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OU-M874 (Java)

5 February 2005

While taking the user interface course, I also took one titled "Software Development for networked applications using Java". I'd already built one or two moderately advanced Java applications, but everything I knew was self-taught. I took this course looking to pick up some guidance on the proper way to do things in Java.

As it turns out, there wasn't a great deal of difference between my way and the proper way. I learned a few helpful things about abstraction and UDP. But on the whole I didn't get a huge amount out of it.

One of the more entertaining moments was on the final exam when one question suffered from a race condition and another question was outright broken. I'm always nervous about putting down unconventional answers on final exams since one doesn't get to argue them with the marker afterwards.

Q: Briefly say what the above program does.
A: Error -- Undefined function, line 6

Given that my mark going into the exam was 97%, and my final mark was 74%, I'll assume that the marker was marking by the book. I need to learn when to shut up and play dumb.


Unrelated: I got two letters in the post yesterday. One letter from the "Sheriff Officers & Messengers-at-arms" informing me that a Summary Warrant had been granted against me for failing to pay my Council Tax. The other letter was from the Council informing me that I had overpaid my taxes and was due a refund. Right hand, left hand, déjà-vu.

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