CS371p Fall 2020 Final Entry: Prateeka Kodali

Howdy! Welcome to my Object-Oriented Programming Blog (Week 15)!

How well do you think the course conveyed these takeaways?

• test first, test during, test after, test, test, test
• when designing algorithms, demand the weakest iterator
• when designing containers, provide the strongest iterators
• build adapters on top of containers, iterators, and functions
• 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

I think the course conveyed the takeaways really well. Everything from the lectures, papers, and projects all discussed these different concepts/ideas thoroughly. Over the course of the sesmester I was able to grasp C++ constructs and how to design containers and build adapters, as well as follow a proper routine for projects when it came to testing and pushing code. This is definitely good practice and is very useful for future internships and jobs.

How well do you think the course conveyed those takeaways?

I think the course conveyed these takeaways very well. I was able to learn a lot through the entirety of this course. I learned about C++, Object-Oriented Design and principles, as well as collaboration and tools. All of the takeaways listed above were heavily emphasized and have definitely gave me a better understanding into software design and code structuring. I would say one of the most useful and important takeaways from this course, which were heavily emphasized, were containers, iterators, and code quality. Code quality encompasess the idea that a good structure is essential to be able to properly test and apply the important design principles.

Were there any other particular takeaways for you?

A particular takeway was the importance of constant pointers and references. There are so many combination of these and each one had something unique about it. Professor Downing did a great job of going through everything in detail, and so now I have a much better understanding of pointers, references, and the usage of const.

How did you feel about two-stage quizzes and tests?

I liked the two-stage quizzes and tests. It was interesting to see how other people approached certain problems and it was nice to be able to discuss key details that I might have missed when answering the questions.

How did you feel about cold calling?

I really liked the cold calling. I felt that it actually kept me engaged during class, and in a way made sure I was focused and thoroughly understood the material. When I got stuck answering something, Professor Downing was very helpful in explaining the concept and then guiding me to the right answer. Especially with online classes, it was a nice way to still have the classroom feel and encourages class participation.

How did you feel about office hours?

For me personally, office hours were super helpful. I was able to get a lot of my questions answered very quickly. The TAs and Professor Downing provided a lot of helpful tips when it came to completing the projects.

How did you feel about lab sessions?

I went to a couple of lab sessions and they were pretty helpful, especially in the beginning when I had to learn how to set up everything for the projects. I do wish the lab sessions were split up into multiple sessions rather than just one because sometimes it was hard for me to attend at that specific time.

Give me your suggestions for improving the course

Overall, I thought the entire course was great and Professor Downing did an excellent job of explaining all the material in detail and clarifying any doubts along the way. The only suggestion I have is possibly incorporating the content discussed in the papers into lectures. I felt that the information in the papers is very useful and important to OOD and the inforamtion could be discussed in more detail using the material we learn in class. Overall, I love the current structure and content of the course.