CS 371P Spring 2021: Safin Kasturi

What did you do this past week?

Last week I worked on some optimizations for my Collatz project, I worked on my project for my AI class, and I tried to get caught up on some readings for my network security class. I also had to work on some assignments for my culture class, but that wasn’t too bad.

What’s in your way?

I’m a little blocked in my Collatz project, as I’m running into a seg fault that I can’t seem to resolve. I think I’ll just switch from using an int array to a map for caching. Additionally, I still need to implement either eager caching or meta caching, as all I’m doing as of right now is lazy caching.

What will you do next week?

Next week I’ll finish Collatz, as well as finish up some reading for my AI class. I also need to finish a lab for my network security class.

If you read it, what did you think of the Continuous Integration?

I actually read the continuous integration paper last semester in SWE, but it was nice to take another look at it and retain some things that I must have overlooked last time. Prior to my internship last summer I never really realized just how important CI is, but since then I’ve used it on every project I’ve worked on. I think the overall idea of ensuring a stable base before adding more functionality is very important, and CI is a great way to do that.

What was your experience of Collatz? (this question will vary, week to week)

I think I have a good grasp of the optimizations shown in class as well as the various types of caching, however I’m struggling a little bit with the project. I tried essentially replicating the Python code I wrote for this project last semester in SWE, but this code in C++ did not work in time. Additionally, when I try caching using an integer array, I’m getting seg faults and I can’t figure out why..

What was your experience of exceptions? (this question will vary, week to week)

I learned a lot of these same things last semester in SWE, but it was nice to get a refresher on the topic. I also didn’t know some of the intricacies of C++, so it’s nice to get acquainted with it a little bit.

What made you happy this week?

I’m excited that I’m getting an opportunity to watch the Superbowl with my friends this week. I love Tom Brady so I’m really hoping the Bucaneers win, but I’m very nervous for the game.

What’s your pick-of-the-week or tip-of-the-week?

My tip of the week is to pace yourself throughout the week. Lately I’ve been devoting small time slots of my day to work on things for each of my classes, as opposed to just working on things right before they are due, and this way I find it a lot easier to not fall behind or lose motivation.