CS373 Spring 2020: Rithvik Saravanan — Blog Post #2
What did you do this past week?
This past week we got a good introduction to the project pipeline of this course as Professor Downing walked through the project with us and explained various ways to implement and speed up our solutions, including skipping steps while computing cycle lengths as well as utilizing caches to store cycle lengths for certain ranges. I have not yet started on the code for this project, but I believe that I have a good understanding of the project and how to tackle it.
What’s in your way?
I’m taking more hours this semester than I have typically taken in previous semesters, so my course workload is a bit stressful as I am working on adjusting. I also plan on joining a few more organizations on campus this semester, so I am working through how I will balance these with my heavy workload.
What will you do next week?
I will try to finish the project next week and maybe try out Docker while doing so. I know that I can ssh into the UTCS lab machines, but I want to experiment using Docker to work on this project because it is a tool that I have heard of from many sources, but have never had a good opportunity to mess around with. I hope that I will be able to learn how to use Docker and try to put it to use in my future projects.
What was your experience of assertions, unit tests, coverage, and continuous integration? (this question will vary, week to week)
I learned a lot about the testing and integration aspect of software development this week and have grown to appreciate the necessity of a proper test suite as well as a good build integration environment. I had never heard of the coverage tool before, but it seems like a convenient and helpful aid to have when writing tests. By showing us how much of the code has been covered by certain tests, it allows us to write better tests and confirm the usefulness of our existing tests. Although I have learned and had experience with assertions and unit tests before, it was helpful to get a full overview and understand how they all work hand-in-hand.
What made you happy this week?
I was happy to make time to start playing basketball again. I did not have much of an opportunity to play over the break, so I was glad to get back on the court. I have come to acknowledge that playing basketball has helped me stay more focused on my work and serves as an enjoyable break for my mind, so I plan on making time each week to get some playing time in.
What’s your pick-of-the-week or tip-of-the-week?
My tip-of-the-week is to not procrastinate and to try to finish your tasks as soon as possible. Although it is a very hard goal to achieve, I have been trying to minimize my inclination to procrastinate by taking small breaks while doing my work. Doing so has definitely helped me stay on task for a longer period of time, and has prevented me from getting burned out doing my homework.
