Transferable Mindset
14 Dec 2019Flexibility and Adaptability
My highschool’s motto was “Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve” this sentiment seems so simple, but its important when its especially applied to the type of work that software engineers could get into. Even though it has heavy connotations with morality and ethicality, I think it also easily applies to taking the generalized parts of software engineering into the real world. My software engineering class further developed the motto through managing the process of programming projects and developing a sense of societal responsibility.
Agile
The textbook definition of agile is, able to move efficiently and easily, as such it can be surmised that an agile process prioritizes ease of use and fast development. The agile process was introduced to me when it came down to collaborating and creating a final web application. Such a development process emphasized breaking down problems into small bite sized chunks that allowed for each team member to effectively figure out which part of the project needs to be done. Therefore, communications between the team is paramount to ensure that the direction is still clear and concise. This also meant that we needed an intimate understanding of what the project was about because throwing in features left and right won’t do any good since it might negatively affect another persons contribution.
This process was definitely a layer of cake that I wholeheartedly swallowed partly because my experiences with working with teams. There are some cases where I did most of the work and other times were the work was only done by others, that meant that there was a flaw with how we understood the project. Moreover, this technique can be applicable not only to coding projects but any large scale projects itself. This is because its issue driven, where each task is dedicated to one member and each task seeks to improve or optimize whats already been done. A great example is using this technique on my senior project, where me and my team had to PCB design, debug and research about weatherboxes. Since a lot of the work could be done concurrently agile would have worked perfectly. One person could have attended with creating the bill of materials for the parts that we needed, another could debug the current boards, another could be testing the boards ability to gather meteorlogical data and so on. It’s smooth, it’s buttery, it’s slick, it’s all of the words that could describe a peak project. As such, entering this class taught me a managing technique that I’m sure will be put to good use again not only in my future classes but for other non-school related projects.
Framed Work
One of the most satisfying things that have come out of learning how to create web applications is beautifying and modernizing a page. HTML and CSS and a bit of JavaScript satiated my front-end wants, but with the introduction of Semantic UI and Semantic UI React meant that my pages were now presentable to family - not friends yet. This aspect of my software engineering class is the technical hands-on side. It allowed me to firmly visualize all my ideas which help when it comes down to furthering any project that comes along my way.
When it comes down to learning any frameworks, from now on it should be relatively painless due to my exposure to semantic ui and its react version. It can be surmised that a lot of these libraries are built similarly and achieve similar results but with differing architectures. My software engineering class made sure that even though we focus on one framework, it made it clear that other technologies are present and viable. My relationship with these technologies has now changed and hopefully will create a positive impact on society.
Fin
It’s always bittersweet leaving things behind when the experience has been positive throughout, my experience with this software engineering class has defined what I expect out of all my programming classes. Interactions with the outside world when it comes to school projects is few and far between and its always a breath of fresh air. Wether it’s learning different managing methods or frameworks/libraries that enhance a developer experience interaction with their project. One thing is clear, our impact no matter how digital is always tangible.