CS373 Spring 2021: Vincent Huynh

Week of 5 Apr — 11 Apr

1. What did you do this past week?

This past week I mainly worked on Phase 3 of IDB and my CS 354 project. I implemented the sorting and searching functionality on our model pages as well as a searching bar. Its hard to describe anything else that happened this week without seeing it in a negative light, though.

2. What’s in your way?

This week started with my laptop having boot failures out of nowhere Monday morning, causing me to miss my morning classes including CS 373 (along with the quiz and exercise that day). I contacted the manufacturer support, and after a few hours of trying different things, I had to completely wipe my computer. The backup failed as well, so I lost everything.

3. What will you do next week?

I’m spending next week focusing on Phase 3 of IDB and my CS 354 project again because the deadlines are coming up, but I also have to just setup my computer again and make sure everything is ok. It’s been a rough week, but I’m sure next week will be better.

4. If you read it, what did you think of the Why getter and setter methods are evil?

I think its really interesting that using getter and setter methods was one of the first things I learned in AP Computer Science in high school. The article really made me aware of the consequences of using getter and setter methods, but also the alternatives as well.

5. What was your experience of select, project, cross join and theta join? (this question will vary, week to week)

I think that learning about relational algebra in this order really helped build my knowledge layer by layer, and I’m looking forward to implementing natural join on Monday for the in-class exercise.

6. What made you happy this week?

What I am most thankful for this week is that although I lost everything on my computer, my hardware was not damaged in any way (that I am aware of). I was extremely relieved to see that I would not have to wait and buy a new hard drive or computer after successfully resetting, because that would’ve set me back much further than I am now.

7. What’s your pick-of-the-week or tip-of-the-week?

Please keep a backup of your most essential files, it really saves you when something unexpected happens. I don’t think it has to be your entire hard drive, but important documents, precious photos, and any other personal valuables should definitely be backed up to be accessed when it matters.