists the entire process in becoming a software engineer and explains in details. According to the article, you should make sure you are invested in becoming a software engineer before you choose your education path. It obviously makes sense, but it is fun for me to realize that I did not think that much before I choose my education path. https://fortune.com/education/business/articles/2022/01/27/how-to-become-a-software-engineer/