2B||!2B
Always returns true, durr.
Anyway, I realized I hadn’t put up any appraisal of what I took for the last few terms (so 2A coop, 2B, and 2B coop, hence 2B hurr hurr hurr), so instead of studying, I will do that now.
ECON 102: Introduction to Macroeconomics (Smith)
I took this during my 2A coop term. Larry Smith is super-duper entertaining. In addition to that, it was nice that he incorporated economic happenings from the real world as they happened. I regret not being in Waterloo for his commentary in Fall 2008 when the financial crisis became too big to ignore and Obama was elected. An excellent introduction to macroeconomics.
LS 101: Introduction to Legal Studies (DE)
I took this during my 2B coop term through distance education. Nothing special here, just a course that goes through the basics of law in Canada. Pretty easy, what with one paper and one final and no effort put into either netting me a very good mark. I guess if you suck at writing, you shouldn’t take it?
CS 240: Data Structures and Data Management (Chinaei)
Not a terrible prof, but I bought CLRS, so I wasn’t missing too much.
CS 246: Software Abstraction and Specification (Davis)
Again, not terrible, but the course was just C++, obscure UML details, memorizing design patterns, and long tedious assignments.
CS 251: Computer Organization and Design (Cowan)
I’m not a fan of low-level stuff and this was pretty much the lowest-level course that CS has. I already took SE 141, so that saved me for the first half of the course, but the second half seemed like obscure architecture details. It didn’t help that the prof liked to go on long tangents, both in lecture and on assignments.
STAT 230: Probability (Chisholm)
I wasn’t in her section, but I went to one class with the prof that I was supposed to have and never went back. I hate statistics, but she was a really good prof and made it bearable.
PMATH 345: Rings, Polynomials, and Finite Fields (McKinnon)
This was my favourite course of the term. Of course, this was also my hardest course, and I pretty much got destroyed. But I loved the course content. And the prof was awesome too. It might be my favourite course I’ve taken so far. Of course, it’d be my lowest mark too. Go figure.
Tags: computer science, math, School, Waterloo
What is that notation in the title, like what language?
I’m surprised you don’t like the low-level computer stuff, I can’t get enough of it. Being able to see what really goes on at the basic level is fascinating to me. Figuring out how a computer really works as it’s running all this complex hardware feels so much better than just learning how to make a program run in C++ or Assembly language. Granted, we’re still very ‘theoretical’ at the moment and not really getting into how a realistic computer would operate, but my class I’m taking is assuming no knowledge of the basic workings of low level programming, so we have to start out small.
I can’t even begin to figure out what the hell kind of math that last course is. I only know I rather dislike polynomials because factoring is such a bitch and I’m terrible at it.
It’s either generic pseudocode language or an amalgam of several. Either way, it probably won’t work because 2B will probably cause a compiler to throw up.
I don’t like low-level stuff because I’m more interested in the mathematical side of computer science. So I’m not really interested in things like computer architecture or software design and engineering. I’m more interested in things like languages, computability, and algorithms. I like theory, and focusing on things like real computers just gets in the way of that :D
That last course is an abstract algebra course in ring theory. Depending on what kind of math you like, you’ll either find it totally awesome or completely crazy and repulsive.
i just did the pmath345 mid…i think i almost failed that…
did the prof curve when you took it?