EBoard 14: Wrapup

Approximate overview

• Administrivia
• Advent of code
• Debrief on the course

Administrivia

• We’re (nearly) done. Yay!

Advent of code

Preparation

• Go to https://adventofcode.com/2023.
• Click on the 1.
• Sign in with one of your accounts.
• Try not to read the problem.
• Let me know when you’re ready.

Competition, Round 1

• Let’s see how long it takes each of us to solve the first problem.
• Once you’ve finished, write your name on the board.
• Please wait for a bit for others to finish the first problem before moving on to the second problem. (You can show off your solution to someone else or try the first few from last year.)

Competition, Round 2

• Move on to to problem 2
• Write your name on the board when you finish and show Sam your solution.
• Feel free to move on to the next problem

Debrief on AOC

What approaches did you take?

• Almost everyone found a way to easily read a list of lines.
• Decomposition: Apply some function to each line in the list, add ‘em up.
  • For loop
  • Map
• How do we process the line?
  • Keep two variables, first and last
  • When you hit a digit, set last. If you haven’t already set first, set first.
• How do we process the line?
  • Write one procedure to read from left to right.
  • Write procedure to read from right to left

What languages are best?

• Python: Lots of tools that help you (but only if you them).
• Racket
• Not Java.

What kinds of things can make you faster (other than just “raw talent”, whatever that is)?

• Practice
• Spend a few minutes planning an approach
• Know how to debug
• Know the tools in the language
  • And the subtleties
  • (Remember to check off by one issues and also the meaning of limits in procedures.)

Will you continue trying AOC activities this year?

Will you try AOC next year?

Other issues

• Damn, it’s disheartening when someone solves it about ten times as fast as I can.

Debrief on the course

I don’t think one-credit courses should have EOCEs.

The course did not go the way I had hoped. In part, my grand design of combining alums and interview prep was a bit too ambitious. In part, I’m functioning at much less than normal capacity and could not keep it organized. (I’m never good at organization; I was significantly worse than normal.)

When I next have the chance to offer a one-credit, career-related course do you think I should focus on interview prep or the alumni talks? Why?

• Interview prep
• Alumni talks - A wider range of alumni
• Alternating weeks (requires Sam to be organized)