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Swapping ten’s complements: Week 6 & 7

Sunday, 24 July 2022 | Samarth Raj


I mentioned getting started with the tasks and their progress in the previous blog.

Current progress

The second sub-activity of the first activity is swapping the number cards to make consecutive cards 10’s complements of each other. As of now (while writing the blog), there are two levels to this. The first of them consists of the four numbers to swap, and the second level consists of the five numbers to swap. Currently, in this activity, the pupil can swap two numbers by clicking on the first number and then second click on the number with whom they wish to swap. The selected card is a bit enlarged compared to others to provide click feedback and the assurance that this number is assigned. The answer is checked by whether the first pair (first and second card), second pair (third and fourth number card ), and third pair (fifth and sixth number card), if available, are 10’s complements of each other or not. If the pupil can successfully swap the numbers, they proceed to the next sub-level. Now the question arises, “WHAT IS SUB-LEVEL”?. A single level may consist of sub-levels. One has to answer all the sub-level correctly if they wish to proceed to the next level. After reading the “swap” term this many times, it is relatively indicative that the name for this must contain the word “swap.” The name for sub-activity-2 is “Swapping Ten’s Complements.”
The idea and design of the second sub-activity can be found here.

Swapping ten’s complement level 1.
level 2.

In 10’s complement sub-activity 1, there are a few improvements added. Now the users can correct their missteps, which means they can undo the move by clicking on the current swapped card. And suppose another number card overwrites a number card, then the initial number is available for re-selection. The positioning of the question and answer places are also random now. And the “okButton” is only available once all the questions have been answered.

Challenges and learnings

Initially, Apart from the technical difficulties, I could not devote time daily because of the classes and assignments. However, now I have a daily working time slot. Every time I compile the project to visualize the changes, the excitement and nervousness to see if that works or not is the same as on day 1.
One of the less spoken hardships in the software world is deciding the variable name. Sometimes it takes much more time to decide than it should take. Nevertheless, I am also trying to learn this because that will help me in the long run.

Experience as a developer till now

During the very first contribution in the month of December last year, when I was unsure whether I would be able to do it or not, I am not going to lie. I thought of quitting. But then I realized that’s what I have been doing in life in general. Whenever I face challenges, I try to run from them.
But this time, I thought, “what’s the worse that could happen” I won’t be able to learn, but I won’t be able to learn if I walk away anyways.
I am really grateful that I stuck to it and was rigid enough to try to keep learning.
The mentors have helped me gain confidence and understand that “it’s okay to make mistakes, just learn from them.” And now, I also feel it’s all part of the learning process.

What next?

  • Add level 3 and dataset for sub-level for it in swapping 10’s complement
  • Randomize the value present in the numbers cards.
  • Begin with sub-activity 3.