My Javascript Journey
19 Jan 2022
I think Javascript is much easier to use than Java, the language I had previously used in ICS 111 as well as 211. Especially with its use of functions, such as how I am not limited to the return type of a function as well as how I can use functions freely. I also did have prior experience with Javascript while in high school, but still managed to learn new things in ES6 such as deconstructing, as my high school curriculum only covered mostly basic stuff in Javascript as the curriculum was better suited to just giving us different tastes of languages.
My Software Engineering Perspective
From a software engineering perspective, I do think Javascript is a good software language simply because of how easy it is to use. For example, I can put anything in arrays or do a lot more with functions because they are first class. Although it could also be because it was one of the first languages I was exposed to so I have more practice with it than I do with Java. A personal thing too is I don’t have to write that header in Java every time the “public static void main(String[]args)” line or stating functions return type.
My thoughts on Athletic Programming
I think athletic software engineering can be a good tool to improve one’s own ability to code, however, I do not think it is a good teaching method. Simply because it puts too much pressure on someone who is just learning a language and forcing them to output a program in a timelimit can be stressful and detrimental to the learning process as some people just can’t learn or work under all that pressure especially if they only know very little about a language. I do however find the practice WOD’s to be very helpful as while you do time yourself, you can do it over and over again with almost no consequences. Overall I do think that this learning style could work for some people but not others as it can be enjoyable for super competitive people but stressful for people just learning, although it does really help that you can work with someone else in the WOD’s.