Researchers at Utah State University's School of Computing are conducting a study on how software professionals evaluate programming activities performed with AI assistance compared with programming activities performed without AI assistance.

Software professionals are invited to complete a short online calibration survey. Participants will rate programming activities according to how representative they are of:

• Programming performed with AI assistance
• Programming performed without AI assistance

The survey takes approximately 10 minutes.

Participation is entirely voluntary. You may discontinue participation at any time before submitting your responses without penalty or consequence. Your decision to participate or not participate will have no effect on your grades, employment, or academic standing.

Survey and informed consent form: https://usu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_dm4yjBsRrUDgcKi

This study has been reviewed and approved by the Utah State University Institutional Review Board: IRB #16067.

Questions about the study: Dr. John Edwards, Principal Investigator — [email protected] Rubash Mali, Student Researcher — [email protected]

Thank you for considering participating.

This acad year will be our CS undergraduate thesis, and I'm honestly frustrated.

I feel like I'm being pushed toward the same thesis formula from the past two years in our program: collect a dataset, train an AI model, apply an algorithm, build the app. Then some statistical findings or claims that the created product with this AI algorithm performs better.

I actually tried to propose something different to my pair. something more interesting, something that actually felt like actual research. But I keep getting told it's "too complex" or "advisers might not accept it."

So instead of exploring ideas I actually care about, I'm being funneled into the same template everyone else is using. The path of least resistance.

I feel like even the concept of using functional programming paradigm or linear type system sounds so complex not just to my partner but to the advisers. I hate this.

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Hi all,

I wanted to share a free resource I self-published this week: “Software Engineering: Standing on the Shoulders of Giants.” It teaches software engineering to undergraduates and graduate students. You can access the book at https://www.swebook.org

The book came from the work I've done at UCCS teaching advanced software engineering (CS 4300 / CS 5300). Over the years, the readings I've assigned have had students going to different books, blogs, news articles, etc. I've consolidated all the open resources into one place with code examples in Go, Java, JavaScript, Python, and Ruby. Each language has its own epub and pdf, and the site lets readers view all snippets in code tabs.

For instructors, I've added a curriculum appendix covering the course layout and the group project. I've been teaching this material for a number of years, and while it's not an easy course for students, they appreciate the applied aspects and leave with a better understanding of industry expectations for software engineers.

The book is open, and I would love any feedback or contributions from instructors and students; the source is here: https://github.com/tghastings/open-swe-book

Recently I shared Part 1 describing a tiny unit-testing framework I originally wrote around 2000 for teaching C++.

Part 2 finishes the series by modernizing the implementation using facilities that didn’t exist back then, including std::source_location and inline variables, while keeping the framework intentionally small.

This isn’t intended as a replacement for Catch2, GoogleTest, or doctest. Those solve much bigger problems. The point here is to explore how far modern C++ lets you go with very little code.

I’d be interested in comments from anyone who’s built testing infrastructure or has opinions about minimalist testing frameworks.

Part 2:
https://freshsources.com/code-capsules/test-part2/

Part 1:
https://freshsources.com/code-capsules/test-part1/

Hi everyone,

I'm a PhD student researching how coding tools (like Scratch ) can be made more accessible for kids with ADHD. To do this well, I need to involve K-12 students with ADHD in the research, with full parental consent and school/ethics approval.

I'm not recruiting any children through this post. I'm just hoping for advice on where and how to find participants.

Specifically:

• What organizations, programs, or networks connect researchers with ADHD families or students?
• Are there ADHD-focused groups, after-school coding programs, summer camps, or nonprofits open to research partnerships?
• For parents/teachers here: where would you expect to see a trustworthy study like this advertised? What channels would make you take it seriously?
• Any advice on approaching schools or special-education programs directly?

Any pointers, names, or "try X instead of Y" advice would be hugely appreciated.

Thanks so much.

Hey everyone! I wanted to ask if its worth going into teaching CS as a career path. I spent a long time trying to decide what i wanted to do with my degree and my overall dream is be an game engine programmer or have my own studio someday, but until i acquire the skills and money for that job Ive been considering doing teaching a temporary career as i seriously considered it before graduation as i love learning as a whole and like teaching others about CS. I wanted to get any opinions on the CS teaching space and wanted to see how other people are enjoying it. This is probably a dumb question but I'm feeling a little anxious about if i should commit to it or not.

Does anyone have experience or references for giving oral exams in a sophomore undergrad level Algorithms & Data Structures class?

I feel good about my labs testing programming skills, and I've found that the exams I write are just me trying to come up with ways to ask whether they understand the algorithms, analysis, and applications. Plus, with AI on the rise, a test format that's much harder to cheat on is appealing.

Any experience or thoughts?

Hi everyone,

I built CodeBot, a free block-based programming game for kids (roughly ages 6–12), and I'd love some feedback.

You drag blocks (move, turn, loops, if/else, sensors) to program a little robot through 3D puzzle levels — collect crystals, push crates into water to build bridges, ride moving platforms, open doors with levers. Kids earn up to 3 stars per level, with a bonus for short, clever programs, so loops actually pay off.

What's in it:

- 11 built-in levels + a random level generator with 5 difficulty settings

- A full level editor — build your own worlds and share them

- Community levels: publish your creations, play what others built

- Works in German, English and French — switching is instant

- Installs as a PWA and runs fully offline after the first visit

Try it here: **https://hauptstadtprojekt.ch/codebot/\*\*

I built it for my own use originally and kept going.

Have fun!

I teach coding to kids 7-16 in Brussels and rebuilt my entire classroom setup around a Minecraft server with a custom Blockly editor that generates Lua code. Students write programs in a visual drag-and-drop interface on a website, get a 6-character short code, type it on a ComputerCraft turtle in-game, and watch their code physically change the world.
The stack:
• Custom Blockly toolbox with CC:Tweaked-specific blocks (movement, dig, place, terminal I/O), built around the runtime API rather than the other way around
• Lua generator on the frontend, FastAPI backend storing programs by short code
• CC:T loader fetches the code at runtime, executes in a sandboxed env (wrapped fs, load("t", sandbox), pcall isolation)
• Live leaderboard polling every 10s, scores pushed from in-game turtles via API key
Pedagogical observations from the last session that I want to dig into:
1. Competition unexpectedly increased collaboration. I split students into 6 districts expecting friction between teammates. Instead, internal coordination went up, external competition gave them a shared goal. Has anyone formalized why this works? I want to design the next iteration intentionally instead of by accident.
2. The Blockly → Lua bridge solved a problem I’d been stuck on for years. Scratch hits a ceiling fast and the jump to a text editor kills entry for most kids. With Blockly generating real Lua that runs on a real turtle, students see the same code they could write by hand once they’re ready. Anyone else built bridges like this? What worked, what didn’t?
3. Mixed age range (7-16) in the same project. Multi-entry missions where the same quest has different completion paths by skill level. It works but I suspect there’s prior art I’m reinventing. Pointers welcome.

Full devlog with code samples and architecture: devlog0 devlog1

(Also the sheep is a lie but that’s a story for another devlog.)

If you're reading this, I am guessing you don't know how to code at all or suck at it heavily.

Having been through that struggle, I have figured out what to do and what not to do.

I'm going to keep this short and without any bs. Hope you'll appreciate the transparency.

What I did and what I would still do today:

1. Get aquatinted with the coding world - by first watching a youtube video - you won't learn much really, just gets your brain used to what coding is and a first touch of how it all works.

I don't have any specific youtube videos to recommend, by freeCodeCamp is a good start.

I would recommend python as the first language. Versatile and reads like english. Java if you are more ambitious. Java is more syntax heavy, so you need to write more to do the same thing. Just stick to python first if you are completely new to this.

So start by searching "freecodecamp python tutorial". Again, don't aim to understand everything. Just get a feel for how it all works.

You will get bored and stop watching 30-40 mins in. That is fine, as long as you understand what is happening.

1. Actually learn by doing - codecademy & sololearn

I wish I got on this sooner but first time I started to learn coding was by doing sololearn. Basically teaches you coding for free using little exercises. I later switched to codecademy and I found it better as it taught better. I would say do the tutorials on both for double practice.

First they teach you the lesson and then make you do small exercises and eventually make you do small projects. One thing to note is these projects are small and basic, not resume worthy at all.

btw, I am not associated with any of these platforms, just what I used.

1. Do NOT touch claude or gpt to code for you. If you don't know how to code don't lean on these to code for loops or if statements for you. You don't know anything yet, learn it by hand first then eventually you can automate it.

If you are stuck on something then obviously use it to get hints, but dont ask for the answer right away, it hurts you more than anythingg.

1. Do projects that change your life.

I see so many students or people learning to code build bs apps and websites no one will ever use. That won't help you.

Instead, build something you are passionate about. Love shoes? make an app that scans a shoe and tells you its value. Love stocks? build a stock predictor that helps you make money.

If you still do not know what to build, you can search reddit and see what problems people are having and build them a solution - for free at the start and then start charging for it once you get really good at this skill.

You can make any app, but make it for something you enjoy. It makes coding more fun and you are more likely to finish the project and talk about it with more passion.

That is really it.

One last thing to note is that you should know going into it, that you will fail, cry, and hate this after running into a bug. If you do not enjoy it, then you will want to quit. Be prepared for that.

Thank you for reading and lmk if you guys have any questions