Final Week

Class:
I'm sure a lot of people have already complained about this but I might as well throw in my two cents as well. The exam was a massacre. I had studied the SQL queries, the python equivalents, XML, Java Refactoring, and the likes... But when it came time for the exam, the unthinkable happened. The entire exam was in Python and had nothing to do with the SQL queries, XML, exercises or even the quizzes that we had in class. I won't go into detail about what was on the exam but as I said it was a massacre. For some strange reason, and I'm not alone when I say this, I felt misled. I'm not sure why the exam was set up the way it was. It seemed largely unfair compared to the first test. Some part of me feels that the professor had set up the exam this way because the average for the first exam may have been too high. My assumption is that by making the second exam excessively difficult, the professor will exercise his right to curve. I guess he will curve the second exam up to make the average of the two test averages lie in the 70-75 range.

Overall Final Words:
I believe this class should be required for all CS students. I am actually very shocked that this class is not currently required. I have learned more from this class about life after college as a software developer than from any other class. In fact, if test driven development would have been stressed earlier in my academic career I feel as though many of my other classes would have been made much easier. I would highly recommend this class to any CS students that are serious about becoming better programmers and especially for those looking to get a job. Finally a word of advice to the professor. While the SQL queries and XML are important aspects of software development I feel that the last few weeks would have been more helpful to students if you had spent more time on the refactoring and the design patterns. I think the presentations from the guest speakers are helpful but the speakers should be required to have powerpoint presentations to stay on track. Finally a special thanks for everything that you do to ensure our success. It is evident that you are dedicated to your students' success and we appreciate it. Thank you.