CompSci 108 - Spring 2009

Name: Evan Beard
Hometown: Annapolis, MD
Year: Senior
Hobbies: Traveling, running, reading
Favorite Web pages: techmeme.com, wsj.com


Computer Science Biography

I first started using a computer when I was about 11 years old (my parents bought a mac). I went through two macs, then switched to windows during high school, then switched back to a mac for the first two years of college, then switched to linux (specifically Ubuntu). I really like using linux. On a daily basis, I use computers to learn and keep up with the news.

I have been interested in learning more about computers for a long time. In the 6th grade I made my first website with a friend which aggregated things which we found funny. I continued to have a strong interest in computers throughout high school and my first two years of college, learning a bit of php/mysql and doing some search engine optimization (Wilshire Shaw Inc.). Still, I never formally studied computer science in school. Last year, however, when studying abroad in Valencia, Spain, I went to the local university to register for business classes. When all of the business classes were full, I decided to take my first few classes in computer science (in Spanish! This made classes more difficult to follow, but it was fun writing "hola mundo"). I've also been interested in computer security for a while and attended the The Last Hope last summer. Returning to Duke for my Senior year I decided to continue studying computer science and am excited to do so.

I think that a computer scientist does research on a daily basis in his/her given area(s) of interest. I think this research often does not involve programming. I'm not sure which programming experience is my worst, but last semester for 100 I found the first assignments (i.e. Markov) very difficult because I had no prior experience programming in Java. I have never worked on a very large programming project so it is hard to say which is my favorite; I like writing small bash/perl scripts to help me accomplish tasks more quickly -- I find this rewarding and fun. I would say the aggregate of these small throwaway programs is my favorite programming project. In the future, I see myself using computers on a daily basis to accomplish work-related tasks and keeping up-to-date on news. I also see myself forever using computers to continue to learn.