girl geek in training

Best use of GIF ever

I spent so much time on one end of semester project that the other project turned into a steaming pile of fail. I hope for mercy.

I have however learned the basics of JSP and how to get my Java class files into JSP. I also definitely understand OOP programming more than I have before. It’s pretty exciting…and frustrating. Also, I finally get Eclipse and I like it!

I continually marvel at how these steps from CS 201 (aka crash course in Java) to CS 331 (data structures/algorithms with lots of Java programming) led me into courses where there was a lot less hand holding, but that foundation made it possible for me to not freak out. It also helps that I have stumbled through web scripting languages and database management in my previous life. It’s nice to know understand what the heck is going on: the theory behind it.

However, the biggest lesson I have learned this short summer semester is that application development is best done over the course of weeks with plenty of rest. When I, with fresh eyes, started looking at some of the PHP code that was failing and that was written during my sleep deprived moments, the reasons for failure were so obvious.

I’ve been…busy. My one complaint about summer session is that for CS courses, introducing the final projects towards the end of the session is just not right. I’ve been up for about 4 days straight (well, with 5 hour sleep breaks) attempting to finish one final project which still needs work. I haven’t started on my other final project and I have to figure out Java for the web (JSP) to make it work.

I know Java to an extent. I’m just nervous about getting server connections up, figuring out how to connect to the database, and all the things that can often go wrong when you do something for the first time. My hope is that I can make it work and learn some things about Java in general that are still fuzzy.

What the past 4 days have taught me is the importance of practice. I’ve been telling myself that I would make my personal website dynamic (using PHP) for 6 or so months. I hadn’t done PHP in a while and so, was nervous about picking it back up. The project I’ve been working on (for my database course)  needed a GUI interface. I could have done this in JSP, but as time was short, I wanted to use a language I was passingly familiar with and that I knew would work.

Now I feel a lot more confident about using PHP for when I do update my website. Also, I’ve noticed my CS courses have taught me to not have a total meltdown when I see error messages. Apparently error messages help you figure out what want wrong. Who knew?

After today’s presentation of PHP/MySQL application which worked a bit, but not totally, I needed a break from sitting at a computer writing code. I also took a 3 hour nap. It was glorious. Now, I am going to get a full night’s rest before tackling this next project.

My apologies for the dire silence.

I ran a relay two weekends ago.

Then, my brother and future sis-in-law came to visit.

I have been playing catchup ever since. I managed to miss one homework assignment from my object oriented programming (OOP) class. It’s online and I had 6 hours of video to get through and so, it got overlooked. Luckily, the teacher announced extra credit yesterday which I hope will help me make up for it.

The best thing about OOP homework is that it’s not difficult. Difficult would be having to write a program and going through it not working about 6-10 times before finally getting it mostly right. That would be how my last two CS classes went. But, the best part about my last two CS classes are that I am already extremely familiar with the concepts being discussed in the OOP lectures.

Had my first database organization homework. I have to pat myself on the back because after a lot of Googling, I figured out how to use PuTTY to connect to a remote server, that I could use my Windows ftp command line to get the files from said remote server, and how to use sqlplus like a midboss.

A few affirmations:

• I do really like working with databases. I picked a great minor. Yay!
• The more I am forced to work with command lines, the more comfortable I become with it, and the more I prefer using it.
• I need a graphic designer superfriend because I have no desire to do cool graphics.

It's all mathematics

I watched my lecture from Database Organization over the weekend. All 2 hours and 4 minutes of it. Surprisingly enough, it became more interesting  as it continued until I started getting antsy (thus, I haven’t full retained the last 20-25 minutes of said lecture).

It was interesting because I was already learning a lot of things I didn’t know about the theory behind databases. The reason why I had to take a course on data structures the previous semester clicked: oh, a database is a data structure.

It seems pretty obvious once you say it, but my learning about data structures seemed pretty abstract. But now, it’s all coming together. I’m thinking that data structures are the jump off for a lot of applications, I just happen to be learning about one application: databases.

After that link was established, the professor went on to talk about set theory. He acted like the students in the class should already know what it was and once he got to explaining it, it was eerily familiar. It fascinates me that the little incongruous bits of information that I was taught in grade school often pops up in college and it turns out to be a really big deal. Because set theory (remember Venn diagrams?) is kind of a big deal. It’s the basis for the 4 basic operations of a database: add, update, delete, and…if only I could remember the last one. It might be query/find. Don’t quote me.

As someone who has used SQL for years, it fascinates me that there are equations behind how a SELECT statement operates. I don’t have it all down yet, but I’m pretty excited to get into it. Currently, I’m waiting for my textbook to arrive, so I can read more on set theory and do some practices problems.