Blog 6

I interviewed Zach Abbott, a UNI senior computer science major with a bioinformatics minor. Here is what he told me:

What are you learning?
We are learning not only how to program, but also what goes into programming. We learn how programming languages are made through math and computer science.

How do you view creativity?
I think it’s a really good thing in programming, especially when creating things. The more creative a person is the better program they can make. I think creativity is an essential skill, because not everything you do is in a book. You need to be creative to make algorithms. For example, if you go on to get your Ph.D.; you will have to develop your own algorithms.

To what extent to you think programming is an essential skill?
It’s not an essential skill for everyone, but if you are working in a technical field, you should have at least a little knowledge. For example, industrial technology students should know at least some code with what they are doing. But I don’t think everyone in the population needs to know it – you only really need to know it if you are doing programming.

What classes are you taking?
Artificial Intelligent, Intermediate Computing, Bioinformatics, and Computer Architecture

What programming languages do you know?
I know Java, C++, and Ruby really well. I also know HTML, HXTML, and CSS.

What do you want to do when you graduate?
I will be going to UNI for graduate studies in computer science. I hope to get my Ph.D. and become a professor. I really like computer science so I want to go deeper into the field and I want to help people understand. I don’t think a bachelor’s degree will prepare me for what I really want to do, which is research. I want to do research on artificial intelligence.

What projects are you working on?
I am working on an agent that plays tic tac toe. It’s really neat because I created it so that you can play either X or 0. It’s more strategic than regular tic tac toe. I used Java to create it.
For work, I am working on an agent that actually takes excel spreadsheets and cuts them up into a form of HTML, and then it is dispersed to everyone at work. I also created this in Java.

How do you feel about collaborating on projects with others?
I actually really enjoy working on projects with other people. I did a project where two people program. During this project, one person will watch and one person will program. The other person can watch you and see if you make mistakes. I really like it because you get another person’s input on how to do something better.

I thought what Zach had to say was really interesting. After listening to him, I realized that computer science must be a REALLY hard major! Taking classes like "Artificial Intelligence" and "Bioinformatics" cannot be easy. Like Professor Fabos said in class, computer science majors are a certain breed of people. They must be a very intelligent breed! I also found the projects he was working on fascinating. I would have no idea how to work on the projects he is creating. How do you just "make" a tic tac toe game? I guess I never really thought about how much goes into creating the little things we use on our computers. A lot of programming goes into making our day-to-day luxuries (good thing we have computer science people to create them!) I also thought it was interesting when he talked about the programs he knows. I was so proud that I actually knew what HTML, HXTML, and CSS were. However, I felt stupid when I had to ask him multiple times how to spell C++ and Ruby. I had no idea what those were.

I was glad to see that he thinks creativity and working with others on projects is essential. I thought he would hate working on projects with others. I agree with him, I think you need to have creativity no matter what business you are going into. It's essential. I also agree with him that when you work with others, you will learn new things. No matter what you do in the future, you must know how to work with other people.

I was a little surprised when he said that he doesn't think programming is essential for everyone. He thinks it's really only essential for people that are really doing the programming. In a way, this makes sense, but I think it's a good tool for anyone who will be working with computers, especially this day in age. Technology is advancing quickly, and we need to keep up. Like Cassie said earlier, "The information age is in full swing, so being able to say 'I'm technologically challenged,' is obsolete."