Being part of the coding community is very difficult. I first started coding when I entered High school. Going into this program I was very nervous because there was a lot of different things to take in. when I first got into the course my teacher was explaining everything that we needed to know about the course such as how to set up the computer different vocabulary and phrases, and things that you shouldn’t do. As we were learning how to code our teacher gave us an important word that we needed to memorize and how to use. The word that he taught us was function. To a person that does not take coding they might think that the word function meant an activity or purpose natural to or intended for a person or thing, which is the dictionary definition for function. But in coding this word means something else. A function is a unit of code that is often defined by its role within a greater structure. when my teacher first said this word and definition I was extremely confused, and I knew that it was going to take some time to learn. He then went on to explain that functions contain a unit of code that works on various inputs, such as variables and procedures concrete results involving changes to variable values or actual operations. The first time I used this word was difficult, here is how it went.

when my teacher gave us our first assignment we had to use functions. Since I did not understand anything he meant I was messing up a lot. I was writing the word function out while I was typing my code thinking that it was going to make something magically happen on my computer screen. I then called my teacher over and he explained to me that functions are instructions that are used to create an out put from an input. I still wasn’t sure at this point so he gave me an example. He told me that there were many different types of functions such as built in functions, user defined functions, syntax of a function, and how to call on a function.

The first example he gave me was with a built in function. He showed me that there are some functions that you can automatically call to such as puts(), gets(), printf(), and scan(). he told me that these are all standard types of functions. These functions allow you to use basic properties of strings and numbers in your rules. next up he taught me about the user defined functions. He said these are functions that we create by ourselves. He told me that I needed a function name. A function name can be anything you want it to be however it has to be easy to remember and serve a purpose. next up was the argument list in creating my own function, which were variable names that went with something called data types. next he taught me about a C statement which I picked up pretty quick.

After he was done showing me everything I needed to know, it was my time to put what I learned into good use. When he left I got to coding. while I was coding everything was running smoothly I was using each function to its potential and my code was successful. I accomplished something that I didn’t think that I could accomplish, i was so happy. The word function has definitely changed for me. I went from the regular definition that I knew to the coding one which became so simple for me after a few tries.

As I was going on with coding for a couple of weeks it was time for our first test. I was nervous because i didn’t think that i was fully prepared for it. When the teacher handed out the test I noticed that the test was on vocabulary and function coding. I was telling myself that I was going to do fine because I had gotten good at doing functions. We were running out of time for our test and I was on the last question, it was a question telling us to create a code that made us use each of the types of functions we learned. I was determined that I could answer the question because I had been practicing for a long time. so I got to coding and finished my test. A week later we got our test back and got 100 percent on my test I was so Happy.

As I learned more and more about functions it became a very special word to me and the community that I am in. The reason why this word is important to me is because as I learned it more I became more confident as a student and my ability to do good on tasks that are presented to me. I also spoke with some of my peers that were in the same community and they agreed, also It was easier to speak to them about the work that we had to submit. I wouldn’t say using this word correctly indicated membership in the community because everyone understands how much goes into understanding the word so we all try to help each other out. I think that everyone should get into coding and try to learn some stuff about it because it is pretty cool, everyone in the community tries to help each other and the word function can be used by anyone outside the community trying to learn. This word does change depending on who I speak to, if I approach a student that is into coding i am most likely using the code definition of function. But when i use this word outside of the coding community i will be having conversation about an activity that i am trying to do. overall the coding community is a great community and the word function will always be special to me.