David Oakes Learning Journal

The semester now comes to a quiet close. Sorry I couldn't post last week. Christmas is rolling up, and the second and final project must be finished by Friday morning. I simply haven't been able to find the time. Regardless, my time in the Software Engineering course is also coming to a close. Tomorrow begins the last official week until the winter break, in time for Christmas. My question: Where the heck did it all go?! I feel like I've only gotten started.  Regardless, This last prompt has asked me how I would've approached the first homework assignment differently, knowing that which I do now. All truths told, I don't think my approach would've changed particularly much. The Hangman assignment was a simple game of hangman played within the console. Much of it is built around the StringBuilder and a collection of integers. I personally, do not see how a Data Access Object or Repository would improve it, beyond adding a few extra bells and whistles. Pulling the...

My time managment skills(more like the lack there of) are really starting to show here. Cut it real close with the Gymlog program we had as homework. Got it in the end, but am I worn out from all the frantic bug checking. Once again the prompt this week is to reflect on last weeks homework. In this case it was  a Markov text generator. And at the hour I'm penning this I once again won't be able to answer every question. I know, I really need to get this work scheduling thing down! In any case, much of my strategy for Markov was the same as the LDPM from the week before. Go over the documentation, set up the method frameworks and comment-notes, then write out the code. And spend at least an hour fuming over that one bug that's shown up unannounced and is wrecking everything. Considering how well the approach is performing thus far, save that last bit, I might end up keeping it. And that statement goes for how I handle Java style, too. If it isn't broken, why risk breakin...

 Now this was a busy week. Not coursework, but a lot of holiday prep. Thanksgiving is literally day after tomorrow and here I am trying to get coding work done. This week's work saw us delve into the workings of Android studio in greater formality. As much as I wish I could go into greater detail, the writing prompt for this journal that Dr. C had provided wanted me to go over my solution to the major project the class had finished last week. The project was called Legally Distinct Pocket Monster, or LDPM for short.   Granted the prompt also directly stated that I was to work with at least one other student, but I couldn't get that to happen. Equal parts the bedlam of upcoming holidays and my own shortfalls in time-management. I'll get the latter sorted out at some point. Hopefully. Maybe. Probably.  In any case, I won't be able to answer every question on the prompt. Obviously not the ones that mention the approaches of my fellow student, at least. Solving the assig...

Now, this was a week. First project of the class down and the midterm. There was plenty of code to write, and it honestly almost didn't feel like there was enough time to write it all, never mind test it. But, it was written, it was tested, and it all worked out in the end.  This week, in place of the usual status update, Dr. C had us review out peers' code for a previous assignment. I was able to help out a student that was apparently in a different cohort to my own. Alex was taking Software Engineering with my cohort. The other person I got a review from was Sharmaine. From the both of them, I learned that I was better with the instructions for the program than I thought I would be. The code ended up being clear and concise enough for them to follow along and see what was going on. Though some of my comments on what the code did didn't quite line up with what was being printed in the output. There were a few suggestions, making certain variables instanced for one, or usin...

 I had made the mistake of underestimating just the sort of workload that I would be seeing in the Software Engineering course. Just had my first taste of the first of two projects in the course and I feel in way over my head already. Regardless, it's been equal parts a great refresher and appetizer for just what sort of tricks I'm going to be making use of going forward. So far, much of what I had been refreshed on in last week's work on CodingBat has yet to be properly utilized in the labs or the project thus far. But, I'm sure that it will hopefully prove useful in the near future. At the moment I'm having a hard time trying to picture when I'll be using Maps in java. That said, the run through of what constructors, getters, and setters are was made that bit more interesting by the fact that I was doing it in IntelliJ as opposed to a more humble text editor. This isn't my first time working in the Java programming language, but that doesn't exactly ch...

 First week of the software engineering course, and the ninth week of the program in general. I'll admit to have been expecting to see a lot of the same programs involved as when I was last in a Java focused coding course. Sublime text 3 and a JDK that needed to be accessed by way of the computer's command prompt. Well was I well off the mark. As now I'm meddling with Android Studio and IntelliJ. The tools of the big boys. I can only hope that I can get everything set up and sorted, I'd hate to lose access to the programs to some nonsense like suddenly being told that 'my free trial has expired' or something. Otherwise, there isn't all that much going on this week. Beyond learning, or maybe relearning, what maps were in Java, there wasn't a whole bunch of excitement going on this week. I'd say something to the tune of "I'm hoping the next week will have something more interesting to discuss." but I remembered what happened on week 2. So...

 Here at the end of week 8, on a Saturday. I already hope that the 'due at 5 pm' thing is only for this first, already cut short week, for, as such, this post is overdue as an assignment. The video project roster, when I last checked, didn't have the videos that I was tasked with reviewing. That fact basically defeated this week's prompt altogether. Not that I particularly mind, I was never particularly great when it came to reviewing.  In any case, the orientation for the Software Engineering course that'll be occupying the next 8 weeks of the program went very well. I already feel as if I'm going to get along with Dr. C. Though I am concerned with whether or not my Java skills are too rusty to get things going. It has been years since I last sat down and wrote any sort of code for any sort of reason. And the fact that we aren't using the same program as I did when I was studying Java code at Gavilan, granted while not wholly unexpected, is a little dauntin...