Understanding JavaScript
31 Aug 2016Hey I’m Steven, Nice to meet me!
When I had first thinking about switching into the computer science department, I had always thought that coding was in the form of 0’s and 1’s, as that is what movies like “The Matrix” have showed. However; after joining I had realized that my initial assumptions were terribly off point. Coding was much more difficult than I had anticipated, and it expanded the way I thought about how difficult programing something as simple as a calculator really is. With all these loops and complex syntax’s I was out of my comfort zone learning something completely new for the first time in a while. I’m Steven Howard Braun, a current junior pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in Information and Computer Sciences at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. I was originally in biology but I felt that it was a bit boring for me and decided to switch to something else, and my friends had recommended to become an Information and Computer Science major, so I made the decision to switch last year. And I can say that even with all the hard work, and stress that it has given me, and will give me in the future, I have made the right choice. Currently, a new stress has arisen, which is learning a complete new language, Javascript, which will test my abilities as a programmer and help me boost my . I believe that Java script is a much easier language than the other’s I have learned, and that it is a good language from a software engineering perspective.
Journey of Javascript
Javascript has been a different approach for me to learn a language, as it was nearly all self-directed, much different compared to the formal in-class teaching style that I have become accustomed to. Learning on my own solely with the free code camp lessons to guide me through it was a bit difficult. I currently have only had thorough work with Java, as I had taken ICS 111 and ICS 211, and currently starting C in ICS 212. Since I feel I’m pretty confident in my Java abilities, Javascript was fairly simple to learn, although there are small subtleties that make it unique. Like when using var, const, or let, to initialize variables instead of the standard string and int typing that I’ve been used to. The hardest part for me was that in for loops, I’m so used to putting int in java, for example (int I = 0; I < 10; I++)
and in Javascript it’s simply
(I = 0; I < 10; I++)
so when I try to run the code it never works initially, although I’m finally getting used to it. When thinking about Javascript, I think that it would be good as a language for software engineers, although I have nearly no knowledge or experience, so my thoughts are merely those of a novice. Javascript seems like a quick and easy way to make programs that could be made in Java instead. Don’t get me wrong, WOD’s (Work out of the Days) are great fun, but I believe that making them worth either 100 points or 0 is way too stressful of a decision. Learning becomes less fun and more forced and stressful. However, Professor Johnson gives us very adequate practice and preparation. The practice WODs are definitely useful and help me feel prepared for going into war every Thursday.
Conclusion
Conclusively, Javascript is very similar to a language I already know quite well, Java, and that Java seems like it would be good for those looking to use it for software engineering. Javascript has been an incredibly stressful, yet enjoyable journey that I feel has strengthened my abilities as a programmer by testing my abilities to learn on my own, and making me think about different kinds of problems and how to solve them using a new syntax.