02.18.13

Fifth Entry
02.18.13

"Colorful Express"

I was surprised to have my test back on Tuesday. I usually have to be mentally ready to get back results of tests and assignments, so the test was a huge surprise. And it was also surprising that I did quite well. I don't know, in a way it wasn't a surprise because a so-called "cheat sheet" was allowed and the test did not cover that much material.

We now learn how to manipulate pictures in a very detailed, pixel-oriented way. Okay, that did not really make sense. What I meant was that we can now change every individual pixel of a picture. Color-list and color-blue sort of commands distort pictures to a very different level. The example of an iguana picture that professor Heap showed was very interesting.

02.10.13

Fourth Entry
02.10.13

"First Test"

Finally the computer science course came to its fifth week of class. The month is nearly ready to put its end punctuation, and I am glad that I got through this course so far.  Actually, I feel a little ashamed for not putting as much effort in the course as I do in my English class that is my intended subject of study. Come to think of it, I should not even prioritize subjects sometimes because learning one subject is as valuable as learning another. Hopefully in March I will find more time to spare for this course.

Tuesday's material was indeed a little challenging. What I found most interesting was the color codes. So far we have been working directly with shapes and numbers that we "defined" or "expressed" and could see very clearly the physical changes that were made onto them, but color codes were something more technical and not as obvious as the other functions we have been learning to do on DrRacket. Because I found it difficult, I wrote down the whole process and tried it myself at home.

And then my Wednesday afternoon was dedicated to study for the test. I reviewed the slides, Racket videos, quizzes and last semester's test. I was surprised to know that Professor Heap allowed us to bring the "cheat sheet" because I thought I would not ever see those again after high school. Personally what I wrote on my sheet was not very helpful, I guess I focused too much on the history aspect of the material, but it was comforting to have such a tool like that during the test.

Therefore, Thursday's class went by really quickly. The actual test was not surprising or felt like anything devastating, and instead I was happy to see that it reflected purely on things that were readily available for me to review on. Now I am looking forward to do the rest of the Wikipedia project

Whew, first test is over. Two more months and few more days to go!

02.02.13

Third Entry
02.02.13

"Spinning at the turning point"

The functions we perform on DrRacket are getting more and more complicated and interesting. The timer.rkt seemed like a revolution for me. Frankly, I was waiting to learn about more "cool" things I expected to learn in a computer science course: for example, making a simulation like a moving stick man.

In Thursday's lecture, we learned to make a clock with a picture of a barracuda as a clock hand. I once again smiled at Professor Heap's humor for thinking of a barracuda for a long and thin object that is like a clock hand. In fact, the commands for the timer was fairly confusing at the time in the lecture, so the humor of fish eased the tension for me.

I did review the lecture notes and tried out the command myself at home, but the quiz was indeed a little more challenging than the last two quizzes. I understand since the material for this week was more complicated anyways. Also, I was happy to see that I have been doing well so far in the quizzes. Hope I can continue this kind of result throughout the course. 

I wonder if I can make it snow in DrRacket...