Hi! My name is Emma Brennan and I’m a computer science major. I really enjoy it, and am able to bond with my brother over it (he knows a lot, and is going to get his masters in data science).
So, on to answering the questions!
- When did you first start programming?
- I first started programming during winter break in 2021, a few weeks before I was supposed to start CPSC 110. I actually started my coding journey in HTML, but moved to DataCamp (using my brother’s account) in order to practice coding in Python. I really enjoyed it, and learned even more when class started in the spring of 2022.
- What is your favorite thing about programming?
- My favorite thing about programming is the excitement I feel when I finally compile the code (and it runs the way I want it to) I’ve been trying to write for the past two hours. A lot of the time, when I’m struggling, I finally figure it out and feel like a genius. Other times I have to go to office hours and try to understand what is going on… but overall, it’s very validating!
- What is your least favorite thing about programming?
- My least favorite thing about programming is how there are certain topics I simply do not understand (which is everyone, I guess). Sometimes I just have a very hard time with certain topics. When I was in CPSC 220, arrays were unnecessarily confusing to me. In my class, we did a lot of taking out stuff in an array and using substring and splitting said array… I had no idea what was going on, frankly. I kind of figured it out eventually, but alas… I don’t remember much. Also, I do not really understand inheritance all that well. I guess I just dislike anything I don’t understand. Finally, I am annoyed by all the errors I get when I type something incorrectly. It’s helpful, but having like 5 different compile errors is frustrating.
