Category Archives: CS-448

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.

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.

Confronting Your Ignorance

This apprenticeship method is closely related to Expose Your Ignorance, but instead of just simply identifying what you don’t know, you learn those topics. Reading this method expanded my thinking about how to go about learning within a team environment. The article describes that there is a detrimental difference between incorporating your learning in a positive way and a negative way. The negative way can appear in a few different ways, mainly an individual doing all of their learning in private, not sharing their experience with other individuals who also are learning the craft, and the risk of creating niche products and tools that only you are able to use and understand. This could lead to frustration and other issues within your team, and drive the team towards a “fend for yourself” mentality. It can also lead to individuals stagnating in their learning, causing them to not really care when a problem occurs within the code that is someone else’s issue, since they did all their learning in private.

Exposing your ignorance can also appear in positive ways as well, which is the ideal goal. After identifying what areas of knowledge that you didn’t know, one positive method would be to seek out other individuals that also want to learn, and learn together. Applying this to my life, I am luckily in that situation with my team on the Libre Food Pantry project. We all are working on the same issues together, so we are also learning together when we solve the issue. We are all learning chai together and how the docker containers interact with the rest of the project. And when one individual is working on an issue by themselves, they explain how they got to where they are in the code and let everyone see the inner workings of the code. By doing this, the team will all be caught up on how to work on a particular issue, and there won’t be any frustration when a team member is not available for the day.

When I begin my new job, I will already have taken in my list of topics that I want to learn about. The next step would be to seek out other individuals who are also wanting to learn the same topics that I do, and discover them together. Working on “breakable toys” as a team will give everyone the opportunity to use them without hassle. Also seeking out mentors and senior leaders who have experience in whatever topic we are striving to learn will help, as they can show us what they have learned, what mistakes to avoid, and how to effectively apply the knowledge to a team environment. It is important to always keep your team in the loop whenever you are learning a new topic, and to keep learning and seeking out new things to learn.

From the blog CS@Worcester – Noelan Chabot's Blog by nchabot1 and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

Expose Your Ignorance

This blog posts discusses the issue of individuals at their work place dealing with the expectation that they are an expert in their area of work. In regards to software, this is a difficult issue to tackle, as new innovations and technologies are pushed towards software developers rapidly. It can be hard to catch up to all of the new ways of doing tasks and creating code, new IDEs that the company is enforcing software engineers to use.

Personally, I relate to this topic. Growing up, I was always the “tech guy” in my family, helping my parents and everyone else at family events. This gave me a false sense of confidence when I started college, and I realized how little I knew in the world of software. With this little knowledge though, I still felt I had to maintain my sense of “expertise” when I was with my friends and family. When I was in class however, I was in awe of how much the knowledge of software I did not know. This idea can also apply to the workplace. I would assume that when I do start my new job, I will be with other recently graduated software engineers, and everyone will want to make their mark. Who would want to work with the new grad who didn’t know how to work in a certain language? This way of thinking is created by the idea that in the corporate world, its everyone for themselves.

When I start my new job, I will try to keep the mentality that I can always learn more when I am working on a project. The reading describes a method of writing five things that you don’t know, and keeping them in the open at your workstation so other coworkers can see it, and to always refresh the list. Working on the Libre Food Pantry project, I already have most of my list assembled for that project. The list includes: chai syntax, inner workings of docker containers, and the CI pipeline. This list will obviously change when I transition to a new work environment and new projects, but the idea will stay the same. Keep refreshing the list of new things that you want to know more of, and keep it out in the open and “expose” your ignorance. Its ok to not know everything in a certain field, that what experience does. It helps you develop your skills and become a better developer.

Another solution is to just simply ask questions. The more direct the question, the quicker you’ll find yourself becoming the person that answers those questions. As stated before, it’s difficult to ask questions, especially when you are brand new in a project. You are expected to be able to handle yourself and not rely on anyone else, and if you do rely on anyone else you are just a hinderance to the project.

From the blog CS@Worcester – Noelan Chabot's Blog by nchabot1 and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.