Journal 14

 April 9 - April 22

Looking back at the Markov HW01 assignment, there are many different ways I would approach it. To begin, I have just gotten into the habit of planning out notes on paper before beginning coding while working on Project 2, and it has helped me tremendously to visualize exactly what I want to get done and what logical order to follow. Oftentimes, I jump directly into coding with no prior planning and can feel myself getting overwhelmed with the amount of work I have to remember to implement. With time dedicated at the beginning to research and planning, I find the task of coding much more manageable and enjoyable. In addition, I would be more thorough in the testing of the program. When I originally turned Markov in, I did not run the test class at all and just ran main, which led to errors and loss of points. I was used to just testing scenarios in main rather than creating a separate tester class, so I am glad to have learned how to properly test code, and I will be sure to utilize this knowledge in the future.

Two things I have greatly improved upon this semester are utilizing Try/Catch and extending classes. I used to hard code around certain scenarios, but using a try/catch makes locating issues much easier, and I like the flexibility of being able to write my own errors. In addition, I have learned a lot about extending classes and what inheritance and polymorphism truly mean in computer science. Extending classes makes programming so much easier, and the visuals in the lectures (hierarchy charts) made understanding the concept much clearer. Furthermore, implementing extensions in the LDPM project gave clear examples of how individual monster types extended the overall monster class. Finally, one of the most important things I have learned in this course is how to manage my time effectively. These last 8 weeks have been hectic to say the least, and balancing work, school, social life, mental health, and physical health have been a true challenge, but I am glad to say I got through it. I am glad Dr. Clinkenbeard emphasized the importance of celebrating accomplishments, and I felt like going out and enjoying myself every one in a while was part of this course in addition to the learning aspects.