CS 373 Fall 2020: Blog 6

What did you do this past week?

My partner and I finished our Network Security lab, and my IDB1 group finished our Phase 1 project. I was proud of the work we did and I learned a lot from both projects. Besides that, I finished a couple coding exercises and am studying for other classes.

What’s in your way?

Mostly getting familiar with all the technologies we are using in the IDB project. I want to get some more full-stack development experience.

What will you do next week?

I would like to knock out most of the SWE project since I am really busy next week. I also want to start studying for midterms soon.

If you read it, what did you think of “Why Is Silicon Valley So Awful to Women”?

Because I haven’t personally experienced discrimination in this field, I was generally unaware of the reality of women’s struggles in tech. Although I knew sexism was prevalent in our society, I had thought of tech as a futuristic field, and consequently assumed that they would be at the forefront of modern ideals and practices. However, this article highlighted that it is an issue for all software engineers to solve together, rather than some simple diversity training and then brushing the problem off as if it was solved.

What was your experience of iterators, reduce(), and tuple?

I knew of Python iterators and tuples before, but reduce() was a new topic for me. I liked the the applications of the method, especially that it can help clean up my already messy code. It continues the theme of cleanliness and intuitiveness that I like about Python.

What’s it like working in a group?

Groups help bring together diverse skills and experiences that one person can’t hope to have. Having people who already had experience with the tools we’re using helped all of us familiarize ourselves with industry standards.

What was your experience of the team contract?

The team contract helped clarify a lot of things about our workflow and expectations of one another. We need good communication and plans to be able to tackle a complex project with many moving parts.

What was your experience of the peer review?

I think it helped people evaluate what works and what needs to be fixed after Phase 1. It especially helped me realize what I could do to be a better teammate.

What made you happy this week?

I got a lot of work done this week and I’m finally settling into a the remote learning semester, which will help since next semester is likely online as well.

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

My pick-of-the-week is this ergonomic mouse. My hands sometimes hurt when typing a lot and this helps as a small break.