Sam Bryan

I've been a tutor for this past semester to students taking Introduction to Programming. Many who have come to my session are moving on to Data Structures next semester. They asked if they could have a primer as to what to expect. I have some resources that I have found helpful both while taking the course and tutoring it in the past. It will take me a little bit to compile a good list of those, but for now, here is a bare-bones list of topics of topics you might expect to see for a data structures course: Part 1: - Running time of code segments (Big-O Notation) - Abstract Data Type (ADT) - Interfaces (when to use "implements", cannot instantiate them, what inheritance is) - Superclass, subclass, method overriding/overloading - Abstract classes Part 2: - Binary Search Trees - Stacks (and its four methods — push, pop, peek, empty) - Linked list (single, double, circular) - Prefix and postfix notation (compare to infix) Part 3: - Min/Max Heap - Hash Table...

For the final pattern that I will be writing about for this capstone, I wanted to write about something that I’ve felt for a while, but I did not know if my intuition was correct. I picked this one because of this line, “someone who has never failed at anything has either avoided pushing at the boundaries of their abilities or has learned to overlook their own mistakes.” I feel that I have faced setback after setback in my life. I like to believe that it helps make me into a better, stronger, and more resilient person. When I struggle to learn something, I find that I understand it more thoroughly than if it came easy. It will also be much less likely to forget. The struggle is something to be embraced. It should not be a reason to give up. On the contrary, it should be a sign you’re going in the right direction. It’s like a video game where you’re not progressing in the level if there’s no bad guys in the way. I thought the “action” piece that the authors suggest is an apt one. ...

At the very beginning of this sprint, on April 25, Mia was able to push the portion Dan worked on (“Tabs2”) so that we could all see it. Up until this point, the rest of us were not on the same page. We were looking at a previous one we had come up with. We were instructed by Mia to hang tight until she was able to push it. Ryan and I were both unsure whether she would be able to, so we talked about doing it from scratch. That night, I started the process, but I didn’t get far before Mia let us all know that she was able to get it pushed. At that point, the majority of the component was done. I noticed that the button to create new slides was broken. It was a small fix, but I was able to fix the bug. Most of this past week was preparing for the presentation. I feel somewhat that I was under utilized and that I could have done more. It is not that I did not want to do the work. I offered often to do more. Once I was able to see the component, most of it was done. I suggested start...

I skimmed through a few apprenticeship patterns before I found on the one that hit home with me, “Sweep the Floor.” The “problem” it presented was something that I am faced with starting every new venture at this stage on my journey. It stated, “You are a new apprentice on a project.” No matter where I go, this will describe me. I have talked in my last apprenticeship pattern blog that I am starting as an intern at a friend’s start up, and I will be taking the advice presented here and applying it to this and the next venture I go to afterwards. The solution advocates for doing the “simple, unglamorous, yet necessary, tasks.” It is tempting to do the opposite and try to do the “fun,” “exciting” things, but it stresses to not to, and prove yourself through the small tasks. I have had the thought that in most fields that you don’t need a degree for, one would start at an entry level job. From there, they would work their way up. The stories friends have told me about their grueling...