Extra Blog: calculate();

A few days ago, my mentor assigned make a web application. I programmed my first ever functioning program primarily using HTML and JavaScript using Microsoft Visual Studio 2012. What did I make? A calculator. A calculator that can add, subtract, multiply, and divide two values a user inputs into the program through buttons. Yes, I know, it sounds like a very simple program (and the interface makes it look even more so), but the amount of programming and coding behind it is actually quite complex (from my current standpoint anyways). From creating flexible functions that can calculate the two inputted values and detect which of the fours operation the user wishes to use to getting JavaScript to actually do something when a button is pressed was quite an enormous feat.
At first, from the books alone, I couldn't figure out how to do the latter and have it pass a button ID's from the HTML code to the JavaScript code. I resorted to searching on Google for a solution and eventually found out how to do it on this particular website, http://www.w3schools.com/. As it turns out, I found from my mentor that many programmers and Computer Science majors use that website as a source for help, guidance, and a place to learn different programming languages. There is also a public forum that allows questions to be asked directly to other users on that site for specific questions that may not otherwise be addressed with general lessons.

The simple interface of my calculator. Includes the functions of adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing two numbers, checking to see if users entered values or not, and using a resulting value as the first number of input.

This part of the code detects which number button was pressed and displays its value. It does this by looping through the numbers 0 through 9, determining whether the button's ID matches "Button" + the looping number, and displaying the looping number in the 1st Textbox.

The calculate() function I coded that receives 3 values, the value in the 1st Textbox, the value of the 2nd Textbox, and the value of the operation Textbox. Depending on the operation, the function will do the corresponding calculations to the values of the 1st and second text boxes and display the result in the result Textbox. Note that I also included an exception for dividing anything by 0 in order to prevent the program from breaking the laws of the universe and crash.

On another note, my mentor recently gave me two new books on HTML, CSS,JavaScript, and JQuery that she will help to go over with me as we do mentorship hours. On a first glance, these books looked like the ordinary programming books (and textbooks) with a pretty cover and back cover with black and white, boring walls of text that strain the eyes. But when I opened these books up, not only was I surprised at the color, but I was also impressed my the amount of designing done within the book coming from a design editor's perspective. They were relaxing, easy to read and understand, and, most of all, not boring. Honestly, this is probably the best looking educational book that I've ever seen since reading Dr. Seuss over 10 years ago.

Pretty covers usually attract me enough to read the inside text, but the text usually do not the same as much. These book being an exception.

This back cover is very nice. If I was doing some design work as my senior project, I would even consider using this book as a reference!

The most attractive educational books I've ever seen since Dr. Seuss.

I will continue to fine tune my programming skill, in the mean time, I will start learning more HTML and C++ in the coming month.

Blog 6 - Second Interview Preparation

1.  Who is your mentor and where do they work?

Lily Wu

Works at the County of Los Angeles Internal Services Department, Information Technology Service.

2.  What five questions will you ask them about their background?

What position do you hold in your field and what are you responsible for?

How long have you with this company and in this field of work and what have you done in the past?

What is the company's goal or purpose?

Did you go to college? If so, what did you major in, what did you study in this major, and what level of degree did you obtain? If not, in what ways did you gain experience for your job?

Why did you pursue this career?

What do you think makes a person an expert in your field of work, being one yourself?

What do you think has been the most influential factor that allows you succeed in the work that you do?

Blog 5 - Mentorship Reflection

Based on what you have done for your senior project so far, answer the following questions (be specific and use examples).

1. Mentorship question: Describe your experience in how you found your mentorship?  If you haven't found one yet, describe your experience so far in the search of a mentor.

My mentor is my Lily Wu - my mom. Having her as my mentor is very convenient since she lives with me and I talk to her almost everyday. I found this to be very lucky since my interest is in the same field as what she does for work. She was willing to take the time to teach me computer programming and, because of my explanation of the project, she knows my EQ and the goal of this mentorship component - to learn practical skills in the real world that is not regularly provided in school course work. Once she understood these things, she taught me what she does, what is required of programmers in her field of work, how to program, and has given me input on my current EQ.

2. Research question: What has been your most important article you have read so far and why?

The most important article I have read so far is "Computer Programming in the 21st Century: Quo Vadis?" which is a compilation of many writings of authors in the programming field. This article not only pertains directly to my working EQ, "How can an individual become a successful computer programmer in the 21st century?" but it also outlines and summarizes possible answers towards this question. In addition, it also gives me a general direction of what I should study such as 'problem solving' or 'continuous learning.' This article has helped me advance greatly in my senior project. Therefore, I feel that this is the most important article I have read so far.