The Book

  I finally took the chapter 3 quiz today, the last attempt. Something went wrong, however, as the score marked was 0%.  I had to close the quiz window while I was taking it, because someone interrupted me.  I was so nervious and anxious taking the quiz, that I closed the window, which apparently doesn't stop the clock or saves your answers, because when I opened moodle up again, there were only nine seconds left and my answers were all erased.  Fail.  Anyway, I still insist fifteen minutes is hardly enough to complete those quizzes.  They have forty two questions I think, which leaves about 21.4 seconds to answer each question.
  Anyway, I bought the book today: Problem Solving with C++.  I've been told it's a really good book, so I hope it will help me understand the dreaded functions.  And I hope it's worth the money I spent on it: $105.02 to be exact.  I felt so lost in the two-hour session class today as we discussed more complex functions (and I still don't understand the ones in chapter 4), that I decided to buy the book.  We'll see how my investment works out.

The Test

   The test on Friday was really difficult.  I expected it to be, though.  I had five tests that week, and on Thursday night I hastly skimmed through the power points, reading over the important concepts and definitions.  I knew that wouldn't be enough, but I was exhausted from all of the studying that week, and I felt like my brain could not retain any more information. 
  Obviously, I didn't study enough.  I got a C on the test, as in, C++.  I wish I had gotten an A++.  The test was not that long, but it was very challenging.  Completing the for loop in the last excersise was a lot harder than I had thought it would be.  Also, the multiple choice questions with options from a to q didn't leave much room for guessing. 
   I'm pretty scared of having done bad on the first test.  Computer progamming is a cumulative course, and each test and assignment is going to get harder.  I know that on the next test, I'm going to have to study for both that test and the first one... Whatever, I can do it. 
   Now, functions.  I don't understand functions.  I listened carefully as the professor explained functions with the powerpoints, and at the moment I thought that I couldn't understand because I had been late to class that day.  However, I went to the professor's office, and I still couldn't understand.  I don't know, it's just something completely new and foreign to me.  I guess I have some reading to do.

Three down..

   This week, I have five tests.  I had two yesterday, one today, and two more to go.  This week has been and will be hectic.  I am apprehensive about the computer programming test most of all. If the online quizzes are any indication as to what the test will be like, then I have a reason to be scared.  Fifteen minutes is never enough for me to finish the moodle quizzes.  I always do them in a hurry, unable to check my answer.  Hopefully I'll be able to finish the test in fifty minutes.
  On another note, I'm pretty bummed out that I won't be able to go out on Thursday with my friends and dress up for the halloween parties in el pueblo.  I was planning to dress up as a nerd, with dark, wide rimmed glasses, high-waisted pants and a tucked in polo, and white shoes with black socks.  Very stereotypical, of course.  Ironically, I won't be able to go out and dress up as a nerd, because I'll probably be home studying. 

The Social Network

The Social Network

  I saw The Social Network a few days ago and it was amazing.  Jesse Eisenberg is one of my favorite actors, and his acting in this movie is truly Oscar-worthy.  Anyway, in the movie he's this Harvard student who is basically a genius and has no social skills whatsover.  He's a brilliant programmer, and he designs a program with an algorith that his friend provides him with by writing it in a window in their dorm.  What's so amazing is that after a few twist and turns, he ends up creating Facebook, which is, well, Facebook. 
   As I was watching the movie, and shaking with excitement, I thought, I'm never gonna be like this kid. He's the youngest billionaire in the world, and he didn't even finish his bachelor's degree in Harvard. 

                                                      This is the real kid: Mark Zuckerberg.

   However, although I'm no genius, I want to take advantage of this computer programming course and learn as much as I can.  There's a long way to go between a program about peas in a pod and Facebook, but I'm willing to learn.

First Lab

  So, last week I had to work on the first assignment.  At first I was terribly scared, as I haven't quite grasped the concept of programming.  When I found out we didn't actually have to write a program, just tweek it here and there and see what worked, I was very relieved.  The assignment turned out to be easier than I had anticipated.  The hardest part was actually installing Ubuntu (Wubi).  I installed it and disinstalled it a few times before realizing that to use it, I had to restart my computer and choose Ubuntu instead of Windows 7.  I was expecting to find a program inside of Windows, but I was wrong.  Anyway, the assignement really helped me to get acquainted with this new language and I learned to use Linux, which is actually pretty fun. 
  I had forgotten to mention that upon using Linux in the class a couple of weeks ago, I remembered that it wasn't the first time I had used it.  I had actually done some research work a couple of summers ago with my dad, where he worked with protein models.  I'm not sure what I worked on, as it was a long time ago and at the time I didn't understand it fully, but I remember having worked in Linux and using a terminal and commands such as cd, ls, mkdir, etc. 
   I'm beginning to realize that these skills that now seem so difficult to acquire and so extraordinary will eventually become second nature, and I'll be fluent in programming (if that's possible).

Last Friday

Last Friday, I think I finally saw the light.  After being confused with the new vocabulary and terminology and not really understanding what programming was all about, I finally got a glimpse of what it all meant.  The peas and pods program helped me understand.  This new language that I had yet to master did have a point: it was a shorter, simpler way to give commands to a computer.  I called my dad after the class, who has some experience programming, and he further explained to me what programming was all about.  I know it's baby steps, but I'm getting there.

First Class

  The closest I've come to computer programming is watching my high school calculus teacher create a program in a graphic calculator that would calculate the zeros of a function using the quadratic equation.  I'm not sure that counts.
   I'd heard about the zeros and the ones, but I had no idea what they meant.  Learning about bits, bytes, and the bynary number system has sparked an interest in me for programming.  Yesterday the professor explained they bynary number system (which I'd never heard of) and how every number is represented by a series of bits that can "easily" be calculated.  As a math student, I was excited to see an equation and have something to calculate. 
  I'm excited to continue learning more about this subject, yet apprehensive as I still feel pretty lost and ignorant on the subject.