CST338: Software Design, Week 7/8

It’s hard to believe the semester is already coming to an end. It really does feel like we just got started. Looking back at HW1, the Hangman assignment, I can see how much I’ve grown since then. At the time, I was just focused on getting the code to run and meet the requirements. I didn’t have a full understanding of best practices, structure, or how to make my code more readable and easy to maintain.

I had taken a year off from programming before starting this class, so I felt overwhelmed leading up to the start of the semester. I worried I had forgotten too much and that I would struggle to keep up. If I were to approach HW1 now, I would start by planning out my classes and methods more carefully, thinking about encapsulation, access modifiers, and reusability right from the beginning. I would also give my variables and methods more meaningful names and organize my logic so it flows better.

One of my biggest victories this semester was gaining confidence in object-oriented programming. Early on, concepts like inheritance, encapsulation, and polymorphism felt a little abstract, but now I can see how they work together and when to use them. Another victory was working on a bigger project like Project 02. It taught me how to manage multiple classes, keep track of dependencies, and use GitHub to collaborate effectively.

Two areas where I have really improved are:

• Debugging and Testing: I am much more comfortable tracking down errors, understanding what is causing them, and verifying my fixes with unit tests.
• Planning and Breaking Down Problems: I’ve learned how valuable it is to think through my approach before diving into coding, and how to split a big task into smaller, manageable steps.

Overall, I am proud of how far I have come. I started the semester with a basic understanding of Java, a little bit of self-doubt, and some rust from taking a break. I am looking forward to continuing to grow as a programmer and building on the skills I learned this semester.