Blog Post #4 – CS 467

Whenever I am stuck on a programming problem, I remain calm and take a break from coding. Then, I’ll try to paint a “picture” of the problem that I am trying to solve, by either drawing it out, for instance using chairs or boxes as items in a list, or writing out the pseudocode. Writing pseudocode has helped me solve many problems as it has been helpful to be able to think about the math behind problem without worrying about proper syntax.

When approaching a new technology or learning a new topic, I almost always read the official documentation or mathematical proof. Previously, I have sometimes picked up a programming subject from an online tutorial or a textbook. However, I have come to realize that many of these third party resources will not always teach you the scenarios where their method can be used, as their tutorials are given from a mathematical standpoint. I always want to make sure I know how the functions of a module are used from an official source, so I can make sure that I’m using it as its authors intended it to be used, as well as know any rule exceptions.

An AI tool I use is Grammarly. Sometimes, I have many great ideas in my head when trying to write a story or essay. However, I tend to spin my wheels on ensuring my grammar usage, such as use of punctuations or subject-verb agreement is correct, which takes energy and time away from my creative juices. With Grammarly, I’m able to have an AI that not only learns from my grammar mistakes, but the mistakes from the millions who use the technology to help me correct my grammar errors as well as make grammar suggestions. This allows me to focus my efforts on ensuring I’m focusing my efforts on coming up with ideas in my writing, and not get bogging down on grammar mistakes.