The objective of the reflection assignment is to demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the course material and apply acquired knowledge to solve a real-world problem.

The objective of the reflection assignment is to demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the course material and apply acquired knowledge to solve a real-world problem.

Task:

Reflect on the programs you have written and compiled in weeks 3 and 5 and answer the following questions.

Questions:

      – How easy or difficult was it to understand the programs that were presented?

     -  Were you able to find the relevant information that you needed to fully understand the programs and execute the tasks?

     - How did you obtain the knowledge that is necessary to write and compile the programs?

     – Do the programs effectively apply the concepts learned in the course?

     - Reflect on challenges faced and solutions implemented.

Lambda Expressions:

Another function in Java is the Lambda Expressions.   Provide a brief literature review related to the Lambda Expressions and discuss whether you could have applied this function to either program I or II or both?

Outcome:

Essay:

Once you have successfully answered the questions you are to write a 2 – 3-page paper.

APA- Essay Components:

     – Use the APA 7 style guidelines.

     – Main Body (2-3 pages).

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Java Programs Reflection

Java Programs Reflection

In the field of programming, the skill of comprehending concepts and applying them is the most critical skill for success. This reflective essay will provide the flaws and successes of the programs I coded in weeks 3 and 5 of this Java course. I will cover the facets such as the level of understanding, accessibility of information, learning, and real-life application of the course material. As I walk through the process, I will reflect on any challenges and the solutions implemented to overcome them. I will also review the literature on Lambda Expressions and discuss whether the function applies to either program I or II or both.

Week 3 and 5 programs have been easy and manageable to understand. The method of learning, which is organized, and the complexity of the assignments that arise gradually assisted me in understanding. Moreover, I found the clear explanations in the course materials and the instructor’s guidance a massive help in understanding the underpinnings of the programs. But, with the programs getting more advanced, the precepts became more challenging to understand and needed more review and practice to understand them fully.

Usually, locating the relevant information to comprehend or perform the assigned operations was simple. The course materials, such as textbooks, lecture notes, and online resources, were structured perfectly to cover all the topics in depth. Also, the app has more examples and exercises to ensure the learning targets are met. When I experienced difficulties with some concepts, I could turn to my peers or the lecturer, which made sorting out the queries easier.

An appropriate mix of theoretical knowledge and practical application was used to understand the system and write and compile the programs. I learned the basic Java programming concepts, like syntax, data types, control structures, and object-oriented programming principles, which became the basis of my understanding of language fundamentals. Moreover, conducting hands-on coding exercises and assignments helped me apply the theoretical knowledge in real-life situations, which strengthened the learning process.

The programs were the practical realization of the aligned theory from the course, and they exhibited mastery in problem-solving and algorithmic thinking. This was from elementary programs dealing with input/output operations and conditional statements to advanced ones that include loops, arrays, and object-oriented programming principles (Kloibhofer et al., 2022). Each assignment was built on the previous knowledge learned. Besides that, following the best practices like good code readability, modularization, and documentation improves the quality and maintainability of the programs as well.

Along the course, I encountered several challenges, which ranged from careless mistakes, such as syntactical errors, to logical complications. On the other hand, the most examined part was that each struggle was the best for development and formation. The error-fixing techniques comprising the code systematic inspection, error tracing, and peer review were applied whenever there were some errors (Cairo et al., 2018). Additionally, the online forums and resources enabled offering solutions to self-problems by resorting to problem-solving and seeking help when encountering unknown challenges for the very first time.

Lambda Expressions Literature Review:

The research of Petrulio et al. (2021) reports that Lambda expressions of Java provide a compressed symbol to represent an anonymous function. Therefore, functional programming primitives can be applied within the language. Similarly, the study (Walter Arndt Lucas et al., 2019) observed that Lambda expressions were first introduced in Java 8, with shorter syntax than the anonymous inner classes, shorter in terms of syntax, and hence more readable and expressive. The language compact corps comprehensive expressions support a functional programming style, and this leaves the code compact, cleaner, and more maintainable. Furthermore, according to the work of Mazinanian et al. (2017), lambda expressions are of great value in applications where available interfaces are standard and when you stream data processing because they sometimes simplify the code logic to enhance efficiency.

In programs I and II, Lambda expressions could enrich their features and make them more readable. The first concerns basic I/O operations or simple computations; lambda expressions have been only moderately useful at best. Nevertheless, lambda expressions may have been less helpful in program II, where I suppose the interactions are more advanced in logic and data processing. Thus, if the app needs filtering of the list on specific conditions or transforms each element, the lambda expressions can simplify these operations because they can embed the logic of filtering or transformation compactly. Also, in situations requiring a callback function or any pertaining event handling, using lambda expresses is a better and more economical way of dealing with the issue.

Conclusion

In conclusion, reflecting on my knowledge of dealing with Java programs and writing defined the value of understanding all the course material and successfully applying the acquired knowledge. Although I had to deal with some challenges, I overcame them by proactively consulting and always trying to learn something new. Consequently, I have become a professional in programming. Also, incorporating further applications like Lambda Expressions can improve the performance and usability of programs, thus ultimately leading to further development in programming skills and capabilities.

References

Cairo, A., Carneiro, G., & Monteiro, M. (2018). The Impact of Code Smells on Software Bugs: A Systematic Literature Review. Information, 9(11), 273. https://doi.org/10.3390/info9110273

Kloibhofer, S., Lukas Makor, Leopoldseder, D., Bonetta, D., Stadler, L., & Hanspeter Mössenböck. (2022). Automatically transform arrays to columnar storage at run time. https://doi.org/10.1145/3546918.3560805

Mazinanian, D., Ketkar, A., Tsantalis, N., & Dig, D. (2017). Understanding the use of lambda expressions in Java. Proceedings of the ACM on Programming Languages, 1(OOPSLA), 1–31. https://doi.org/10.1145/3133909

Petrulio, F., Sawant, A. A., & Bacchelli, A. (2021). The indolent lambdification of Java. Empirical Software Engineering, 26(6). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10664-021-10039-9

Walter Arndt Lucas, Bonifácio, R., Edna Dias Canedo, Campos, D., & Fernanda Rodrigues Lima. (2019). Does the Introduction of Lambda Expressions Improve the Comprehension of Java Programs? Brazilian Symposium on Software Engineering. https://doi.org/10.1145/3350768.3350791