Learning to Code

From May to August, I learned how to functionally code using DrRacket.

Functional programming: “treats computation as the evaluation of
mathematical functions and avoids
changing-state and mutable data.”

I found it really interesting to code. I found myself constantly pushing myself to remember the built-in tools we learned in class, and the multiple ways we could use them to answer different questions. Unlike the typical biology courses I take, where memorization is more key than actually applying our knowledge, CS was much more applied than what I was used to. It was great to be able to see what I know and what I didn’t know. Using DrRacket was hard at first since it required so many brackets, and was just felt weird to code with in general. Overall, it was interesting to learn an actual programming language (even though it’s one language that not many use).

This coming September I’ll be learning imperative programming using Python.

Imperative programming: “uses statements that change a program’s
state, [and] consists of commands for the
computer to perform.”

We learned a bit of imperative using DrRacket, but it was just one short lecture in which we learned one built-in function called local. I’m really excited to learn Python. It’s going to be an interesting Fall term.