Project # 2

I found the assignments this time around much easier, probably because my group and I tackled them long before the due date and so could spend more time working on the code instead of one long session the day before. I particularly found the contrast problem interesting just because I was stumped for so long, especially on the z trigger function.

All of the other parts of the code that required changing was fairly simple with most of them simply being check expects with similar structure as other parts of the code. The question answer lines for the key press functions also had very similar structures to the code provided so it was mostly easy to figure out, however the z function was something that I had to understand and write myself. It was because the other lines of code were so similar that I didn't really bother learning what each line meant and simply copied the syntax of the code provided and just applied it to whatever colour needed changing and this is why I was stumped for so long on the z function since it performed a completely different function than the other key presses. It was only by spending time and learning about what each line of code did and what each part of the imgpair structure was coded that I could figure out what I was doing wrong and how to make the z key revert back to the original image. Once I knew what each line of code did, making the program do what I wanted wasn't difficult at all!

Project # 2

While thinking about the marks I received for the first project, I realized that if I wanted to do better for the second one, I should start working on it earlier so that I can take full advantage of the TA's during the weekly tutorials. There would also be time for me to personally go through each part of the project rather than having to split the work between my partners making it easier to learn the material since I'd be taking part in coding every part of the project rather than just reading through what my partners have done.

Unfortunately, I've been falling behind with keeping up with the tutorial handouts recently and I had no idea how to work my way through the assignments. However, seeing as all the videos and quiz answers are available to me I can go through those as a sort of refresher course before I tackle the project itself. 

The Second Midterm

After finishing this midterm, I finally have a few weeks of relative calm (apart from a few more pesky projects in this course!) until finals arrive. Although I have had to miss a few classes due to unexpected family issues, the detailed annoted slides as well as files containing the Dr. Racket code were very easy to follow, allowing me to catch up before the midterm. Some further review of the tutorial handouts along with a quick run through of all the slides provided made me feel very confident about the midterm.

The midterm itself was very fair, although some of the questions were confusing such as the questions involving the list function in Dr. Racket but they simply required patience and rational thinking at each step to get to the right answer. The rs function on the last page was especially tricky as the function itself was part of its definition. However by thinking back to the original palindrome example provided in class I realized that the problem had to do with recursion. With that in mind it made working through each line simpler as I already had a general idea what the end result is.

The one question that I was very unsure about was the first one that asked about how the computer and the user had different ways of storing data, as I wasn't very sure whether this was asking about the different types of memory devices that a computer uses, such as the hard drive or a flash drive or whether it was asking about different ways data was presented, such as as an image, text or sound. Asking the TA present quickly cleared up this misunderstanding.

Project #1

After having checked back on the course blog, I realized that my posts from the past two weeks haven't been posted! Luckily I write my blog posts on word before submitting them and I have both copies saved on my computer.

The first project was much more difficult than I thought. After reading the assignment sheet, I first thought we were expected to code the program from scratch, which was really shocking as i did not feel at all confident in performing such a task. However, once I opened the associated files, I realized we were only expected to make a few changes to make the code work properly and I was greatly relieved. Better yet, I wouldn't have to tackle this task by myself, and I would be able to work with my group members.

After first examining the files, I found the ball assignment much easier to understand, probably because it was easier to visualize what the program was supposed to do so it was easier to decipher what each line of code was supposed to do. I did have some problems with the bonus part of the assignment which involved adding triggers to accelerate movement of the ball, but after discussing with the group as well as going back and watching the videos on animation, we managed to figure out what kind of commands needed to be added to the code and it works perfectly!

The ecosystem assignment on the other hand felt a lot more abstract and was harder for me to picture so I spent most of my time working on the ball assignment while my group members tackled this one. While we did make some good progress on the project, there were are still some issues that we couldn't figure out, hopefully we'll have more time to look into it before the due date.

That wikipedia assignment...

After having taken a week off from writing in this blog due to reading week, here I am with another entry! While I was all ready to spend a lot of time on academic work this reading week, before I knew it the week was over and I had barely gotten any time to work on my tests or assignments and now I'm beginning to suffer from that wasted week. One assignment in particular who's due date seemed to have jumped onto me all of a sudden was the second part of the wikipedia project. Having discovered that the due date was close at hand and not having put in any work yet, I quickly began to read up on the articles I had chosen as well as the right syntax and format used by wikipedians when editing articles. While at first things seemed highly disorganized and I was all but lost trying to navigate the wikipedia help pages, I eventually managed to get to the helpful editing sections and by playing around in the sandbox as well as reading the revision history and discussion boards of more popular topics, I now think that I have a fairly good grasp of what needs to be done. As for the course itself, I am really looking forward to taking a crack at the first project assigned by Dr. Heap, as soon as I get these pesky midterms out of the way that is!

Post midterm

 After having written the midterm, I felt that it was very fair and hopefully managed to score well on it. While I felt fairly confident with the Dr. Racket questions in question four and five, the questions taken from lecture were much more challenging. Unlike the Dr. Racket questions, with which I have had some practice, these ones felt really foreign especially because they were so different from the ones seen in the past tests. However this is probably a good thing because I found the past test questions involved concepts that were much more difficult to learn whereas I managed to get the gist of what the questions in the midterm was asking after thinking about what the professor said in lecture.

On the other hand, the Dr. Racket material is getting more and more complicated and I'm beginning to need more and more time to understand how each line works and what each part of the syntax means. Hopefully this is only temporary and I'll be able to pick things up more quickly in the future.

Midterm Season

                Midterms! 3 of them! Just as I think that I'm finally getting used to life at university, midterm season rolls around, with the first wave all happening in the same week. Even though the csc104 midterm is also happening this week, I feel very confident in doing relatively well in this course, thanks mostly to the weekly tutorials, assignments and quizzes. Not only do they force me to keep on top of the material, since I want to do well on the quizzes, they also divide the course into manageable chunks for me to tackle. Furthermore, the weekly deadlines for assignments and quizzes have also forced me to set a specific time every week where I'll work on this course which further motivates me to spend some of that time reviewing lecture slides as well as the quiz material. I find it oddly satisfying to go over past quizzes, entering the question into Dr. Racket and just playing around with it to figure out how I got a question wrong or just why something works the way it is. Seeing as this has led to a fairly stable and structured schedule where my time and effort is paying off, as seen in my quiz marks, I have also begun to set arbitrary deadlines for myself in my other courses in an effort to stay on top of my school work. Hopefully this will lead to higher marks and a more successful, thus happier semester.

                While the programming aspect of the course is really easy to follow, I find that the lecture material is another story. While the programming part feels like it's going at a steady pace, I find that the lecture material is either incredibly slow such as several of the interactive parts like when the professor was trying to show how difficult it is to send data over a distance to being very difficult to comprehend leaving me quite lost. However this may be because I'm used to courses in this field and thus my expectations from lecture is different than what I'm used to. It'll probably take a few more lectures to get a hang of the teaching style being used.