Computer Science Teaching Certification Exam...

As I'm getting ready to take my 8-12th grade Computer Science teaching certification exam, I have to remind myself that although I once learned HTML, I am still really new to the world of programming. Just the same, I'm studying for several hours a day, every day. In fact, I haven't missed a day of learning in two and a half months.

Special thanks to Soumil Kumar for the amazing stock photo!

My first game in Java!

I found an amazing tutorial for writing a brick breaking style game in Java. I walked through the video, typing all of the code, and was able to fully reproduce the game! In some respect, I suppose it's similar to tracing a drawing, but either way, I am so happy with the results. My first hello world app took me about 90 minutes to finish. I finished the game in about two hours.

// Main.java

/*
 * This amazing Java game was written by Austin Craver
 * by following and coding along with a 57 minute tutorial.
 * Special thanks to Awais Mirza for taking the time to create
 * and share such a helpful and informative video!!! *
 */

package breakerGame;

import javax.swing.JFrame;

public class Main {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // Creates frame for game
        JFrame obj = new JFrame();
        Gameplay gamePlay = new Gameplay();
        obj.setBounds(10, 10, 700, 600);
        obj.setTitle("Breakout Ball");
        obj.setResizable(false);
        obj.setVisible(true);
        obj.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
        obj.add(gamePlay);
    }
}

Harvard Educator Workshop

I am the proud recipient of a limited number of passes to attend the annual Computer Science Educator Workshop at Harvard University. It will be held at the historic campus in June. To say that I am looking forward to three days of geeking out at Harvard would be a tremendous understatement.

Hello world!

About two months ago I applied for a Ph.D. in Linguistics. While waiting for a response, I decided that if I was accepted into the program, I was going to begin studying Computer Science in my "spare" time. I was really excited about combining my love of language with my passion for technology.

Be that as it may, I was denied admission to the program. Although I was not happy with the outcome, I accepted and embraced the reality of my situation and kept my focus on the future.

Since then, I have dedicated a good deal of time to watching videos, reading articles, running through tutorials, and so on. I also researched the seemingly endless number of options for teaching myself.

After setting up accounts with a number of providers, I decided to invest some significant time and money at EdX.org.

Open EdX in a new window:
Free Online Courses! Advance Your Career. Improve Your Life.

I am currently enrolled in CS50 through HarvardX. It is a free course that provides the option of paying for a certification route. Pending successful completion of the (very in-depth) course, I will thusly earn a certificate of completion from Harvard.

I am excited about where this adventure may lead.

Cheers,

Austin C.

#include <cs50.h>
#include <stdio.h>

int main(void)
{
    int i = get_int("Integer: ")
    printf("Hello, %i\", i)

}