About Me
| Name: | Dean Chen |
| Major: | Economics & CompSci |
| Year: | 2012 |
| Hometown: | New Haven, CT |
Autobiography
I first started using a computer when I was 8.
I mostly use my Windows PC and laptop but also use windows(server 2008) and linux(CentOS) servers frequently. Have on occasions used Macs when I have to.
I spend the vast majority of time on the computer sending/replying to emails and reading articles and documents both online and offline. Also use it for music and programming when necessary.
I was interested in studying computer science because I spent quite a of time on the computer when I was younger, playing games and posting on message boards. I was very familiar with the hardware through constantly upgrading my computer to accommodate the latest games and wanted to know how the software side of things worked.
There are a lot of types of computer scientists from security researchers to programmers. But I would hope that most of them is helping improve the way computers function and interact with people.
My least favorite programming project was implementing a Huffman file encoder and decoder in C. It was very tedious and more often than not the errors were segfaluts. Our class was never taught proper debugging procedures making the relatively complex project very tedious and annoying.
My best programming experience is customizing and extending Drupal. There are very clear, concise and easy to follow coding conventions that makes it very easy to change or extend functions. I never had to touch the Drupal source code or had to worry that I might be breaking one function by changing another. It is one of the best examples of the open close principle that I have encountered.
I can’t see myself working directly in the computer industry. It moves too fast and I don’t think that I will have the energy keep up with it for the next 20-30 years. But I think I’ll propably end up in an industry that extensively utilizes computers as a tool
Hobbies
- Soccer
- Investment
- Electronics
- Computer Hardware
- Tennis
Courses
| CompSci 108 | Software Design/Implementation |
| Econ 168 | Asset Pricing and Risk Management |
| Econ 187 | Public Finance |
| Econ 188 | Competitive Strategy and Industrial Organization |