We have reached the end, dear readers! The finish line has been crossed, the ribbon cut, the bow taken…..well on the project front, at least. This final project did an excellent job of solidifying my understanding of inheritance and dynamic binding, as well as, gave me a second chance at working without getters and setters and the alternative way of thinking that involves. I would like to re-emphasize how grateful I am for projects like these – manageable yet challenging – that subtly but effectively imbue knowledge pertaining to a particularly important programming concept or strategy. I wish more classes mirrored this approach. While they try, these projects usually end up being too lengthy or beyond our skill level to truly gain the required knowledge without an answer key.

Speaking of answer keys, our final exam approaches in just two short weeks! If I’ve learned anything from the last exam, it’s that the whole two weeks was definitely needed to be successful in the exam. Looks like Thanksgiving weekend will be filled with turkey, pumpkin pie, and const pointers…. Not surprisingly, the lectures have been getting more in-depth and conceptually complicated, so I anticipate even more time needed to sift through all the intricacies of virtual methods and function vs. method definitions.

Tip of the week: My tip of the week is very simple this time around, dear readers. If you are a future Downing student reading this blog: start studying now and get your extra credit items in. You won’t regret it. ;)