CS Online Weekly Updates

 this week we learned a lot more about sorting. I learned how to manipulate arrays using two-pointer and stable partitioning techniques, and how to implement Kahn's algorithm for topological sorting in directed graphs. I practiced parsing structured input, handling edge cases, maintaining correct output order, and applying sorting and queue-based logic to solve problems with real world algorithmic applications which is something that I love to do and will need to do!

This week was a studying week. We had a midterm which I was well prepared for and got a grade I can be happy with. Mostly I used canvas to study, like rewatching every video, doing the puzzles on my own, and reviewing old quizzes and homework. I felt confident before the test. We also learned about merge sort. I kind of struggled about how merge sort worked but after watching some more videos on YouTube I got the grasp of it and thought it was a cool way to sort.  Looking forward to this next week as we head into the second half of the course.

This week was crucial. We learned about fetching API's which I have heard so much about, but never utilized. I thought it would be a lot more complicated, but right now at this stage I am confident in what I am learning. API's are really strong tools that make webpages and the internet what they are.  This week we used API's to validate usernames, passwords, and cities, and in our HW assignment we created our own project using API's. I chose to create a website that takes a name and displays if it is a male or female name, and also output related names.

In this week of HTML and CSS, we also learned how to incorporate javascript into our pages, which is how websites actually change. I am a bit new to JavaScript but it is similar to java so I will catch on quick. Of all the courses so far that I have taken, this one really satisfies me. I love seeing the HTML and JavaScript come together and be effective and useful.  Our lab was to create a guessing a number game, and then we also created a geography quiz for our HW which helped us learn the different types of inputs.

 This week we started the new course CST 336. We learned the basics of HTML and CSS. HTML is the user interface that the user actually interacts with. I have never used HTML in anyway besides messing around with it as a kid to try and prank my friends by changing website information. I really enjoy it, even though I am not good yet. Along with that we learned the basic CSS styling to make the html look better. Our assignments this week was to create an ePortfolio about ourselves and also to create a website that shows information about a specific computer science sector.

This week we got into some VERY important knowledge. Graphs. Both directional and unidirectional, as well as learning how to traverse these graphs. We learned the basic brute force string matching and exhaustive search way to solve problems...but then we learned about Depth First Search and Breadth First Search. Both of which are unique in their own way.  DFS uses stack and goes alphabetically until a vertex is already marked, then pops the stack and tries again with the vertices it hasn't been to yet. This is good for things that have 1 solution like getting out of a maze or sorting. BFS uses a queue and is when you explore all the neighbors at a current vertex before going to the next. Best to find the shortest path in relation to cost, like the traveling salesman.  

This week we learned a lot more about big O notation as well as big theta and big omega. We learned what each one means and how they are used. We also figured out how to count time efficiency. That information comes easy (hopefully my quiz reflects my knowledge!) since I just took data structures on campus and learned about  big O.  Our homework this week was to create 2 programs. Both take numbers and sort them, one outputs them and the minimum difference of a pair, and outputs the pairs. The other prints the numbers in ascending order with consecutive numbers connected with a "-". Good week and excited to learn more!

This week in CST 370 we learned the basics of algorithms and how to think through them and what they are. Along with that we learned about the different kinds of graphs, weighted, unweighted, directional, unidirectional, and everything else about them. I think it is a great start to this course as the knowledge will be used as a foundation for coding. I have started doing leetcode and the information I learned this week already helps me understand it better! I love working with java and do not know a lot of C++. I Hope to be able to complete some assignments in C++, but until I am comfortable I will be using Java. Great start to the week!