Moving forward (Software route)

NOTE: There will be a following post regarding my current artistic endeavors.

Again it has been longer than I had anticipated since posting. Much has occurred in my life since then. Namely, I am now hold a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science. Alternatively this means that I am among the ranks of recent and unemployed graduates seeking careers and work. I can only see the a few feet in front of me on the path before me. This is branching point for me in my life, there are many directions open and available for me to traverse. In one direction there is the pursuit of my hobby and passion, film and visuals. A tangential direction points toward a career in software engineering and technology. Neither choice is mutually exclusive but does require redirecting my efforts, attention, and focus strongly on a singular route.

So far my steps are leading me down the trail of software engineering. This course is, in many ways, a safe and logical passage to roam down. For example, I have the benefit of being a resident in the Bay Area, regarded as the world center for technology, as well as having a fresh degree in a relevant field. Conversely this bearing also has its own twists and turns. While there might be a plethora of junior software engineering positions floating around, applying, preparing, and chasing each opportunity is a full time job requiring constant and active preparation. For each instance my resume makes it past a company's automated system means that I must then become an expert in their business, services, and products. On top of that just keeping my programming skills from atrophying means daily practice and continual interest.

A product of my busyness is a simple, and kinda lame, Java based BrainF*** called Brainterpreter (BF from here on)  interpreter. Purely a refresher for my Java skill set the interpreter took me a morning to code and a few short moments here and there to refactor and spice it up. The language is very simple and quite easy to implement, with much documentation and examples available. The diffuculty I had was implementing the '[' token interpretation. Initially I used a stack based structure to implement it's function but had to use an iterative bracket counting approach to make it function properly. I am still playing with the stack approach to see if it is actually possible.

Anyway this is the path that I walk, well most of it. Aside from the job hunt and software pursuit I have been keeping quite active with my photo and video work. But I will save that for my next post!