Final Entry 😦
- What did you like the least about the class?
Nothing really. Since the second half of the semester was online, it sucked to not be able to communicate with my partner face to face while doing projects. But that was the only thing I didn’t like and it had really nothing to do with the class.
- What did you like the most about the class?
Pair projects. I really enjoy the company of other human beings while working on those coding assignments. Having a partner makes the projects more fun.
- What’s the most significant thing you learned?
I guess just how the C++ language works in general. C++ is a complicated language and it is hard to learn. There is so many nuances in C++ syntax that I would not have understood without Professor Downing’s lectures. The coolest thing about C++ is that it lets you create operators for your classes.
- How many hours a week did you spend coding/debugging/testing for this class?
I would say around 6 to 7 hours. Each project took me about 12 to 15 hours to complete and we usually got around two weeks to do each project. Also a significant amount of time was spent on the overhead stuff after we finished coding, such as the unit tests and makefile. The actual coding part usually only takes about 7 to 8 hours to complete.
- How many hours a week did you spend reading/studying for this class?
Around 1 hour. I’m a person who only reviews class material before the exams and this class only has two exams. I think the most efficient way to study for this class is to pay attention during lecture. If you understand everything in lecture then I don’t think there’s a need to review what you have learned weekly. Also Prof. Downing explains everything very clearly so I didn’t really have a hard time understanding class material during lecture.
- How many lines of code do you think you wrote?
I think I wrote about 600-700 lines per project. So I would say around 3000 lines in general. This number looks scary but in fact a big chunk of them were dedicated to unit tests, which tend to be hundreds of line long. The actual coding part is usually not that long, except for the last two projects.
- What required tool did you not know and now find very useful?
I found makefile helpful. It makes everything easy to do. Understanding what makefile does and its syntax is a crucial part of the class.
- How did you feel about the two-stage quizzes and tests?
I am neutral towards them. Two-stage quizzes make Professor Downing have to spend the first 10 – 15 minutes of the class on the quiz. That’s kind of inefficient in my opinion. The collaborative part of the tests is too easy and normally everyone should get a perfect score on that part. I do think that two-stage tests are too easy and not challenging enough.
- How did you feel about the cold calling, in the end?
Cold calling isn’t too bad at all. Even when you can’t answer the question Professor Downing would still guide you through it. There’s nothing shameful about not being able to answer a question in front of the entire class because some of the questions are really tricky.
