I have a love-hate relationship with programming. Each line of code challenges me; it forces me to think outside the box in a way that I am not used to thinking. It can get frustrating, even discouraging at times to see a plethora of errors. However, there is nothing more rewarding to me than being able to solve a problem from start to finish. In fact, the more I struggle to solve a problem the more rewarding it is when I finish it, and the more I study different languages the more I realize how much I have left to learn.
As someone who has never been fully confident in her programming skills, I find JavaScript to be a lot easier than I expected. Especially after completing the JavaScript course, I realized how helpful it was that I had learned Java and other programming languages in the past. I have some experience in Python, Java, and C. After learning some JavaScript basics, I can definitely say I prefer it to other languages such as C. It is very intuitive, just like Python, and although it is not as beginner-friendly I believe that JavaScript can be used to create so many different applications that it is worthwhile to learn. This module taught me some things that I previously did not know, for example first class functions is a new term to me that I had not been familiar with before. However, after actually doing the WODs and applying what I learned, I realized that practice will make perfect when it comes to learning JavaScript (or any other language for that matter).
After reading my professor Philip Johnson’s essay on athletic software engineering, I could safely say that it resonated with me greatly. School does not just teach us the material we need to know, but it also prepares us for the real world. And in the real world, efficiency is everything. There is a reason why some companies rise to the top while others do not, this may be largely due to the level of efficiency that the company is running at. By putting more emphasis on time and efficiency as opposed to just solving the problem, programmers can save themselves on time and save the company their money. Incorporating athletic programming into our curriculum is helpful because the time it takes to solve a programming problem should be taken into account. The WODs were extremely helpful to me as there was less focus on the difficulty of the problem and more emphasis on how to apply the basic JavaScript rules we learned earlier. This made it significantly easier for me to actually understand why I was doing what I was doing, rather than getting caught up in how difficult the problem is. Once I could understand the fundamentals of the topic I was learning, I could focus on improving my time to solve the given WOD.
What I am most looking forward to in the future modules and during the course of this class is to be able to further improve my programming skills. I found it quite easy to learn JavaScript, as the syntax is similar to other languages I’ve learned before. In fact, much of what I was learning was more of a review. I believe that being able to program in multiple languages allows us to have a deeper understanding of the fundamentals of computer science. Although there are differences in every language, there are many things that are fundamentally the same. I am excited to improve my programming skills because I want to feel comfortable enough to experiment on my own. My goal is to create an app of some kind as a challenge for myself, as I have never done anything like that before. I believe learning JavaScript will help me reach that goal. I am also looking forward to making connections between the things I learn in this class and what my true goals in life are. I want to find a way to incorporate my passions in life with computer science and technology related things.