Journal 9

March 5 - March 11

Well, CST300 is over, and CST338 has finally begun. I am excited to finally stop writing essays and get to some coding. I'm eager to see where the next 8 weeks takes us.

CodingBat Challenges:

For most of the CodingBat work, I was able to easily solve the challenges in my head since many of them are review. However, on the more difficult ones that required a little more planning, I used a sheet of paper to plan out small pieces such as for loops. For example, some of the String and Array challenges had a bit of counting in regards to the numbering of elements/chars, so I used the scratch-paper to keep track of where I wanted each to start and end. Of course, there were some that did not work on the first try, and I used the incorrect output to troubleshoot my code. For example, an incorrect output where items were shifted one to the right told me I needed to readjust my for loop to be one less (i instead of i+1). I found that really thinking through what was being asked of me before starting my code resulted in less failed attempts, and made it much easier once I had a mental map of where my code was heading. Jumping straight in and trying anything is not a tactic I find useful, and I do not like to work in this way. Sometimes, on very difficult tasks, I find that writing out a map or outline on paper helps to keep me on track and keep my thoughts organized. Overall, I am happy to see that the CodingBat challenges were easy refreshers of topics I am already acquainted with.