Well...this is awkward

Aaaaaand I'm back. I swear I didn't forget about this. I've just been...uh..busy. Yeah. that's it

Gosh, so there's a reason why this blog is supposed to be semi-regular, because so much has happened since my last post, I'm not sure if I remember it all...but let's try it.

So it's pretty funny that My first post ever was about how easy I was finding the course. It turns out, that the first week of CSC165 is a trap meant to lead students into a feeling of safety so that it can more efficiently destroy their hopes and dreams. But in all seriousness, things are getting really confusing. I suppose at the end of the day, the secret is to treat symbolic logic as if it itself is a language. There aren't very many letters, yet somehow there is an absurd number of words. What I mean by that, is that symbolic logic FEELS as if it is just as abstract and capable of being misinterpreted as English. The difference is, I'm a native English speaker. I am NOT, however a native..logic...writer? My point is that being unable to understand symbols can make symbolic logic feel strange and more complex than it actually is. The trick is to remember that it really isn't.

Proofs are where things get even more interesting (and is probably my favourite part of the course so far). I really enjoy the idea of multiple branching solutions that all lead to a single place. To put it poetically, it really is the journey and not the destination that matters.

Anyway, I'm off to go study for the Term test in a coupla' days. This has been a nice break/ranting session.

See you soon!

-Kevin

And So it Begins....

The combination of the blog title and this post title really say it all, don't they? Who would have thought that a computer science course would ask its poor unsuspecting class of roughly 175(?) people to attempt to communicate something to an audience in a language that doesn't share a name with a caffeinated beverage (or a letter of the alphabet [or a reptile]).

I must say, though, that upon further inspection this course secretly makes a LOT of sense (okay, maybe it's not such a big secret. I mean, somebody up there in UofT's admin decided it was a good idea, right?). What is programming if not a series of very very specific commands? In that sense, those who can't properly communicate with their audience, or 'user' in this case, would find themselves floundering.

From what I've seen, the higher level of programming one is attempting, the more essential proper communication becomes. Sure, I could hop onto any Python IDE and crank out a few hundred lines of code and be fine since I'm only required to understand my own ideas. But what if I was working on a significantly more difficult problem? One that might require a team, for example? Or even if I'm working alone for some reason, there's no way to remember the exact function of every line of code that I may have typed weeks ago. So I guess my point is that, while unexpected, I'm finding this course to be very refreshing. A person can only code for so long; it's nice to poke my head up from behind my laptop and know I'm capable of having a coherent conversation with another human being.

On that note, I can't wait for this course to ramp up! It will be interesting to see where we go from here. The material so far has been interesting, but not challenging (mind you, it's still just the second week). I am very excited to see where things go from here.

Anyway, that's me done for the day, hope yours is going well too

-Kevin

p.s. Think about all of the applications of pure logical proofs on your functions! Flow charts that actually make sense! No more wasting time wrestling with a logical line that makes no sense (assuming you figure out it doesn't make sense before you start it!)

Alright, leaving for real now.