Week 8 (CST338)

 Week 1 - CST338 Journal Entry

This is my first week in CST338 and honestly, I’m feeling extremely nervous. The main reason? I have zero experience with Java. I’ve never touched it before. I keep hearing that it’s a popular language and used a lot in the industry, but right now, it just feels like stepping into unknown territory. I’m hoping some of the concepts will feel familiar though, because I’ve worked quite a bit with Python and C++. Fingers crossed the transition isn’t too brutal.

As part of this week’s assignment, we were asked to set up Git and push our code. Here are the Git commands I used, and I’ll try to explain what each one does (at least the way I understood it while working through it):

• git status
  Shows me what files have been changed or staged. It’s kind of like a check-in before doing anything major.

• git add .
  This stages all my changes so they’re ready to be committed. The dot means everything in the directory.

• git commit -m "initial commit"
  I used this right at the beginning to save the starting point of the code. It creates a snapshot of the current files with a short message.

• git checkout -b rectangle
  This command was to create a new branch called “rectangle” and switch to it. If the branch already existed, it would just switch to it.

• git commit --amend
  I used this once to update my last commit after I forgot to add a file. It lets you tweak the previous commit without creating a new one.

• git branch
  This just lists the branches I have in the repo, and it also shows which one I’m currently on.

Besides the Git part, I also did the first quiz this week. I struggled a bit more than I expected. That was a wake-up call. I realized I can’t just skim the videos—I need to really pay attention and maybe even rewatch a few parts if something isn’t clear. Otherwise, I’m going to miss stuff that ends up on the quiz.

Overall, it’s been a challenging start. But I guess that’s what learning something new feels like. I just need to keep pushing forward, stay patient with myself, and try not to let the fear of the unknown stop me.