CS371P Spring 2020: Matthew Bianchi
Week 14
What did you do this past week?
This past week was the calm before the storm. I worked on my Life project a fair amount, and plan to spend more time working on it over the next couple of days to finish it up. In addition, I started studying for several of my tests coming up this week, since it’s the last week of the semester and everything’s coming to a close.
What’s in your way?
The biggest obstacle I have is my other classes. I have a total of 4 tests before Wednesday, and it’s going to be stressful studying for all of them. Although it’s going to be stressful, I’m looking forward to finishing my classes and reaching the summer break.
What will you do next week?
This coming week will consist of finishing up my project, studying for tests, and working to finish out the semester. There’s a lot going on, and not a lot of time to do all of it, so I will need to be diligent in completing all of my work.
What was your experience of virtual, pure virtual, and smart pointers? (this question will vary, week to week)
The virtual methods and classes seemed like very useful mechanisms to ensure that code is written properly within child classes. They seem like very effective and very useful ways to help prevent errors within child classes. Smart pointers also seemed useful for keeping track of what objects were still pointed to, which is a very useful concept within many different applications. I see these concepts being very useful moving forward in my career using C++ (and other languages that use these concepts).
What made you happy this week?
I signed up for classes this week, and I was able to get into the Game Technology course (CS354R). This is a course I’ve been trying to get into for the past couple semesters, but have always been unable to — either the waitlist is too long or it doesn’t fit my schedule. However, I was able to get into it for next semester, and I’m looking forward to taking it in the fall.
What’s your pick-of-the-week or tip-of-the-week?
With finals coming up, I know most people will be studying hard for them, probably locked up inside reading over their notes. While studying is important, it’s also important to take a break every so often. Because of the coronavirus situation, it’s even more important to be able to find ways to get out and take a break from studying. I would recommend going on a run or a bike ride or something that lets you get outside and takes your mind off of studying for a bit, so that when you come back your mind is refreshed and ready to go again. In my experience, physical activity helps me refocus my mind and helps relieve some of that stress that comes with studying for finals, so I would recommend that people try to get out between study sessions.
