CS371p Fall 2021: Shikhar Gupta

Week of 9/12

What did you do this past week?

This past week, I got started on the project and was able to successfully pass the first 2 tests on HackerRank. I also created my GitLab repository and got started on some of the issues.

What’s in your way?

So far, nothing is really in my way in terms of this class or the project. I am still struggling with general time management with all my classes, but I think it is getting better now. As it relates to this class in general, I still am getting used to the syntax and structure of C++, and as someone who codes mostly in Python it is very different from what I am used to.

What will you do next week?

I plan on finishing up the implementation and tests for the project this weekend and submitting by Monday. Hopefully, I am able to successfully implement the optimizations discussed in class in order to pass the last test on HackerRank.

If you read it, what did you think of the Paper #3: Continuous Integration?

The paper gave a really good overview of what Continuous Integration is and why it is so important to software development, particularly in production environments. It is surprising that it wasn’t thought of and included in the original versions of version control systems since testing and integration is such an integral part of software development.

What was your experience of IsPrime and Collatz optimizations? (this question will vary, week to week)

I was familiar with the Collatz optimizations already from taking software engineering last semester, but this was a good refresher. I think implementing these in Python vs C++ will be similar, but definitely still a challenge, but something I am looking forward to. IsPrime, I felt, didn’t pose too large of a challenge, but it got me thinking about ways to optimize what is seemingly simplistic code.

What made you happy this week?

This week, I was able to go onto campus and re-explore some buildings and classrooms I hadn’t seen in a long time. It was a nice way to reconnect and something that I’ve missed ever since COVID hit.

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

My pick of the week is Stack Overflow. I’m sure this website shouldn’t be new to any programmers or CS majors, but it is a great reddit-like resource for all questions related to technology or programming. Odds are, someone on stack overflow has run into and solved a problem you are facing in one way or another, so it’s a great resource to use when you get stuck on bugs.