CS373 Fall 2022: Fernando Mercado

  Intended long-term takeaways from this class: test first, test during, test after; test, test, test when designing algorithms, demand the weakest capabilities (e.g., iterable vs. indexable) when designing containers, provide the strongest capabilities (e.g., indexable vs. iterable) build decorators on top of containers, iterators, and functions utilize the benefits of being lazy (e.g., yield) always look for reuse and symmetry in your code collaboration is essential to the quality of your code and to your well-being in producing it refactor, refactor, refactor make your code beautiful How well do you think the course conveyed those takeaways? While there was a pretty significant disconnect between lecture materials and the content of the project, the principles we learned in class were absolutely applicable not only to the project but any coding I will be doing in the future. The best programmer is a lazy one and this class really helped hone my lazy skills. Were there any other ...

  What did you do this past week? My team finished up with some great work for the project and we set out a game plan that I think should lead us to success in the coming few weeks remaining of this semester. What's in your way? This last week was very stressful for me and the mounting pressure of the looming end of the semester is accumulating. I'm unfortunately behind schedule on my iOS app as well, so I'm stuck playing catch-up with that over break. What will you do next week? Next week I will enjoy my break to the maximum extent possible, but I will need to be working for most of it. It's my mom's birthday this week as well so I look forward to celebrating that with her. What did you think of Paper #13. What Happens to Us Does Not Happen to Most of You? This week's blog was a very good read, and I was honestly appalled at some of the stories shared in the blog. Male-dominated STEM careers can be a very harsh environment for women and I hope that I can contri...

  What did you do this past week? My group worked tirelessly to iron out our P2 implementation as well as the P3 things due this coming Monday. I also have grinded my app a lot more as I have the deadline for my beta coming up. What's in your way? The stress of the looming end of the semester is piling up due to my classes being largely project-based. There is a lot of work to be done in a relatively short amount of time. What will you do next week? I really need to hunker down and just work now. My top priority will be to get significant progress done on my final version of my app after I present my beta on Monday. I'm looking forward to working on P4 things with my group and finally being in the home stretch of this class. What did you think of Paper #12. Why extends is evil? I really appreciated the more human tone of this article, with some subtle humor blended in, which made it much easier to read than the previous few papers we've read. I see what the author is saying...

  What did you do this past week? This week I mostly worked on getting progress made on Queue, which felt kind of slow but we have done well for the week. I helped my friend move out of their apartment which was very chaotic but still fun.  What's in your way? This last week I've felt very unmotivated and I'm not quite sure why. I think it's just the pressure of the nearing end of the semester. What will you do next week? The coming week is a daunting one. I have a deadline for both of my major projects on the same day and a large amount of work to do for both. I want to also take time to just focus on my mental health but I worry I might not have much time to do that this week. What did you think of Paper #11. More on getters and setters? Having a Builder class was an interesting concept to me and it made a lot of sense, especially considering what last week's article said. What was your experience of the SQL, joins, and subqueries? I didn't really have any SQL...

  What did you do this past week? The beginning of this week was very hectic, with our team working very hard to get phase II turned in. After that, we took a short break in development but have continued doing great work and it's nice to see the project coming together. I helped a friend move into her new apartment as well which worked great to get my mind off school and work things. What's in your way? Our group is a bit behind I think in terms of the project and I'd really like to get back on track. What will you do next week? I will focus on working on the project and building more of my app. Really I would like to set myself up for easy weekends, as I am leaving town both of the coming weekends. What did you think of Paper #10: Why getter and setter methods are evil? This week's paper was a nice breath of fresh air, being a new article from a new author. It was getting a little difficult to read the previous few papers simply due to their similarity. I like that th...

  What did you do this past week? Team Queue made a lot of progress this week and I think we are set to finish on time for the phase II deadline. There's a lot of work yet to be done for the overall project's lifetime, but we are doing great work and I hope to continue on that track. I also did a lot of work on my iOS app WeGoGym, but after showing my alpha off I realized I need to redo a lot of the work which is unfortunate. What's in your way? This week I felt extremely unmotivated for no reason at all which put a major hamper on my productivity. What will you do next week? This coming week I will try to sustain the productivity streak I've been on these last few days for as long as I can. More applications and more developing of my app and website are in order. What did you think of Paper #9: The Dependency Inversion Principle? To be honest, the last few papers we've read by this author are very similar and a lot of the topics are so similar it's difficult to...

  What did you do this past week? Our group was able to set up a skeleton of our database and made great progress on the project as a whole this week. I have also been doing a lot of work on my iOS app, which the alpha release should be done this coming Monday!  What's in your way? Much like last week, my classes are all competing for my time and it seems there is too little time to go around. I think I need to be much more selective with what I devote my time to and even cut back on things I would usually do until this hump of work is done. What will you do next week? I will start building the beta build of my app, and finish out phase II of the project for this class. I will also be taking the Texas government UT test (to complete my AP government credit from HS). I have two essays due for classes and also of course, will be Leetcoding. What did you think of Paper #8: The Integration Segregation Principle? I like that the last few papers have all been somewhat continuations ...

  What did you do this past week? My group finished up the first phase of the project. The process was very stressful and we have started earlier as a way to combat this happening again when time comes to submit. I'm also working on my iOS app and still working on Leetcode. What's in your way? This week was a challenge to balance my time. All of my project-based classes (all of my classes) have picked up dramatically and thus it was very difficult to allocate a sufficient amount of time to each of them. What will you do next week? I hope to continue working on the project for this class, and really wrap up a solid alpha build for my app to showcase. This week will determine how the coming weeks go based on how much work I can get done, so I will have to try my best to do everything. What did you think of Paper #7: The Liskov Substitution Principle? I thought the paper was an excellent addition to the OOD paper we read previously. The paper included some very applicable examples...

What did you do this past week? I began work with my group on the IDB project and have made excellent progress thus far. We are on track to finish by the deadline and I am very happy with the product we have put together so far. Of course, I have been studying some LeetCode problems for interviews. What's in your way? This week was quite good in that there was nothing really in my way. I did what I was supposed to do for all of my classes and was quite productive. What will you do next week? Monday, I will put the finishing touches on the project with my group, and submit. I have to write a few essays for other classes but hopefully those aren't too hard, I have been putting a lot of focus on this class, though. What did you think of Paper #6: The Open-Closed Principle? The paper included some really insightful thoughts on the heuristics we abide by as programmers and provided good reason for why they exist in the first place. It was interesting to read such an in-depth, logica...

What did you do this past week? this last week, I didn't have anything particularly important to work on other than being proactive in my job hunt and a little bit of homework. I also meet with my IDB group and they were all very cool and we came up with some great ideas. I also finally finished my design document for my mobile app I'm working on. What's in your way? I fell behind a bit this week for no particular reason but am on my way to being back on track. What will you do next week? My group's idea got approved so we will start coding next week. I also begin coding for my mobile app and have an exam to study for. What did you think of Paper #5: The Single Responsibility Principle? The paper was really interesting and provided good insight to how we as programmers break problems into smaller ones, dictating how we approach the solution. What was your experience of reduce and methods vs. functions? Having been familiar with Python prior to this class, the previous w...

  What did you do this past week? I finished up Collatz this week and while I got a bit behind last weekend, was able to catch up for the most part in all of my classes. I have been focusing on applying for jobs and doing LeetCode problems for interviews. I'm on the UT curling team and we lost our first game as a team on Friday so that was a bummer but the streak we had leading up to the loss was a great accomplishment. What's in your way? After a brief setback last weekend, there is hopefully nothing in my way for this week, so as long as I stay on top of things I should be good to go. What will you do next week? I will get started on project 2 this week and meet my team. I will also be working more on the design document for my iOS app. Like I said in my last blog, my focus will be on starting as early as possible and doing things in a timely manner. I will study LeetCode some more and try to set myself up for success in all of my classes. What did you think of Paper #4: Pair...

  What did you do this past week? This last week I watched some movies for my film class and worked on my iOS app more as well as collatz. I have been in the gym consistently every day, which is a very welcome change of pace since I got out of the habit back in November of last year. I also had to travel back home to Houston this weekend which was both nice and a nuisance. What's in your way? This weekend I had to travel to Houston for an unfortunate family event which shook my schedule up quite a bit but I hope to not have fallen behind too much in any of my classes, especially this one. What will you do next week? Next week I assume we will be assigned our groups for this class after taking the survey about our availability and experience. I look forward to meeting them and getting started on the next project. Based on the collatz project, a major goal of mine will be to start as early as possible and work as regularly as possible on the assignment. I will also finalize my design...

  What did you do this past week? This last week I spent most of my time ironing out the logistics of this semester. I was added into CS370 where I'll be working with Dr. Bulko to develop an app that I'm excited for. I tried to prioritize my health by going mountain biking (which I've unfortunately gotten in the habit of not doing) a few days this week but was rained out a few times. Hopefully these next few weeks get better in terms of the weather. Most importantly however, I started work on project 1 for this class, setting up the repo and laying down some initial code. What's in your way? Thankfully there has been nothing in my way thus far, and I hope to keep it that way by staying on top of things because I know that when the semester starts ramping up I sometimes start to fall behind. What will you do next week? Next week my main focus will be the project for this class and I hope to do as much as possible as efficiently as possible by using assertions and unit te...

Where did you grow up? I grew up in Cypress, Texas, and moved to Austin for college. What high school did you attend? Cypress Woods High School in Cypress, TX What was your favorite extracurricular activity in high school? I was on the swim team all 4 years and loved every minute of it. My team and coaches are dear to my heart and I cherish the memories made in that pool (despite them all being at the ungodly hours of 5-6 am) Why did you come to UT? I love the city of Austin but primarily because it has a stellar CS program and isn't across the country from my hometown of Cypress. Why are you majoring in CS? I've been on computers since I was 10 years old due to my dad introducing me to gaming, and both him and my mom also majored in CS back in the day so it only felt like a natural move given my love of technology. Why are you in this class? I have heard great things about the applicability of the material in this course to real workspaces and software development in teams. Wh...