CS373 Fall 2019: Lloyd Gumireddy
Hello and welcome to my tenth blog post for CS373: Software Engineering.

What did you do this past week?
In the beginning of the week, I relaxed and took a break after two back-to-back grind weeks. I also went back to the previous phase of the project and elevated some of the deficiences. For example, our pagination was incredibly inefficient causing the entire page to re-render everytime a card was loaded. In addition to restructuring the website’s components (and thus preventing the unnecessary re-renders) I also moved aspects of the pagination to the backend. Now information is provided to the frontend only when the frontend is on the matching page rather than on the query. Cards are also cached locally, so the same cards will never be reloaded. Outside class, I got my passport renewed on Friday and attended HackTX on Saturday/Sunday. It was really fun although my project didn’t manifest due to an ambiguous Docker port error that took wayyy to long to debug.
What will you do next week?
This upcoming week I have a test on Tuesday that I haven’t started preparing for. Phase 3 is also due, but I think my team and I are on track. In the previous phase, my team and I created a pretty good framework (even though we lost points on the details). I also have plans to go to New York next weekend, which I’m looking forward to. Additionally, I want to finish my HackTX project, because I’ve already invested in alot of time and I’m almost done.
What’s in your way?
This week will be a busy one and I need to clear my schedule before the weekend. It’ll be a bit of a grind. However, it’s a manageable workload, so I’m not terribly concerned. More pressing, I’m reconsidering my decision to graduate early this semester. I didn’t realize I was almost complete with a minor I wasn’t even going for; so if I stay I’ll get another minor. Additionally, I feel like this semester is going by too quickly, and I’m not really experiencing my last semester as it should be. Funnily enough, in order not to graduate, I’ll. have to appeal to some committee. (Since I’m done with my degree, I’ll be booted out in accordance with UT policy.)
What was your experience of SQL?
I’ve had experience with SQL prior to being in this class. However, it was a good refresher, and I learned some of SQL’s details that I didn’t know before. I also enjoyed doing the in-class Hackerrank assignments.
What’s your pick-of-the-week or tip-of-the-week?
Hackathons are a great opportunity to meet other students and recruiters, and have fun while eating good free food. If you didn’t go this year, strongly consider attending next year.
I hope you enjoyed my tenth blog post.
~Cheers,
Lloyd.
