aggregate values,return of the test and what not...

     Hey'all. We got our test back this week. I had the impression that we will recieve our term tests on friday in tutorials. I was not expecting to see my mark so soon. Although, I did not do as well as I was hoping I would , the mark I received was considerably satisfactory. I should have put more effort into the last question. I still do not understand how it takes eleven average linear operations to find the desired word in a dictionary containing 2048 sheets. On the other hand, the binary operations I calculated by doubling the amount of initial binary operations performed in 1024 sheets turned out to be accurate. I am not sure if we were supposed to use a different technique or I probably missed a key fact  in the concept addressed about linear and binary searches.

    This week we have also learned about aggregate values. I find the 'list' function very useful, it is almost like arrays, where it saves you time by declaring everything in one list, rather than declaring variables, images,strings, etc numerous times in the program code. If you declare a variable and assign a list to that variable,there are alot of functions which we have previously learned that could be combined and attributed in the code to acquire an interesting result. Additionally, it is very useful if you wish to perform similar arthmitic operations on all the range of numbers in the list. Defining structures and the mapping function take the program to a next level. We also learned about altering colours in an image on tuesday. I found that very fascinating and would like to try and see if I could use those functions to manipulate an image into something interesting. I am looking forward to the rest of the racket videos, as it is getting interesting and on the same token, the level of difficulty is also gradually arising. Happy reading week!!!

The week of TEST!!

          This week has showered me with plenty of tests, midterms, labs and what not. It was harder than battling with the snow today. Unfortunately, I started studying for this test only from wednesday afternoon. However, the material was not that hard to cope up with. I watched all the videos and went over the lecture slides. I was stressing out on how to remember the historical facts about ancient computers and other electronically powered devices and their transition into the modern world. Though, I was informed after checking my webmail that we were allowed to bring an aid sheet. That was such a relief. I am unaware of the fact that if this information was given in tuesday's lecture, because I could not attend tuesday's lecture. In spite of making an aid sheet with so much effort, I did not even refer to it once during the test. I guess writing that sheet was an aid within itself to understand the history.

       I found the past term test very helpful. It gave me an idea about the format and the expectations from the test. However, I felt that posting the solutions for certain sections would have polished my knowledge to some extinct. I think that the test was not that difficult. I could not finish the second question, regarding the 'Fibonacci' numbers, but I hope I get some part marks for it. The rest of the questions were considerably fair. Additionally, giving 20% for a question that was left blank was very fascinating for me, because I have never seen that format in any other class before. I just hope I did well on that test and the rest that I have written in this week. 

Overview of this week!!

      Hello. It's finally friday. This week has been so hectic that I have been eagerly waiting for today to arrive, so I can get some sleep and recover from my sleep-deprieved mode. It gets challenging to give sufficient time to this course, as having four other courses such as physical chemistry, calculus, cell and molecular biology and bio models and math takes most of my time and energy. However, as the course is proceeding with new course material every lecture, I realized that if you are focused, few hours in a week is a satisfying amount of time that one could devote towards this class. This week we learned defining functions and 'starting the universe':big-bang, event-handlers and some combinations of recently and previously learned expressions and functions. This week the most interesting was the timer program, and modifying certain commands made the program even more interesting. I am happy I am getting more comfortable with DrRacket's environment and it's syntax.

       I was really nervous for today's quiz, but it wasn't as horrible as I was expecting it to be, hopefully I did well compared to the previous two quizzes. I have just submitted the wikipedia part I on MarkUs. I had trouble submitting it for the previous assignment, but I am hoping I have submitted it accurately this time. It took me more than two hours to find the articles of my interest. Although, I have not exactly found articles that I have thorough knowledge in, but I have some background information about the topic. I have to start planning on how to work on them soon, but before that 'term test 1' is coming up. There are not many days left and having other midterms and labs in the same week or the week after, it is going to be a tough battling with time and the course material. I have to start studying for it soon. Good luck for the upcoming test!