What did you do this past week?
This week, we took our first exam for this class! I went in confident in my conceptual understanding, but feeling underpracticed. The test was different than what I expected, as there was a much stronger focus on the readings than I thought there’d be. The programming questions focused more on knowledge of concepts and Python’s mechanics, so it suited my preparation much better than a written exam. In the end, I did very well on the exam! I also finalized my group for Mobile Computing, so I’ll have to start working our meeting times into my schedule.

What’s in your way?
The groups for this class! I failed to find a group in time, so it looks like I’ll be placed in a group at random on Monday. I’m not totally opposed to the idea, since all of my classmates seem like fine people, I’d just like to avoid any conflicting styles when I can. Although, I guess conflicting workflows are part of working in groups, so it might be good practice for the workforce if my group is not on the same page.

What will you do next week?
Meet my group and prepare for one of the most important weeks of the year; spring break! Jokes aside, I do have an exam for my Artificial Intelligence class that I need to prepare for, and a few homework assignments to knock out before I really get into break mode.

What’s my experience of the class? Improving my attendance has had a pretty positive effect on my class experience! Although I haven’t made any friends, I’ve gotten to better know more of my classmates, and that goes a long way towards creating an environment more conducive to learning! This is thanks almost entirely to professor Downing’s policy of making students work together to consider implementations of concepts. All in all, I’m enjoying the class more.

tip-of-the-week?
For my tip, I’d like to point out that there’s a ton of team-oriented software development tools out there! Being the JetBrains fanboy that I am, I have to point to YouTrack, an issue tracking program similar to Slack. Granted, I’ve had very limited experience with this software, and I’ll reserve judgement until I get to use Slack for the rest of the semester, but the point stands that you have options! Play around with tools until you find whatever helps make you more productive! Until next time, dear reader.