Introduction
Having a good understanding of programming language is an important skill that must be mastered by both international and domestic students in Australia. This will help the students overcome any challenges they face while completing their programming assignments. In this blog, we will discuss the possible challenges faced by students while generating their programming assignments and how to overcome them.
Importance Of Programming Assignments
Programming assignments help students to test their understanding of the concepts of programming language. Some advantages of programming assignments are as follows:
- Programming assignments allow the students to apply their theoretical knowledge to practical applications. It will also help them in understanding the gap between theory and practice.
- Programming assignments help in providing the students with exposure to coding and a variety of programming concepts.
- Programming assignments help the students develop their problem-solving skills as, sooner or later, they will be exposed to real-world coding scenarios.
- There are some programming assignments that will require students to work in a team. Through these assignments, the students are able to work in a team effectively.
- Programming assignments require the students to continuously engage in new concepts and technologies. Through these assignments, the students will be able to gain various programming skills.
Various Forms Of Programming Assignments
- Coding exercises
- Project-based assignment
- Algorithm challenges
- Debugging and troubleshooting
- Code review and Refactoring
Why Are Programming Assignments Challenging?
Students might face various challenges while writing their programming assignments. Some of them are mentioned below:
- Lack Of Clarity: The main challenge faced by the students is lack of clarity. The students mostly master the conceptual foundation and try to implement it in practical situations. However, upon implementing those theoretical concepts, they realise that they lack clarity in solving practical problems, which, as a result, is a waste of time.
- Understanding Project Requirements: Another challenge faced by the students is that they do not pay any attention to the requirements of the programming assignment. As a result, the students generate assignments with wrong information, which hampers their grades.
- Communication Challenge: As mentioned above, some programming assignments require teamwork. While working in a team, it is important for the students to communicate effectively. However, the communication gap between team members is the main challenge that students face while generating programming assignments.
- Code Borrowing: In order to reduce workload, students might start borrowing code from their friends or from the internet. This will result in plagiarism. There is a high chance that the student’s programming assignment will be rejected.
- Debugging Errors: Another major challenge faced by the students is debugging their codes. The students might face difficulties in finding the bugs in order to get their code workable.
Why Has Programming Become So Complicated?
Below are some other reasons as to why the students find programming assignments complicated:
- There are a number of programming languages, which makes it complicated for the students to decide which programming language to learn.
- In order to write a good programming code, the students are required to deeply understand the vocabulary used. This might be difficult for the students if they do not have any basic knowledge of the foundational programming language such as C.
- There are a lot of study materials available online for students to learn programming languages. However, these are hard to find, which makes it difficult for students to understand the basic concepts of programming language.
- While writing code, it is important for the students to use logical statements. If the students have never worked with any complex programming language, then it would be difficult for them to grasp the concepts easily.
Challenges Faced By The Students
Below is a list of challenges which are commonly encountered by the students while generating programming assignments:
- Assignment Requirements: Programming assignments are generally complex, which makes it difficult for students to understand the requirements of the assignments fully. They might also find difficulty in understanding the requirements due to a lack of clarity and not knowing how to apply the concepts learned.
- Writing Correct Code: The students are required to correct codes in their programming assignments to meet the requirements of the assignments. However, the students might face difficulties in writing the correct code as they may struggle with syntax, logic errors or bugs. This will prevent the code from running smoothly.
- Time Management: It is very natural for the programming assignments to be time-consuming. As a result, the students face difficulty in managing their time effectively. This will then lead to missing deadlines or incomplete assignments.
- Lack Of Resources: There will be some instances where the students might not have access to various resources such as software, tools, etc,. This can be challenging for the students as it will be difficult for them to generate programming assignments without the availability of the above-mentioned resources.
How To Overcome Challenges In Programming Assignments?
Below are some of the tips that will help the students overcome common challenges faced while writing programming assignments:
- Reference From Books: In order to gain basic knowledge of programming languages, the students are advised to take references from different programming books as it is one of the best traditional ways to retain information. Some best-selling programming language books are:
- The C Programming Language – Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie
- Introduction to Algorithms – Thomas H. Cormen, Charles E. Leiserson
- Types and Programming Languages by Benjamin C. Pierce
- Head First Java by Kathy Sierra
- The best solution to overcome any programming difficulty is to practise as many programming problems as possible. There are many coding platforms which are available to help students in increasing their programming skills:
- HackerRank
- LeetCode
- GeeksforGeeks
- CodeChef
- It is very common for students to not understand the programming language concepts at once. This is why it is advised that students subscribe to some online educational platforms that will help them understand programming concepts better.
- CodingZap
- GeeksforGeeks
- Guru99
- Coursera
Final Thoughts
The students should not be overwhelmed upon facing challenges in their programming assignments as it is a learning experience for them. The students should acknowledge the challenges as an opportunity to grow. They should seek help from various resources and collaborate with peers often to increase their programming problem solving skills. The students are advised to be patient and use different approaches to debug the code. It is important for the students to set up a strong foundational base to achieve success in a programming career.
