What did you do this past week? This week we read two articles by Joel Spolsky. The first was called The Guerrilla Guide to Interviewing and talked about how companies should go about interviewing candidates and selecting which ones to hire. The second was Getting Your Resume Read and discussed some tips and common mistakes to avoid when sending your resume to companies. In class we talked about conditions in which Java and C++ use static v dynamic binding, consequences of pure virtual methods, handle classes, shared pointers, and unique pointers.

What’s in your way? I need to do well on the second exam. My performance in this class really depends on it since it is worth so much of the final grade. It won’t be easy with two other exam, a major project, an assignment to grade, and two echo concerts all within the next week. I need to stay focused and do my best on everything.

What will you do next week? Study. I will go over all the previous class materials and quiz questions since the last exam.

What’s my experience of the class? The lectures have been very useful. I feel like I have learned a lot about c++ and object oriented design in general. Calling on people is actually a really good way to keep people engaged and create an environment where people are more likely to answer questions. The quizzes sometimes seem like they focus too much on tiny details and trick questions but they do force you to study and pay attention which is good. Overall I think this class was really useful and I think Downing does a great job structuring it.

What’s my pick-of-the-week or tip-of-the-week? How about a couple fun this before this terrible week? This video about programming in PowerPoint is hilarious and I enjoyed reading about these dumb security issues on various websites.