Saturday, January 16, 2010

Great start to another semester

I've made it through the first week of this spring semester, and I'm no worse for the wear. I'm really enjoying my classes so far. I'm taking the second semester of Humanities for Engineers, which is going to be divided into two "landscapes" for the semester. For the first part, we'll be covering some of the classics: the Iliad, the Odyssey, and the Aneid. That should be interesting. The math class I'm taking is probability. The professor's accent is very thick Asian, but he's a great teacher, and I think I'll enjoy the class.

I have three computer science courses. The class on game programming will be much less pure entertainment than it sounds like; it's focused on designing and prototyping educational games. We're using a program called AgentSheets to do our games, and it's pretty awful to install and limited in it's uses. However, it is good for getting something working quickly, and it's simple enough that anyone can use it. On the other hand, my class on Software Engineering Methods and Tools should be extremely good. We'll be learning many of the tools, procedures, and methodologies used in industry today, and it's taught by one of the best professors I've had at CU so far, Amer Diwan. The last class I'm taking is User-Centered Design, which promises to be very good. We'll be looking at how to make software and all technology easier to use for more people, even those with disabilities.

These classes should be a whole lot more practical than last semester's classes, so I'm excited about that. I just have to keep up with the workload, and I'm slowly learning how to do manage my time better. Maybe I'll even have enough time to start attending events at the local ACM chapter. The university's chapter of the Association of Computing Machinery is a little like a computer club, but they do programming contests, job fairs, Tech Talk lectures by professionals, and a lot of other stuff that could help me build a network of colleagues and boost my skills. It sure can't hurt!