CS373 Spring 2021: Matthew Bianchi

Week 4

What did you do this past week?

This past week, I finished up the Collatz project and filled out the survey for the group assignments. I’ve also been working on several projects for other classes, which has taken up a significant part of my time.

What’s in your way?

The only real blocker I have is other classes and work for them. I am in three project-based classes, so managing time for them will be my biggest struggle.

What will you do next week?

This next week, I intend to catch up on some other classes while I have some downtime. Since the work for this class depends on when our groups are announced, I have to wait for them to do any work on the future projects.

If you read it, what did you think of the Pair Programming?

I’ve found the concept of Pair Programming to be quite useful in other projects in the past. Several of my classes here at UT have had pair programming aspects, and it has always been useful to work in teams. I feel like the idea of Pair Programming is sound, and I think it is very useful to write good code.

What was your experience of types?

I find types to be very interesting, especially in a language like Python which has dynamic typing. Making sure to keep track of types and manage them is essential in languages where types are dynamic. By checking types, you can also guarantee that your input is as you expected, which makes sure your program behaves the way you want. Even though I had used Python a lot, I did not realize all of the type implications within the language, and I felt that the lecture over them was useful.

What made you happy this week?

In one of my other classes, our project is to create a complete video game over the course of the semester. We have gotten to a point where we have made a decision on what our game is about and the general aesthetics, and I am really excited about how our game looks. At the end of the semester, we are publishing the game, which is very exciting and something I am looking forward to.

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

My tip of the week is to make sure to take breaks as often as needed. Especially with everything being remote, it is hard to be able to get out and take some time off for yourself. However, because everything is remote, it is very important to be able to get away from your computer and relax. I know for me that if I work for too long I start to feel burnt out, so I try to set a healthy schedule to ensure that I have plenty of time to rest and recover.