Mar. 1, entry #6

I found a problem to work on (actually kindly given to me by Danny from a choice of 3)! I have only now begun to explore it with some more thought. So I will bring some more attention to it in my upcoming slogs. The problem is as follows: 

tiling
Work with 1 or 2 other students, and choose one of your group as the recorder. The recorder should keep a written record of his/her group's discussion of the problem below. Use the following headings to organize the discussion:
􏰂 Understand the problem. 
􏰂 Devise a plan.
􏰂 Carry out the plan.
􏰂 Look back.
􏰂 Acknowledge when, and how, you're stuck.
Suppose you have tiles that are 1 􏰁 2 rectangles, and you have a walk that is 2 􏰁 3 units long. There are three ways to tile your walk: three vertical tiles, one vertical tile followed by two horizontal tiles, or two horizontal tiles followed by one vertical tile.
How many di􏰀erent ways are there to tile a 2 􏰁 4 walk, or (indeed) a 2 􏰁 n walk (where n is some natural number)? Can you come up with a general procedure that works?
What happens if your tiles are 1 􏰁 3, and you have a walk that is 3 􏰁 n units long?

You can continue working on this problem at:

https://wwwcgi.cdf.toronto.edu/~heap/cgi-bin/Solvent/wiki.pl?Problem_Solving_Home_Page/WalkTilings
userid: sleuth
password: eureka

Hint 1, organize: Organize your counting according to what the orientation of the left-most tile is.    

I hope everyone had a great week! Keep on Sloggin'! 

Feb. 15, entry #5

Today I received the very good news of holding my programming test and congratulating myself on a job-well-done! I struggle with the course and sometimes make simple sequencing errors or miscalculate operations, but this mark was proof that I know more than I think I know. This has provided me the (much needed) motivation to keep pushing through the material no matter the trouble I might be experiencing throughout the process. I like the idea of being able to answer the questions in many different formats (drawing, describing, code, etc) because I feel I learn better with guidance in the question, but nothing to rigid in the answer. I tend to think more flexibly and this test accommodated just that. I found this weeks material to be more trickier than previous weeks particularly the maps and structures. I could not understand completely how to group values with lists and structs or how to map functions over lists on my first pass through the videos, but I will certainly spend some more time working through it in DrRacket and I'm sure to figure something out. Danny explained to me at office hours that brackets are to be unpacked from the deepest most inner layer and worked all the way outwards when solving a multi-bracketed problem. That was good to know because brackets have always been an obstacle on my way to realizing my-true-programmer-genius-self. After reading other SLOGs I realized I am not alone in the agony of commuting to tutorial for my only class consisting of a 10 minute quiz. I noticed someone proposed they be online or (I say) at the end of class on Tuesday or Thursday or some other alternative, but I know this won't happen, I'll just have to keep on slogging my way down. I wish everyone a fabulous reading (sleeping) week! :P

Feb. 8, entry #4

This week was spent mostly preparing for the midterm test written yesterday. The aid sheet I found was very helpful for I wasn't sure completely what to expect from the questions. I noticed from the other blogs that I read that not too many people experienced the test with difficulty. I would agree, although I wish I had prepared more sufficiently for the defining function questions because I am having a hard time sorting through all the brackets and understanding what goes to what and in what sequence. I ordered Stephen's book in hard copy, so I can spend some more time with it. I do not enjoy staring at the computer screen for long periods of time. I can't believe how fast time has gone by, as we keep moving into more advanced realms of programming.

Feb. 1, entry #3

This week I began reading Stephen Bloch's, "Picturing Programs: An Introduction to Computer Programming". Although, I have found the video's to be exceptionally well-detailed; I find the additional information in written-form can too be a great supplementary resource. I especially enjoy the part having to do with anything pictures: flipping, manipulating, rotating, creating, etc. The event we were shown in class (as well as asked to try at home) was fun to watch (and do). I love that DrRacket has images provided in its library selection! The challenge comes with the constant changing of skill-development required to achieve more complicated functionality in DrRacket. Like, for example, these static pictures can become mobile and change over time as well as interact with the user. This is what we learned this week: big-bang (because it "starts the world"). Here's its contract: ; big-bang : image(start) event-handler ... -> image (this is needed for the animation of pictures). I have a lot to do in terms of learning new concepts and algorithms as well as in practicing code designing as well as my defining functions can always be better. Thank you to my TA Yanshuai for leaving the (my first!) comment that I can also ask him any questions regarding the material through my slog and we can communicate further through these means! Awesome! Some exciting wiki articles submitted! Program on, my fellow sloggers!

Jan. 25, entry #2

I've been having a tough time with understanding DrRacket, I intend to schedule many more office visits with Danny. I am not very good at programming, but I am attending classes and going over notes. I believe that I will improve. It was fun learning about all of the the different variations of computers that existed before my time. I am amazed at how fast technology has propeled since the days of clay tablets. I am having trouble understanding the algorithms, especially designing a function. I will spend some time on it and get back to this blog here to report on my progress. Best of luck to all the rest of you out there!

Jan. 18, entry #1

These past few weeks have been an introduction to the world of computation and algorithmic thinking. I am not accustomed to thinking on this level, however, Danny (thanks!) always finds a way to spark the conversation and engage the material in a way I can understand. I find it difficult to process information on so many different levels of analysis, but I am having fun transforming symbols and received great feedback from myself after completing the first quiz because of the way in which we were asked to prepare - through video clips! This kind of pedagogy and performance style can really go a long way! Keep up the great teaching, Prof. and I'll in turn keep up the learning! :D