Author Archives: Angus Cheng

Reflect As You Work

Hello and welcome back to another week of my blog. This week, I looked through chapter 5 of the book Apprenticeship Patterns by Dave Hoover named “Perpetual Learning.” I was quite interested in the apprenticeship pattern called “Reflect as you work” once I read it. This pattern talks about how important it is to reflect on your own work and what you have learned in order to improve and progress as a computer science apprentice. All computer science apprentices should plan for a time to regularly review their work and see what areas they can improve in. It is also important to see what you accomplished and identify where you succeeded. You should always cherish those successes. “Reflect as you work” recommends you as an aspiring computer science major to draw a personal map for your own working habits and focus on the habits that have not changed in a while. Figure out if changing one habit would make you more productive and adopt that change.

To apply “Reflect as you work” to myself, I am going to make an analogy to playing video games again. No matter what video game I play, I always reflect on my actions, both when I succeed and fail. If one strategy fails, then I look back and try to identify points of failure and see how I can correct those mistakes. If my strategy succeeds, I celebrate that I’ve won (mentally in my head) and then look back and see if I can make the strategy better or make it more efficient. This is just a habit I’ve developed over years and years of playing video games. The same can be applied to being a software apprentice. If I fail to write working code, then I will try to identify the errors and try to correct them. If the code does work, then I will analyze it to see where it can be more efficient. In the future, I will always reflect as I work. As an example, look at this code:

int count;

count = 0;

while (count < 3){

System.out.println(count);

count = count + 1;

}

This code can be condensed down into:

int count = 0;

while (count < 3) {

    System.out.println(count++);

}

Which can be further condensed down to: 

for (int count = 0; count < 3; count++) {

    System.out.println(count);

}

Reflecting on my work as I go will greatly help me as a software engineer apprentice.

From the blog Comfy Blog by Angus Cheng and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

Reflect As You Work

Hello and welcome back to another week of my blog. This week, I looked through chapter 5 of the book Apprenticeship Patterns by Dave Hoover named “Perpetual Learning.” I was quite interested in the apprenticeship pattern called “Reflect as you work” once I read it. This pattern talks about how important it is to reflect on your own work and what you have learned in order to improve and progress as a computer science apprentice. All computer science apprentices should plan for a time to regularly review their work and see what areas they can improve in. It is also important to see what you accomplished and identify where you succeeded. You should always cherish those successes. “Reflect as you work” recommends you as an aspiring computer science major to draw a personal map for your own working habits and focus on the habits that have not changed in a while. Figure out if changing one habit would make you more productive and adopt that change.

To apply “Reflect as you work” to myself, I am going to make an analogy to playing video games again. No matter what video game I play, I always reflect on my actions, both when I succeed and fail. If one strategy fails, then I look back and try to identify points of failure and see how I can correct those mistakes. If my strategy succeeds, I celebrate that I’ve won (mentally in my head) and then look back and see if I can make the strategy better or make it more efficient. This is just a habit I’ve developed over years and years of playing video games. The same can be applied to being a software apprentice. If I fail to write working code, then I will try to identify the errors and try to correct them. If the code does work, then I will analyze it to see where it can be more efficient. In the future, I will always reflect as I work. As an example, look at this code:

int count;

count = 0;

while (count < 3){

System.out.println(count);

count = count + 1;

}

This code can be condensed down into:

int count = 0;

while (count < 3) {

    System.out.println(count++);

}

Which can be further condensed down to: 

for (int count = 0; count < 3; count++) {

    System.out.println(count);

}

Reflecting on my work as I go will greatly help me as a software engineer apprentice.

From the blog Comfy Blog by Angus Cheng and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

Reflect As You Work

Hello and welcome back to another week of my blog. This week, I looked through chapter 5 of the book Apprenticeship Patterns by Dave Hoover named “Perpetual Learning.” I was quite interested in the apprenticeship pattern called “Reflect as you work” once I read it. This pattern talks about how important it is to reflect on your own work and what you have learned in order to improve and progress as a computer science apprentice. All computer science apprentices should plan for a time to regularly review their work and see what areas they can improve in. It is also important to see what you accomplished and identify where you succeeded. You should always cherish those successes. “Reflect as you work” recommends you as an aspiring computer science major to draw a personal map for your own working habits and focus on the habits that have not changed in a while. Figure out if changing one habit would make you more productive and adopt that change.

To apply “Reflect as you work” to myself, I am going to make an analogy to playing video games again. No matter what video game I play, I always reflect on my actions, both when I succeed and fail. If one strategy fails, then I look back and try to identify points of failure and see how I can correct those mistakes. If my strategy succeeds, I celebrate that I’ve won (mentally in my head) and then look back and see if I can make the strategy better or make it more efficient. This is just a habit I’ve developed over years and years of playing video games. The same can be applied to being a software apprentice. If I fail to write working code, then I will try to identify the errors and try to correct them. If the code does work, then I will analyze it to see where it can be more efficient. In the future, I will always reflect as I work. As an example, look at this code:

int count;

count = 0;

while (count < 3){

System.out.println(count);

count = count + 1;

}

This code can be condensed down into:

int count = 0;

while (count < 3) {

    System.out.println(count++);

}

Which can be further condensed down to: 

for (int count = 0; count < 3; count++) {

    System.out.println(count);

}

Reflecting on my work as I go will greatly help me as a software engineer apprentice.

From the blog Comfy Blog by Angus Cheng and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

The Deep End

Hello and welcome back to another week of my blog. This week, I looked through chapter 2 of the book Apprenticeship Patterns by Dave Hoover named “Emptying The Cup” and took interest in the apprenticeship pattern called “The Deep End.” This pattern is about pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and taking on challenging tasks that are outside of your current skill set. The best way to learn is by doing, and that taking on tasks that are beyond your current abilities can help you grow and develop new skills. The pattern advises that when you are in the “deep end,” it’s important to ask questions and seek help from more experienced colleagues. It’s also important to break down your tasks into smaller, more manageable pieces and to focus on making small incremental progress over time. The benefits of taking on tasks in the “deep end” include accelerated learning, increased confidence, and the opportunity to demonstrate your abilities and potential to your colleagues and mentors.

As a computer science apprentice, it can be scary to go into the “deep end” since you may think you would be a totally lost person working with experienced people. But I have experienced the deep end myself many times in my everyday hobby, video games. This seems to happen the most especially in competitive video games, when you play with people who are more skilled than you, you start to pick up on the many small helpful habits highly skilled players tend to do. The skilled players don’t need to think about the small habits because they have already mastered them and do them out of muscle memory. The same can be said for computer science apprentices. For a scenario, think about working on a difficult project with more experienced people in the field. You may look like a small fry with not that much experience compared to the others, but this is actually a fantastic opportunity to observe your team members and pay attention to small things and habits like their thought process for example. As you focus on the small habits, you also start to copy those habits and incorporate them into your work as well. This would also be a great opportunity to ask questions if you are confused about anything. I will for sure start diving into the deep end if I find any opportunities to since it will strengthen my skills as a computer science major.

From the blog Comfy Blog by Angus Cheng and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

The Deep End

Hello and welcome back to another week of my blog. This week, I looked through chapter 2 of the book Apprenticeship Patterns by Dave Hoover named “Emptying The Cup” and took interest in the apprenticeship pattern called “The Deep End.” This pattern is about pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and taking on challenging tasks that are outside of your current skill set. The best way to learn is by doing, and that taking on tasks that are beyond your current abilities can help you grow and develop new skills. The pattern advises that when you are in the “deep end,” it’s important to ask questions and seek help from more experienced colleagues. It’s also important to break down your tasks into smaller, more manageable pieces and to focus on making small incremental progress over time. The benefits of taking on tasks in the “deep end” include accelerated learning, increased confidence, and the opportunity to demonstrate your abilities and potential to your colleagues and mentors.

As a computer science apprentice, it can be scary to go into the “deep end” since you may think you would be a totally lost person working with experienced people. But I have experienced the deep end myself many times in my everyday hobby, video games. This seems to happen the most especially in competitive video games, when you play with people who are more skilled than you, you start to pick up on the many small helpful habits highly skilled players tend to do. The skilled players don’t need to think about the small habits because they have already mastered them and do them out of muscle memory. The same can be said for computer science apprentices. For a scenario, think about working on a difficult project with more experienced people in the field. You may look like a small fry with not that much experience compared to the others, but this is actually a fantastic opportunity to observe your team members and pay attention to small things and habits like their thought process for example. As you focus on the small habits, you also start to copy those habits and incorporate them into your work as well. This would also be a great opportunity to ask questions if you are confused about anything. I will for sure start diving into the deep end if I find any opportunities to since it will strengthen my skills as a computer science major.

From the blog Comfy Blog by Angus Cheng and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

The Deep End

Hello and welcome back to another week of my blog. This week, I looked through chapter 2 of the book Apprenticeship Patterns by Dave Hoover named “Emptying The Cup” and took interest in the apprenticeship pattern called “The Deep End.” This pattern is about pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and taking on challenging tasks that are outside of your current skill set. The best way to learn is by doing, and that taking on tasks that are beyond your current abilities can help you grow and develop new skills. The pattern advises that when you are in the “deep end,” it’s important to ask questions and seek help from more experienced colleagues. It’s also important to break down your tasks into smaller, more manageable pieces and to focus on making small incremental progress over time. The benefits of taking on tasks in the “deep end” include accelerated learning, increased confidence, and the opportunity to demonstrate your abilities and potential to your colleagues and mentors.

As a computer science apprentice, it can be scary to go into the “deep end” since you may think you would be a totally lost person working with experienced people. But I have experienced the deep end myself many times in my everyday hobby, video games. This seems to happen the most especially in competitive video games, when you play with people who are more skilled than you, you start to pick up on the many small helpful habits highly skilled players tend to do. The skilled players don’t need to think about the small habits because they have already mastered them and do them out of muscle memory. The same can be said for computer science apprentices. For a scenario, think about working on a difficult project with more experienced people in the field. You may look like a small fry with not that much experience compared to the others, but this is actually a fantastic opportunity to observe your team members and pay attention to small things and habits like their thought process for example. As you focus on the small habits, you also start to copy those habits and incorporate them into your work as well. This would also be a great opportunity to ask questions if you are confused about anything. I will for sure start diving into the deep end if I find any opportunities to since it will strengthen my skills as a computer science major.

From the blog Comfy Blog by Angus Cheng and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

The Deep End

Hello and welcome back to another week of my blog. This week, I looked through chapter 2 of the book Apprenticeship Patterns by Dave Hoover named “Emptying The Cup” and took interest in the apprenticeship pattern called “The Deep End.” This pattern is about pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and taking on challenging tasks that are outside of your current skill set. The best way to learn is by doing, and that taking on tasks that are beyond your current abilities can help you grow and develop new skills. The pattern advises that when you are in the “deep end,” it’s important to ask questions and seek help from more experienced colleagues. It’s also important to break down your tasks into smaller, more manageable pieces and to focus on making small incremental progress over time. The benefits of taking on tasks in the “deep end” include accelerated learning, increased confidence, and the opportunity to demonstrate your abilities and potential to your colleagues and mentors.

As a computer science apprentice, it can be scary to go into the “deep end” since you may think you would be a totally lost person working with experienced people. But I have experienced the deep end myself many times in my everyday hobby, video games. This seems to happen the most especially in competitive video games, when you play with people who are more skilled than you, you start to pick up on the many small helpful habits highly skilled players tend to do. The skilled players don’t need to think about the small habits because they have already mastered them and do them out of muscle memory. The same can be said for computer science apprentices. For a scenario, think about working on a difficult project with more experienced people in the field. You may look like a small fry with not that much experience compared to the others, but this is actually a fantastic opportunity to observe your team members and pay attention to small things and habits like their thought process for example. As you focus on the small habits, you also start to copy those habits and incorporate them into your work as well. This would also be a great opportunity to ask questions if you are confused about anything. I will for sure start diving into the deep end if I find any opportunities to since it will strengthen my skills as a computer science major.

From the blog Comfy Blog by Angus Cheng and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

The Deep End

Hello and welcome back to another week of my blog. This week, I looked through chapter 2 of the book Apprenticeship Patterns by Dave Hoover named “Emptying The Cup” and took interest in the apprenticeship pattern called “The Deep End.” This pattern is about pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and taking on challenging tasks that are outside of your current skill set. The best way to learn is by doing, and that taking on tasks that are beyond your current abilities can help you grow and develop new skills. The pattern advises that when you are in the “deep end,” it’s important to ask questions and seek help from more experienced colleagues. It’s also important to break down your tasks into smaller, more manageable pieces and to focus on making small incremental progress over time. The benefits of taking on tasks in the “deep end” include accelerated learning, increased confidence, and the opportunity to demonstrate your abilities and potential to your colleagues and mentors.

As a computer science apprentice, it can be scary to go into the “deep end” since you may think you would be a totally lost person working with experienced people. But I have experienced the deep end myself many times in my everyday hobby, video games. This seems to happen the most especially in competitive video games, when you play with people who are more skilled than you, you start to pick up on the many small helpful habits highly skilled players tend to do. The skilled players don’t need to think about the small habits because they have already mastered them and do them out of muscle memory. The same can be said for computer science apprentices. For a scenario, think about working on a difficult project with more experienced people in the field. You may look like a small fry with not that much experience compared to the others, but this is actually a fantastic opportunity to observe your team members and pay attention to small things and habits like their thought process for example. As you focus on the small habits, you also start to copy those habits and incorporate them into your work as well. This would also be a great opportunity to ask questions if you are confused about anything. I will for sure start diving into the deep end if I find any opportunities to since it will strengthen my skills as a computer science major.

From the blog Comfy Blog by Angus Cheng and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

The Deep End

Hello and welcome back to another week of my blog. This week, I looked through chapter 2 of the book Apprenticeship Patterns by Dave Hoover named “Emptying The Cup” and took interest in the apprenticeship pattern called “The Deep End.” This pattern is about pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and taking on challenging tasks that are outside of your current skill set. The best way to learn is by doing, and that taking on tasks that are beyond your current abilities can help you grow and develop new skills. The pattern advises that when you are in the “deep end,” it’s important to ask questions and seek help from more experienced colleagues. It’s also important to break down your tasks into smaller, more manageable pieces and to focus on making small incremental progress over time. The benefits of taking on tasks in the “deep end” include accelerated learning, increased confidence, and the opportunity to demonstrate your abilities and potential to your colleagues and mentors.

As a computer science apprentice, it can be scary to go into the “deep end” since you may think you would be a totally lost person working with experienced people. But I have experienced the deep end myself many times in my everyday hobby, video games. This seems to happen the most especially in competitive video games, when you play with people who are more skilled than you, you start to pick up on the many small helpful habits highly skilled players tend to do. The skilled players don’t need to think about the small habits because they have already mastered them and do them out of muscle memory. The same can be said for computer science apprentices. For a scenario, think about working on a difficult project with more experienced people in the field. You may look like a small fry with not that much experience compared to the others, but this is actually a fantastic opportunity to observe your team members and pay attention to small things and habits like their thought process for example. As you focus on the small habits, you also start to copy those habits and incorporate them into your work as well. This would also be a great opportunity to ask questions if you are confused about anything. I will for sure start diving into the deep end if I find any opportunities to since it will strengthen my skills as a computer science major.

From the blog Comfy Blog by Angus Cheng and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

The Deep End

Hello and welcome back to another week of my blog. This week, I looked through chapter 2 of the book Apprenticeship Patterns by Dave Hoover named “Emptying The Cup” and took interest in the apprenticeship pattern called “The Deep End.” This pattern is about pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and taking on challenging tasks that are outside of your current skill set. The best way to learn is by doing, and that taking on tasks that are beyond your current abilities can help you grow and develop new skills. The pattern advises that when you are in the “deep end,” it’s important to ask questions and seek help from more experienced colleagues. It’s also important to break down your tasks into smaller, more manageable pieces and to focus on making small incremental progress over time. The benefits of taking on tasks in the “deep end” include accelerated learning, increased confidence, and the opportunity to demonstrate your abilities and potential to your colleagues and mentors.

As a computer science apprentice, it can be scary to go into the “deep end” since you may think you would be a totally lost person working with experienced people. But I have experienced the deep end myself many times in my everyday hobby, video games. This seems to happen the most especially in competitive video games, when you play with people who are more skilled than you, you start to pick up on the many small helpful habits highly skilled players tend to do. The skilled players don’t need to think about the small habits because they have already mastered them and do them out of muscle memory. The same can be said for computer science apprentices. For a scenario, think about working on a difficult project with more experienced people in the field. You may look like a small fry with not that much experience compared to the others, but this is actually a fantastic opportunity to observe your team members and pay attention to small things and habits like their thought process for example. As you focus on the small habits, you also start to copy those habits and incorporate them into your work as well. This would also be a great opportunity to ask questions if you are confused about anything. I will for sure start diving into the deep end if I find any opportunities to since it will strengthen my skills as a computer science major.

From the blog Comfy Blog by Angus Cheng and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.