Monica Wei

From Unit 4 to Unit 7, covering a total of four units, the focus would be specifically on Java, which makes up four-sevenths of the Introduction to Computer Information Systems course. After two weeks of studying Unit 4, I have basically mastered the basics of Java (Assignment 7) and completed ten introductory coding tasks (Assignment 8), which gave me a strong sense of accomplishment. This was largely thanks to my prior self-study of Python. Although the assignments are quite numerous, I believe everyone can achieve a score of 100 (unless they submit late), because they each have relatively unique correct answers, and you are allowed to keep trying until you get them right. The zyBooks platform has been extremely helpful in learning Java, effectively substituting for Eclipse at this stage; just like Jupyter Notebook is to Python, allowing me to temporarily set aside the use of VS Code.

I am willing to learn Java because it is a mature and powerful programming language with a strong reputation. It is very helpful for developing logical thinking skills in programming, and the ideas are often transferable with other languages like Python, making it not too difficult to switch between them. Of course, first and foremost, it is a required part of this course, so whether I want to or not, I have to learn it to pass. For me, even having just one of these benefits would make me commit to it—let alone the fact that it offers many more.

Even with these necessities, I still feel some regret: it would be much better if it were Python. After all, my future master’s program is in Applied Data Analytics, where Python has greater advantages (although you can choose between Python and Java). During these eight weeks of learning Java, even if I had some spare time, I couldn’t really go back and continue studying Python, because the details between the two languages differ, requiring constant mental switching, which isn’t conducive to learning either of them well. So I will have to set Python aside for now and pick it up again after this course ends in late August.