Survey

--Originally published at Python

I was completely honest when I answered this survey. In most cases I gave my teachers good grades because I understand where they’re coming from. Just like Ken, I completely disagree with the methods being used for the grading system, but I can’t blame my teachers for that. Some of them are trying to make the best out of it without breaking the rules, I’m sure that most of them would use a very different grading method if they could. That’s why my opinion was independent from the system they are using, and it focused more on what they can do with all its limitations.

John the Ripper

--Originally published at Python

I’ve been asking Ken about this program named “John the Ripper”. What it does is it helps you crack passwords. It might sound easy and simple if I put it that way so let me get more into detail. Whenever you have a user and an account, these pieces of information are stored somewhere. Sometimes you’re able to see the accounts or the usernames, but you never get to see the password. And even if you did, you would always find these encrypted. So if you ever get the encrypted password, John the Ripper sort of “guesses” the password by using algorithms and combinations until it finds one that matches the encryption. This can take a very long time to be done. More than one day in most cases if not all.

Now that I have explained a little bit more about it, you should understand that it isn’t as simple as it sounds. It’s time consuming even after you have gotten the encrypted password, and usually getting it is even more difficult than cracking it. I still want to learn more about the subject so I will keep on researching and understanding better how this program works.

Image taken from: http://www.kitploit.com/2013/06/john-ripper-v180-fast-password-cracker.html

Servers

--Originally published at Python

This week I went to Ken’s office to talk and get an explanation on servers. I had an idea of what I could use them for and how, but after his explanation, I now understand why they are so good and how much they can benefit all of us. Turns out the Tec can provide us servers to run and test programs. All we need to do is go with Ken to get it set up.

You might be wondering, what would I want a server? What will it help me for if I can do everything in my computer with no problem? Well, this server is for heavier use. You might not need it right now, but eventually you might want to consider setting one up. When we get to more advanced semesters, we will need to run programs that will take a very long time. Some might even take one complete day or even more. So instead of walking throughout the entire campus with your computer open so that the process isn’t interrupted, you could run the program in the server. This will make life so much easier since you can exit, close your computer, etc. and the program will keep running until it’s done. Once it’s done you can enter the server once again and you will have your results. I highly encourage you to investigate more on this. Maybe not now, but eventually you will need this if you want to avoid some of the stress that the Tec will happily provide to us.

This video might help you get a better understanding on how these servers work

Technical Difficulties

--Originally published at Python

This blog is just about technical difficulties you might encounter while programming. I’m not gonna name or label them, I’m just going to talk about the topic.

If you plan to program, then you must know that you will have a lot of errors, mistakes, however you want to call them. This is something natural and the only way to stop getting these errors is by practicing. With time, you will become better at what you are doing and you will stop making the same mistakes as before. But these mistakes aren’t bad. In fact, they’re what help you learn the most. Whenever you do something wrong, you feel frustrated, maybe even angry. You research, ask others, do everything possible to fix these errors. After you finally solve the problem, something stays in your head. You never want to do the same mistake again because you know how tedious it is to solve it. In case you make the same mistake again, well at least now you have a better idea on how to solve it.

Making mistakes is natural and good for you. Don’t try to make every program perfect, there’s always room for improvement. This is something you need to understand before you become a good programmer. Technical difficulties aren’t necessarily bad Speaking of which…

Programación Ágil

--Originally published at Python

Investigué acerca de la programación ágil para el proyecto de introducción a la carrera. Aquí esta lo que escribí espero que les sirva de algo saber esto y que investiguen más al respecto.

Programación Ágil

A lo largo de nuestras carreras nos vamos dando cuenta cuáles recursos son los que más nos sirven y cuáles no son tan importantes. Uno de los que más nos ayudará vendría siendo la programación ágil. La programación ágil se refiere a unas metodologías que, en teoría, nos ayudan al momento de desarrollar software. Hay varias metodologías que son parte de esto, pero todas siguen la misma base. Se podría decir que todas buscan darle mayor comodidad al individuo para así mejorar la calidad en la producción del software. Por ejemplo, una de sus ideas sería construir un buen equipo y que, a partir de eso, puedan crear un entorno donde se sientan todos mejor. La idea es evitar lo opuesto a esto, que sería crear un entorno y obligar a un equipo a adaptarse a este. Esto solo le trae problemas al equipo y muchas veces terminan trabajando no les permite sacar su máximo potencial. Otra idea muy importante que tratan de seguir es que importa más que un programa funcione a que se tenga buena documentación. Todo lo que hagas debería mantenerse conciso, así evitamos documentos innecesarios que gasta espacio y tiempo. La tercera idea fundamental que siguen dice que la colaboración entre el equipo y el cliente muy importante. Lo mejor sería que el equipo se mantenga en contacto con su cliente, así se puede ver mejor el progreso que llevan y cómo pueden mejorar. La última idea sería que se debe poder responder a los cambios en el proyecto. Si tratamos de siempre seguir un plan y seguir reglas al pie

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