Surviving CSE

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single

step." [Sun Tzu]

Tom Rethard

Lecturer, CSE@UTA

The Privileged Few

“Of those to whom much is given, much is required.”

--John F. Kennedy Inaugural Address, 1961

Choose a job that you like and you will never have to work a day in your life

Confucius

First, a few little hints

Plan on working hard:

"The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary."

[Donald Kendall]

If you don’t already own one,buy a computer.

Why?

• You can use the labs for everything you’ll need to do in any of the classes

But remember:

• You have no control over the machine or the hours• You can’t run the software you want• You can’t install specialized software for classes

and projects• You may have to wait in line• A CSE student without a computer is like a

musician without an instrument

Because ...

• Hardware is CHEAP– Your computer is always available, without leaving

home

• Software is CHEAP– Linux

• Most of what a student might need can be found for free

– Windows• MAVCOMP Store – cheap stuff• CSE@UTA has the MSDNAA subscriptions

– Operating Systems– Compilers and other Development Tools– Servers– ALL FREE!

• See http://msdnaa.uta.edu

Keep a notebook

Keep Good Records

• Use a hard-bound notebook• Don’t use for class notes• Record everything about every

lab or project• Keep track of the actual time you

spend on labs•Track by activity•Be scrupulously honest

• Examine how you did on each lab and write it down – remember your “lessons learned”

• Will make it easier to learn from your experience

Engineering isn’t Everything!

• Pay attention in your non-CSE courses.– You may need the information for CSE courses (like

math)– You will develop necessary skills in other courses (like

English and Speech)– You will improve the breadth of your knowledge and

the clarity of your reasoning• Helpful in CSE• Critical in life

• “The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them. [Mark Twain]”

Attitude is Everything!

[Today’s students] can put dope in their veins or hope in their brains…. If they can conceive it and believe it, they can achieve it. They must know it is not their aptitude but their attitude that will determine their altitude.

The Rev. Jesse Jacksonquoted in the Washington Post 21 May 78

Attitude

• This is engineering• It won’t be easy• It involves a lot of work• You get out of it what you put into it -- and a lot

more• It can be fun• In the end, it is definitely worth the trouble

Coursework

Coursework

• Take these courses as early as possible– CSE 3302 – Programming Languages

• Will aid you greatly in the rest of your 3000 & 4000 courses because of the understanding gained of why languages are the way they are

– CSE 3310 – Software Engineering I• Understanding and applying the principles taught in this

course will make much of your life in other courses easier

• Remember that the knowledge taught in a course is called on in later courses– Don’t assume that you can ignore course content once

you’ve passed the course

• Take the hard courses• "Anything I've ever done that ultimately was

worthwhile... initially scared me to death."[Betty Bender]

• “Confusion is the welcome mat at the door of creativity.” [Michael J. Gelb]

• "Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors."[African Proverb]

• TEAMWORK:– Learn to work with others – engineers and non-

engineers– You’ll have to do it well to keep your job

Teamwork

Huh?

• It’s easier to do it myself than explain it to someone else.

• No one else can do it as well as I can.• I just want to design websites. I don’t need anyone

else• I just like to right code. It’s easier to do by

yourself.• I just want to do my own thing.

The Six Blind Men and the Elephant

A number of disciples went to the Buddha and said, "Sir, there are living here in Savatthi many wandering hermits and scholars who indulge in constant dispute, some saying that the world is infinite and eternal and others that it is finite and not eternal, some saying that the soul dies with the body and others that it lives on forever, and so forth. What, Sir, would you say concerning them?"

The Buddha answered, "Once upon a time there was a certain raja who called to his servant and said, 'Come, good fellow, go and gather together in one place all the men of Savatthi who were born blind... and show them an elephant.'

“Very good, sire,” replied the servant, and he did as he was told. He said to the blind men assembled there, 'Here is an elephant,' and to one man he presented the head of the elephant, to another its ears, to another a tusk, to another the trunk, the foot, back, tail, and tuft of the tail, saying to each one that that was the elephant.

"When the blind men had felt the elephant, the raja went to each of them and said to each, 'Well, blind man, have you seen the elephant? Tell me, what sort of thing is an elephant?'

"Thereupon the men who were presented with the head answered, 'Sire, an elephant is like a pot.' And the men who had observed the ear replied, 'An elephant is like a winnowing basket.' Those who had been presented with a tusk said it was a ploughshare. Those who knew only the trunk said it was a

plough; others said the body was a grainery; the foot, a pillar; the back, a mortar; the tail, a pestle, the tuft of the tail, a brush.

"Then they began to quarrel, shouting, 'Yes it is!' 'No, it is not!' 'An elephant is not that!' 'Yes, it's like that!' and so on, till they came to blows over the matter.

"Brethren, the raja was delighted with the scene. "Just so are these preachers and scholars holding various views blind and unseeing.... In their ignorance they are by nature quarrelsome, wrangling, and disputatious, each maintaining reality is thus and thus."

Then the Exalted One rendered this meaning by uttering this verse of uplift,

O how they cling and wrangle, some who claim For preacher and monk the honored name! For, quarreling, each to his view they cling. Such folk see only one side of a thing.

Source: Jainism and Buddhism. Udana 68-69: Parable of the Blind Men and the Elephant, Udana 68-69: We give a version of this well-known Indian tale from the Buddhist canon, but some assert it is of Jain origin. It does illustrate well the Jain doctrine of Anekanta, the manysidedness of things. Cf. Tattvarthaslokavartika 116, p. 806. Mihir Yast 10.2: Cf. Analects 15.5, p. 1020.

A “Solo” Artist

• How many people does it take to make a record? (We won’t even talk about who is involved in manufacturing and selling the recording.)– The artist

– The writer

– The arranger

– The backup band or orchestra

– The recording crew

– The production crew

• Not exactly a solo, is it?

But, software is different

• The programmer does it all.

Really?– Who wrote his tools?

– Who gave him his requirements?

– Who checks his code for errors?

• If he does it all himself, he can only create small products, if any at all.

• But, working alone usually means nothing is ever produced.

This is an old lesson

Donne said it best

No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were ...

-- John Donne Devotions upon Emergent Occasions, 17

(Meditation XVII) 1624

• We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately. [Benjamin Franklin, At the signing of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776]

You must work with others well.

And Here’s Why

• Ever heard of the “Dialectic?”

an exchange of propositions and counter-propositions resulting in a synthesis of the opposing assertions or at least a qualitative transformation of the direction of the dialogue. [Wikipediat http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialectic]

What It Means

• “If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.”

- George Bernard Shaw

• And from those two ideas may well come a third that is better

How It Works

Thesis (an idea)

When you work alone, you can have an idea – or lots of ideas.

Thesis (an idea)

Thesis (an idea)

Thesis (an idea)

Thesis (an idea)

Thesis (an idea)

More Than One Way to Skin a Cat

• When the Americans went to space they quickly found out that ball point pens wouldn't work in zero G's so NASA spent a decade and 12 billion dollars developing a pen that could write in zero G's, upside down, underwater on almost any surface including glass and in temperatures ranging from below freezing and to 300 degrees FTHE RUSSIANS USED A PENCIL [Unknown ]

But when you work with others, ideas grow

Thesis (an idea)

Syn-Thesis (a NEW idea)with aspects of both

Anti-Thesis (another idea)

• Imagine what the answer would have been if the six blind men had listened to each other and combined their beliefs.

• Is it easy? • No

– Most people don’t like conflict– Disagreement is a form of conflict– Conflict, improperly managed, causes most of the

world’s ills

• But– Disagreement is healthy– Conflict, properly managed, drives progress

Managing Conflict

• Use a formal Team Operating Agreement– Codifies the “rules of engagement”

– Each member’s responsibilities

– How decisions will be made

– When and where meetings will be held

– How members will behave

• Keep good records– Every meeting needs an agenda – and stick to it!

– Every meeting should produce formal minutes

– Keep EVERYTHING in a project notebook, usually a 3-ring binder.

• Think first, then act

• “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.”[Stephen Covey, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People]

• "We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.“ [Epictetus]

• "A man wrapped up in himself makes a very small bundle“ [Benjamin Franklin]

• "Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.“ [General George S. Patton]

People Skills

• Are critical to success.

• You don’t have to be a politician.

• You do have to work well with others.

• You can learn to work well with others

• Are the hardest part of a degree in this field• A wise person knows that there is something to be learned

from everyone. [unknown]

“Remember that the technical problems are easy; it’s the people problems that can kill your project.”

[Tom Rethard, in Senior Design]

Dealing with Anger

• "If you are angry, why not try this. Write a letter. Pour out all of your feelings, describe your anger and disappointment. Don't hold anything back. Then put the letter in a drawer. After two days, take it out and read it. Do you still want to send it? I've found that anger and pie crusts soften after two days.“ [H. Jackson Brown, Jr.]

Remember This

“I have learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but they

will never forget how YOU made them FEEL.”

[Maya Angelou]

Personal Responsibility

• There are two kinds of people, those that do the work and those that take the credit. Try to be in the first group, there is less competition there.[Indira Gandhi ]

• These same two kinds of people show up in team projects.

• But there’s also a third type: the enabler

Enablers

• “The team grade is a major part of my grade, so, since Joe won’t do his work, I’ll have to do it for him so I can get a good grade.”

• This same student will be the first to complain about the workload and how unfair it is.

• Projects are designed so that EVERYONE must pull his own weight.

• Don’t help other students take advantage of you – help them take advantage of the opportunity to grow.

Learn Time Management

Don’t waste time

• 'The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ, Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line, Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it

• Edward Fitzgerald, “Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.

Take Risks

• “Take risks: If you win, you will be happy; if you lose, you will be wise.” [Anonymous]

• “If you don't make mistakes, you aren't really trying.” [Coleman Hawking ]

• "You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take“ [Wayne Gretzky]

• "The greatest mistake you can make is to be continually fearing you will make one.“ [Elbert Hubbard]

• "You will never stub your toe standing still. The faster you go, the more chance there is of stubbing your toe, but the more chance you have of getting somewhere.“ [Charles Kettering]

Parting Thoughts

“Do or do not, there is no ‘try’”

[Yoda, Jedi Master (The Empire Strikes Back)]

“Live as if your were to die tomorrow... Learn as if you were to live forever.”

[Mahatma Gandhi ]