CS373 Fall 2020: Abdul-Ghaffar Balogun

Blog #4

What did you do this past week?

This past week I finished my Collatz project! It was very rough finishing up and getting all the engineering details together. I was also working to finish up my Algorithms work as well. After that, I spent the rest of my week relaxing, because I know that things will pick up next week.

What’s in your way?

I have to get acquainted with the technologies needed for the project. I don’t have too many experiences with the tools needed, so it’s going to be a little difficult to familiarize myself with them, especially in the beginning.

What will you do next week?

I am going to spend my time learning the tools I need and meeting up with my group. I want to be able to start off strong, so we don’t get left trailing as the project progresses. I also plan on brainstorming ideas with my group for our project idea.

What was your experience of exceptions, IDB1, and types? (this question will vary, week to week)

I don’t have too much experience with python so many of the things that we went over were new to me. It was interesting to see the logic surrounding exceptions in python. I never knew there were clauses ‘else’ and ‘finally’ with regards to python. Also, exceptions can be tricky especially with the ordering, you may not notice it and it could creep into your code and cause problems. Types are also a tricky notion as well, the overarching idea surrounding them is similar to other languages, but it’s important me to understand it with the context of python. It will be a little tricky getting used to it, but I hope after seeing it so much it will become second nature.
With regard to IDB1, I am a little nervous about its intensity, but I am excited to learn a lot from the experience. I must note there may be some social barrier with everyone being remote so hopefully my team I and breakthrough that to make good progress.

What made you happy this week?

This week I was able to see my younger cousins! It was very much needed because being around them brings about a relaxing joy in me. I was able to play and just spend some quality time with them.

What’s your pick-of-the-week or tip-of-the-week?

As we were introduced to our group partners it’s very important to make sure that you and your partners are all on the same page. Clear your schedule conflicts, tackle everyone’s strengths, establish an effective platform of communication, and make sure you understand what each person expects from the other. Communicating your different concerns and information you think is useful with your group is very important in building successful relationships.