CS371p Spring 2022: Week 2
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What did you do this past week?
This past week, I focused on getting work done in my Networks class, specifically learning the top-down architecture of the internet, networking basics, packet switching, DNS, etc. I also spent time learning about Makefiles, Python basics, Pandas basics, etc.
Additionally, I have been consistent with my hobby of language learning by doing 10–20 Anki vocab/grammar cards every day, as well as whatever immersion I can fit in my schedule.
What’s in your way?
Not much, but I will need to get used to moving back to Austin and having to cook more often. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I have class from 11:00 AM to 3:30 PM with only the 15-minute break between classes, so especially with in-person classes, I will need to figure out how/when to get lunch without feeling hungry during lecture.
What will you do next week?
I just came back down to Austin from Dallas, so I’m excited to be able to attend in-person classes once again as well as meet all my college friends. Additionally, sports clubs will open back up again, and I am part of the Texas Table Tennis club, so hopefully, I will be able to take part in that next week.
Next week I will focus on making progress on the Collatz assignment, a data preprocessing assignment in my Data Mining class, as well as a DNS hands-on in my Networks class. I will also work on my Linguistics classes that involve speech audio analysis and theoretical syntax.
What did you think of Paper #1: Syllabus?
The reading itself was rather straightforward, however, this made it difficult to make a large number of meaningful comments without feeling like you were trying to game the Perusall AI. Reading the syllabus made the specifications grading in the class very clear.
What was your experience of assertions and Collatz?
I have used assertions before in previous classes, and they were especially useful when doing complicated code involving threads and race-conditions. I however did not consider that assertions could be disabled and that the failure of one assertion would prevent future assertions from running, and thus, have used assertions for testing in the past (which this class has taught how they should be used correctly). I did not know about Collatz before, and it is an interesting problem to practice writing tests and optimizations for.
What made you happy this week?
One of my high-school friends from India did really well on some competitive exams (CAT, XAT, etc.) for being able to apply to very selective grad schools. He put in consistent effort over the course of a year, and it paid off. Now he’s getting interview calls from all the top schools.
What’s your pick-of-the-week or tip-of-the-week?
If you are ever interested in picking up Javascript, one of the best resources out there is:
It is an extremely well-written tutorial for Javascript, covering most important aspects of the core language and filled with various exercises. I used this over my freshman summer break to pick up Javascript, which paved a path to learn technologies like Node.js and React. It helped me build side-projects that I could show recruiters and land my first software engineering internship.
