The past two weeks I've found that I have regained my confidence in programming. The instructions for first week's lab I found to be very confusing and my partner was more confused than I was. I also felt I was not as engaged in lecture as I used to be in in CSC108. This made me some what worried for what was to come in 148 however, I am again excited about progressing further with computer science.
The most recent labs I have found to be much clearer in the instructions and I found that my ability in programming was up to the challenges being presented in 148. Additionally I met a friend in the lab who is on par with my programming abilities and we worked well together in the labs.
In terms of lecture, I've realized that the dynamic of the content we are learning is much different than 108. I felt as though lectures were slipping by without having learned anything. I think this was so because in 108 we were being taught fundamental tools for basic programming but now in 148 it's more about details and complexity. Instead of learning new python tools for completing various tasks we are using tools we already know to complete tasks in the most effective way and applying them for more complex task. For example recursion is a new topic that has been introduced in 148. Although this is a more complex concept than what we learned in 108 that can be used to complete higher level problems, it does not use any tools of python that we do not already know. It simply uses loops in a precise why by calling it self while reducing the information on each call.
All together I feel that in reality I have a firm grasp on the concepts that are being discussed and I believe I have a clear understanding of the first assignment.
