Best Language So Far
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Foundation
Coming into ICS 314 I did not know what to expect. All my friends would talk about would be how they built websites. I thought we would be building websites using some sort of website template. I did not anticipate we would be using JavaScript. Learning JavaScript through FreeCodeCamp was very helpful and from doing that I was able to learn a lot about the language. I am still nowhere near perfect, but I do have a sense of the basics. Personally going back to that website will be very helpful because I will be able to build a solid foundation and start getting good at the basics. Being good at the basics will help me be able to start doing advanced levels things.
JavaScript is Friendly
I am not very familiar with many languages, as I have just started my computer science career. Coming from my perspective I really enjoy JavaScript, I never had any experience with it and the language is fun to learn. I enjoy it because it doesn’t seem as complicated to learn so far. Comparing this with the other languages I know (C, C++, java) it is the easiest so far. I think that JavaScript is a very good language to learn because it has to do with web development, which is very important. If I had the opportunity to pick which language to start off with, it would be this one. I feel like this language is very user friendly because it is pretty easy to understand. I believe JavaScript is a great language to start with because students will be able to pick up this language quickly and it will be much easier on the teacher. Once students get a deeper understanding of JavaScript they will be able to pick up the harder languages easier. Since this is one of the easier languages to learn students can really learn the principles and the basics of computer science. Understanding the principles and basics of computer science as a whole will make it easier to learn different languages.
Stress Can Be Good
I didn’t know what athletic software engineering was until this class. Athletic software engineering is programming under pressure. The ways we are tested are through these things called WODs. WODS stand for workouts of the day. I like these WODs because they are going to be very beneficial for us down the road. I usually like to take my time when I am coding, but coding under pressure is something very new to me. In most cases I need to do a better job of performing under pressure. The only thing I was pretty good at under pressure was playing baseball. I appreciate the WODs because these problems are another way for me to get better at performing under pressure. This will be especially beneficial for me because as I mentioned in my previous essay and project, I will be going into the Air Force. Being in the Air Force I am going to have to make decisions and be able to perform under pressure. I get a lot of practice with situations that involve pressure in AFROTC, but the more practice I have with these types of situations the better. WODs are very stressful, but are a good way to learn as well. It forces you to understand and master the material because you want to do well on the WOD. WODs right now are not necessarily my best friend because this is my first time being exposed to them. I feel like I will get use to it and be able to master WODs. Another reason I think WODs are great is because getting a job outside the Air Force may involve something similar to a WOD. Someone may tell me to go to a whiteboard and solve a problem within a certain time limit, which is just like a WOD. Previous students have come up to Professor Johnson and said during interviews they have had people tell them to solve problems within a certain amount of time. Each student said that the WODs were very useful. Even though I may not be so thrilled all the time about performing under pressure, I do appreciate them because they are going to be very beneficial in the long run, not only in computer science, but also in many different areas of life.