The Power of Nostalgia
19 Jan 2022
Close Contact
The CDC has defined a “close contact” as “someone who was less than 6 feet away from an infected person for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period”. This definition closely resembles my relationship with JavaScript. I first learned about JavaScript over 7 years ago. When I was in the 7th grade, there was a period in which we could choose to do any activity from a whole list. At the time, I thought computer programming sounded cool and I chose it without any doubts in my mind. I was instantly fascinated by the capabilities that a few lines of code had and I wanted to learn as much as I could about the programming language “JavaScript”. I was able to make games and graphic designs, but instantly became overwhelmed with its capabilities. Ironically enough, I hardly touched the language ever since, which is why I consider myself and JavaScript as “close contacts”.
Stance
When I was a Junior at Moanalua High School, I took AP Computer Science. Prior to this, I knew I had previously been interested in coding, but never had the opportunity to jump back in and explore it as a passion. In this course, I learned about object-oriented programming and Java. At first, I thought my prior experience in JavaScript would allow me to excel in the class, which was partly true. However, the more that I learned about Java the more I compared the two languages and realized that although they have similar names, there were so many intricacies that divided the two. Here, I realized the ease at which JavaScript allows a developer to create software when compared to Java, C, or C++. While the latter options may be more viable in terms of runtime speed, the robustness of JavaScript’s easy-to-understand language allows for developers to easily develop, test, and debug code. I would highly recommend it as a starting language for developers that are just getting started and want to make software quickly and easily.
Stress
After taking multiple programming courses and developing multiple pieces of software, I have found that coding is time consuming. The cycle of programming that I have experienced consists of typing out huge chunks of code at a time, hoping that it works as you hit the “run” button, and slowly dying inside when the code doesn’t even compile. The failure of programming is often more exaggerated as the time ticks away for an assignment that is due in half an hour. In order for one to be prepared in a time crunch, practice makes perfect. The University of Hawai’i’s ICS314 class has daily assignments called “WODs”, where students are given a short time frame to solve a coding challenge. These WODs are great for being able to push past your theoretical “limits” and teach you to be cool under pressure. They are super helpful and I would recommend others to practice solving coding problems under time pressure, in order to develop critical thinking skills.