Progress So Far

Hello, friends and staff (who might also be friends).

Here’s another status update from old Cody.

I’ve been elbows deep in, among other things, the SNES project as well as every other kind of project under the sun. Having 4 classes is a waking nightmare for someone like me.

Regardless, I’ve had some time to watch videos and review documents on the structure of the Nintendo Entertainment system. I am kind of intimidated by my project teammates because they are so familiar with the structure already and are zooming along with the project. I am as comfortable with C and C++ as the next CS undergrad is, but storing things in registers and having tons and tons of bitwise operations being performed to run an entire gaming system is daunting, but one step at a time it looks entirely manageable.

The one thing we have going for us is that this is well-charted territory and our task isn’t anywhere close to being impossible. I have spent the majority of my time looking at the operator commands, registers, and addressing modes of the CPU so I can’t wait to expand and gain a fundamental understanding of the system as a whole.

My one concern is getting lost in class hell, which is often the case in OOP. I know that we learn about polymorphism and class inheritance but sometimes it is simply not the right move to stack classes hierarchically like that. I remain undaunted by the task at hand, merely daunted by the workload of my other classes.

This week I will have some time after I am finished with my CS450 class (graphics) project.

I have ADHD and am working on getting medicated again so I can more effectively manage my time and resources. My Life Pro Tip to others would be to never lose sight of your health. I know we all spend most of our days in front of a screen either big or little but our health is so important and tied to things like: focus, general well-being, energy levels, et cetera.

Nevertheless I am hopeful. There’s a zen-like state of workflow that one can put themselves in in order to deal with the responsibilities and expectations of school. School often makes students stop programming in their free-time due to the high demand of projects but I am excited to be working on a personal project for credits next semester.

I hope you’re all well and doing what you enjoy as well. I also hope that the graduate students’ union strikes a good bargain with the university. I wish the best for those who are just trying to work for manageable, livable conditions for them and their peers.

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