In Computer Science, we are studying Java. However, students who have tested out are part of the advanced course.
In Advanced CS, we mainly work on an independent project. But we still have to take the tests throughout the year just to make sure we are still competent.
Advanced Programs
After the start of A Term, when we had finished learning HTML and creating our websites, the students in advanced CS did a few practice problems.
This was an opportunity to use our Java skills to solve some programming problems, most of which were based around math concepts like prime numbers.
Some of the problems were relatively easy, but for others, the main challenge was to make the solution as efficient as possible.
This was because they needed to be tested on really big numbers, so they would take too long to run if they were inefficient.
Independent Computer Science Project
After that, we started to work on our independent computer science project. It is a very open-ended project where students can choose to work on almost anything.
We had the option to work with partners or on our own. I chose to make a video game, specifically a fighting game. I was inspired by Super Smash Bros which is a game I enjoy but don't play that often.
This game is being made using the Python library Pygame. Thankfully, the Pygame library is pretty simple because I have never used it before, but I have still been able to code with using just the documentation.
The reason I chose to use Pygame instead of a more robust game engine is because most of my experience in coding is in Python. All the assets I got were from craftpix.net, and the current characters are homeless people but will probably change.
Overall, I really enjoy working on this project.
Apps For Good
Towards the end of the year, we started Apps For Good. Apps For Good is a project where groups of students
work together on developing an app that is designed to solve a problem or address a need. Our app is called
College Cooks. Many college students, including our own siblings and friends, struggle to prepare meals once they
are out of the house for the first time. So, our minimum viable product is an app that is targeted towards college students
and allows them to view other users' recipes, as well as uploading recipes of their own that are under 5 ingredients. We
researched competitors, made sketches of our app, developed using Android Studio, and then tried adding recipes through the app itself.
The hardest part was using Firebase to have cloud storage in our app.
