1. TIL (Today I Learned)

Today I gave myself challenge day on trying to solve a toy problem which is a algorithm problem. The start was so good that I thought I could've solved it but I encountered a problem on the big O part. I still will need to understand what the big O actually is in programming. However, then I decided to learn from the reference code.

The problem required me to come up with an algorithm function that when given an input of a base number and a exponent number, returns the result. So if 3, 40 is given as the parameters the output is
19334827.

The code is as follows:

  function power(base, exponent) {
    if (exponent === 0) {
      return 1; // this breaks the recursive code.
    }
    const half = parseInt(exponent / 2); // this halves all the exponent during the recursive code to go until exponent becomes 0. parseInt when used here returns rounded decimal points. if 2.5 it returns 2 when is used with parseInt.
    const temp = power(base, half); // this is a recursive function to break down the big exponent number into small functions. This part in the code seemed to pass the big O problem I encountered when using for loop to solve the algorithm
    const result = (temp * temp) % 94906249 

    if (exponent % 2 === 1){
    return (base * result) % 94906249
    } else {
    return result
    }
  }
  

I broke down the code into smaller parts and learned how the code works and I learned that I came some way until the time where I can understand such codes. It took me some time to understand the code but I still feel good on being able to finish this question and also learn somethings.

2. 3 Things to be Thankful For

1. Thankful for being able to finish an algorithm question.
2. Thankful for being able to rely on God throughout the day.
3. Thankful for keeping my family and me safe throughout the day.

3. Ideas and Things to Think About

1. Coding is such a hard subject but I learned that when given some time to analyze a code, I still can use past experiences to come up with possible answers to the questions. I should know that my progress is slow but there is something happening. Thank God.

2. Having a eye, manager, and a worker is something I would need to start a bootcamp in Thailand.