I believe that I’ve improved my programming skills a bit considering that I didn’t have much knowledge about anything programming-related before, but I know for a fact that there is still so much room for improvement.
Some of the areas I believe I’ve improved in so far, throughout this class, include the following:
In some of the class labs and throughout the WODS, we’ve learned how to use some functions and develop others. In class, we did a function lab that taught us how functions were used. I remember the part where we specifically defined the ‘isNonNegInt’ function that we now use in our assignments. Even though we technically aren’t using the function word-for-word, it provides a good basis for what kind of function we may want to use for our assignments. We also learned about other practicalities of other functions, such as cutting up arrays or returning values. I also remember having to use functions for some of our WODs. One example was when we were developing our invoice. I remember having to develop a function to generate the rows automatically and to skip empty ones.
There are some areas in functions that I don’t understand properly. For example, I still don’t fully grasp callback and anonymous functions. I remember, in the lab, we had to do that part on our own, but I don’t think I fully understood it.
I remember towards the beginning of the semester, we had learned some of the basics of CSS. I remember, that in the first three WODs, we had to format some web pages about browser history. Looking back on it, I feel like I could’ve done a lot better if I did it now than before. I also remember using CSS throughout some of the lab work we did for our product display. I remember keeping them aligned and editing the titles and data inside to make the products display look “pretty”.
To be honest, I feel like I could improve a lot on using CSS for formatting. There were some web designs in some of the templates that I saw and went ‘I want to try that’ but I couldn’t figure out how to make it work with one another before it looked like a jumbled mess. Either way, there are some things I want to learn more about when it comes to CSS and using it in our last two assignments.
When it comes to using arrays and objects, I remember learning about it within the first couple of weeks of class. I remember how we, later on, started to implement arrays and objects more. I believe it was in lab seven or eight that we started to use arrays and objects even more. I remember having to put all of the numbers used for the amount of products bought into an array before we implemented the product display and invoice into one big folder. I also remember using some arrays for some of the WODs. I think one of the most recent WODs, DayoftheWeek, had us using arrays. I also remember having to implement objects into arrays for our assignment.
I understand that there are other uses for arrays and objects that I haven’t explored or touched yet. I want to try using data other than product information for the arrays and being able to use arrays and objects for other things. I’m not quite sure what, but I’m sure I’ll figure it out later.
I believe we have been using variables and have always been using different data types for all of the coding we’ve done throughout the semester. If I remember, we didn’t learn about the data types until the third or fourth week. Maybe even later than that. I believe that I’ve gotten better at defining the variables I use and understanding what data types I want for certain things. I remember mainly using integers for calculating things in our invoice and for some of our WODS while also doing a lab on how each of the data types impacts an equation. It was weird to see how a string was added versus how we would usually add a number (defining it as an integer rather than as a string).
I still have a little bit of trouble using variables and the different data types. There are times when I’ll define a variable in the wrong place and it won’t be a global variable because of where I’ve defined it. There are also times when I’ve accidentally used strings in an equation rather than integers.
As I’ve stated throughout the first part, there are definitely areas that I would like to improve in and will most likely work on in the future to get a better understanding.
Some of the areas that I wish to improve are:
One of the main areas that I, 100%, want to improve in is how to use parameters. I understand that we needed to use parameters to get data from the server throughout some of our assignments (specifically assignment 1 and the server-side processing lab). I admit that I do have a little bit of an understanding of how it works, I just don’t think I can wrap my mind around it.
Another area that I want to improve in is understanding server coding. I did my server coding but I got quite a bit of help from the labs and using ChatGPT. I understand certain things are used to call for information or to open the server on certain ports, but I don’t have a good understanding of the rest of the server codes. I don’t really know what can be used in a server file fully and I sometimes keep on formatting things like how I would in HTML.
When it comes to coding, I noticed that I have a problem of overthinking the problem. I would develop a function that would be too long, something could be easily simplified that’ll solve the same problem. For example, there were some functions like my generate_rows function that I had to take extra code out of because it was useless in my assignment1. Some variables I had kept redefining when I didn’t need to. There were also problems in my CSS where I added CSS to every single div when I didn’t need to.
I believe that I have learned a lot from the WODs. There were some WODS that I needed to look at the screencast to get a better understanding, but for the most part, I believe that I can do most of them on my own without copying the screencast. I know for a fact that the BrowserHistories I can do on my own, and the invoices with the product display WODs I can also do. There were also the DayoftheWeek and Making Change WODs that I believe that I can also do on my own.
There were times in the past where, before, I didn’t know some of the code that I would have used in the WODs until after we’d learned about it in class, either in the labs or through my research. There were also times when, even after spending hours trying to do a WOD, I’d have to go look at the screencast just to get an understanding of what was being used and why. Either way, I know for a fact that I’ve learned a lot from doing the WODs because I can code things that I didn’t know how to do before.
The labs have helped me learn. I’m not quite sure I was able to complete some of them with confidence, but they taught me new things. One of the most memorable labs would have to be the functions one. If I remember, it was when we put the data into arrays and objects for better usage. To be honest, I believe my code would be such a mess if I didn’t learn anything about arrays and objects.
Another lab that has taught me something was the client-side processing one. It may have been a different lab though. I remember learning about how we could use the terminal to check and see if our code was working or to see if we could call on some of the functions, objects, or arrays that we used. I also remember learning about some other stuff that could be used in the terminal. I remember learning about how to add new things to the arrays or being able to delete things in the terminal, even if it didn’t impact our code in the slightest.
When it came to assignment 1, I felt like I didn’t know anything. When I first started out the assignment, I was so lost. I didn’t know if I wanted to start on what kind of products I wanted to use, the server code, the display, or something else. I ended up following the instructions that were given to us in the assignment 1 tab. Afterward, it was a lot of trial and error. I kept on having to restart the server when it came to updating the quantity sold and I also had to keep on fixing some of the formatting in the CSS. I’m honestly glad that it’s done now, even if there are a couple of things that I would need to improve.
I’m not quite sure if I’m reading to work on assignment 2 just yet. I have a lot going on in other classes. In one of my classes, we had to develop a database but I was one of the only ones who were able to access the document so I’ve spent a lot of time working on that rather than assignment 1. Now that it’s turned in though, I believe I’m reading to start working on assignment 2.
To be honest, I kind of stopped going to class after the 9th week or somewhere after that. I ended up using the time during the class period to get food. Before I stopped going to class, I noticed that there were some things in class that could be improved:
I’m not trying to sound mean, but the lecture and the PowerPoint at the beginning of class were kind of boring. I understand that they were there for a reason, but I need something to engage my brain. I don’t do well with just staring at a screen and listening to lectures so there were times when I almost fell asleep or was just doing my own thing to distract myself before working on the lab. I think shortening the lecture or including more things that could engage the brain would be better. I was more awake when we were doing the lab, so maybe changing where we started doing the lab work would be good. It was a little annoying having the lab be done towards the end of the class.
Another thing that could probably be improved would be pacing. I understand that the class is paced slowly so that everyone can be caught up and make sure that no student is left behind, but I think there should be something for students who prefer faster pacing. I’m not sure what that would entail, but it just felt like we were going at a snail’s pace when it came to the lecture and the lab.
There were some things that had helped me out a lot in class. Here is a list:
I got help from one of the TA’s for some of the WODs and the labs. I didn’t realize that my GitHub wasn’t accessible at first, so I’m glad one of them was able to help get that sorted out. I also got some help from them when it came to the WODs and a little bit of help with understanding how to tackle assignment 1.
The screencasts have got to be one of the main forms of help that had helped me out the most. When I didn’t understand why something I did in a WOD didn’t work, I would look to the screencast to get a better understanding. I’m very grateful for that.