week 12

I started by reading the instructions, just to see what I needed to do. I kinda wish I had more time for only this one, because I feel I could have learned more if I just focused here. But I didn’t. Most of what I did was just try things, fail, try again. One method just didn’t work right, no matter what I did. I kept running the tests, over and over, making small changes. I think it took me a couple hours just to figure that one thing out. 

I didn’t plan anything on paper. I just started coding. I didn’t really have time to stop and think much, so I just wanted to get something on the screen and working. Looking back now, maybe a quick plan would have saved me time, but I didn’t do it. 

If I could change my approach, I’d try to slow down. Maybe focus on fewer assignments at the same time. But I get it, the class moves fast, so we don’t get that choice. If I ever had more time, I’d like to just sit, think it all through, maybe write notes, research more, then build everything step by step. 

I already have the Google style code formatter set up on IntelliJ, so I didn’t need to automate the style rules any other way. 

The hardest part was definitely the tests. This was supposed to be a short project, but for me it was over seven hours. Maybe I’m just slower, I don’t know, but it wasn’t easy. Finally getting all of them to pass though, that was the best moment. 

The part I liked most was just coding. Even when it’s frustrating, I enjoy it. But the best part was the feeling when I passe d every test. I almost gave up at one point, so that moment felt huge for me. 

My sister (Maria Caicedo) looked at my code and said it was done well. She told me it was easy to follow, with variable names like currentWord, guessCount, and usedLetters, which kept things clear. She noticed I had Javadoc comments in place and no leftover TODOs or unfinished notes, which she said made my code feel complete and organized—she admitted she still had some in hers, so she thought I did better there. 

She tested the makeGuess() and getHint() methods and said they worked smoothly with the test file, and, of course, all the unit tests passed. She also said I didn’t have extra imports or leftover lines, so everything felt clean. The only small thing she pointed out was that I used == to compare Strings in one spot. It didn’t break anything, but using .equals() would be safer. Other than that, she thought the project felt solid and ready to go.

What I’m proud of is simple, just finishing it and passing. When I was done, I didn’t really celebrate. I just went to sleep. I work full time and take care of my family, so I was just done for the day.