CS Online Learning Journal

  This week I learned more about how companies like Google run their systems using things like containers, virtual machines, and serverless computing. One thing that grabbed my attention was how batch jobs are managed. I did not realize how important it is to break up jobs into small chunks and use things like checkpointing to keep things running smoothly, even if something goes wrong. I also learned what hybrid cloud means and how companies mix their own servers with public cloud infrastructure to save money and stay flexible. Some of the quiz questions were tricky at first, but going over the reading helped everything make more sense.

  This week I learned about the different challenges that come with running large tests, especially at big companies like Google. One of the main things that grabbed my attention was how ownership becomes harder when a test involves many teams. I also learned that not having a standard way of running tests can cause confusion and slow things down. Another interesting point was how hard it is to run large tests if they do not follow the usual systems, which can frustrate engineers. Overall, chapter-14 helped me understand why large tests need good planning and clear roles.

  One thing that grabbed my attention while reading Software Engineering at Google was how much thought goes into greenfield reviews. I always assumed reviewing new code was mostly about making sure it runs and does not have obvious bugs, but at Google, they treat it almost like a design checkpoint. They care about whether the code matches the original design, if it has been properly tested, and even whether it will still make sense six months from now. It kind of blew my mind that something like, is this easy to maintain in the future?, is a major focus before the code is even used. It made me realize that writing code is only half the job, thinking about how it will age is just as important. I never thought of code as something that could expire, but now I see why they treat it like a long term investment.

  How does React compare to other frameworks you have used for front end development?  What do you like, and not like, about React? I do not have a lot of experience with web development, so I have not really used other front end frameworks besides React. At first, React felt a bit confusing to learn, especially with all the components and state stuff. But once I got the hang of it, I started to really see how helpful it is. It makes building user interfaces faster and easier to manage, especially when working on bigger projects. What I like most is how reusable the components are, you do not have to repeat yourself as much. What I do not like is that there is kind of a steep learning curve in the beginning. Still, I think learning React is one of the best skills to have if you want to get better at front end development or grow professionally in this field.

  In lab 1, we used something called a Mock in our JUnit tests. A Mock is kind of like a fake version of a class or object that we do not want to use directly in our tests. It helps us test just the part of the code we care about without needing everything else to work. For example, if one part of the code talks to a database or an API, we can use a Mock instead so that our test runs faster and is not affected by outside stuff. This makes it easier to find bugs and keep our tests simple and reliable.