As the project really starts to heat up, I am super excited about what I have been able to accomplish and learn. This week, I have been doing research on the REST interface and have made an REST server that takes JSON objects and returns JSON objects back. I have also been doing a lot with the parser. I have been researching XPath in a DOM parser and have made some really neat spikes. I have been able to successfully parse the large UNM opendata file that we have to turn into a database. Right now, I am focused on being able to retrieve a JSON object from the front end of our program and turn it into a mySQL database query. So far, everything has been going great and I feel as though the work I have been doing has contributed to the team.
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Saturday, February 22, 2014
Current Work: 1
Current Work 1
So as of late, I have been working on implementing a simple backend to really kick off this project. I am trying to figure out how REST commands like GET and PUT interact with the code and how they actually call the code. I have also been learning how to parse and create JSON objects that are going to be passed back and forth between the frontend and backend. It is a little odd how REST works and a big part of what I am doing right now is experimenting with it to figure out the ins-and-outs. To make a successful project, we must make the front end and the backend have flawless communication so knowing everything that I possibly can about REST and getting comfortable using it is, I feel, a good use of time.
I am slowly making progress towards figuring out how to implement all of this as well as getting a better understanding of web applications in general. So far, I have had a lot of library and dependency issues which have made me dive into the numerous help forums out there and have a better understanding of what things like web.xml and pom.xml do. The biggest struggle so far is just getting familiar with new things. Basically, aside from JAVA everything in this project, even something as simple as GIT, is new to me so it has been difficult.
So as of late, I have been working on implementing a simple backend to really kick off this project. I am trying to figure out how REST commands like GET and PUT interact with the code and how they actually call the code. I have also been learning how to parse and create JSON objects that are going to be passed back and forth between the frontend and backend. It is a little odd how REST works and a big part of what I am doing right now is experimenting with it to figure out the ins-and-outs. To make a successful project, we must make the front end and the backend have flawless communication so knowing everything that I possibly can about REST and getting comfortable using it is, I feel, a good use of time.
I am slowly making progress towards figuring out how to implement all of this as well as getting a better understanding of web applications in general. So far, I have had a lot of library and dependency issues which have made me dive into the numerous help forums out there and have a better understanding of what things like web.xml and pom.xml do. The biggest struggle so far is just getting familiar with new things. Basically, aside from JAVA everything in this project, even something as simple as GIT, is new to me so it has been difficult.
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Start of Group Projects
Group Project Begins
Well, it's finally that time. I am super happy that I was able to get on the UNM visual schedule project as it was my first choice. After our first two group meetings, I think we have a really good team and can make something to really change the world.
Dan has a really great vision for the project and is going to be a great leader. So far, he has been very prepared and knows what everyone needs to do. I am excited that I get to work with the SAX parser and focus a lot of energy on parsing the open data that UNM provides. I did not get to work with the SAX parser a whole lot in 351, so it will be nice to gain some experience with it.
Already, I have been reading up on Javascript and AngularJS as I have never really had to make a web application. I am really stoked, but really nervous to tackle this project. I have never worked with MySQL, Javascript, TomCat, or REST so it will be a huge learning curve. I think we will be able to manage though and make something very special..
Well, it's finally that time. I am super happy that I was able to get on the UNM visual schedule project as it was my first choice. After our first two group meetings, I think we have a really good team and can make something to really change the world.
Dan has a really great vision for the project and is going to be a great leader. So far, he has been very prepared and knows what everyone needs to do. I am excited that I get to work with the SAX parser and focus a lot of energy on parsing the open data that UNM provides. I did not get to work with the SAX parser a whole lot in 351, so it will be nice to gain some experience with it.
Already, I have been reading up on Javascript and AngularJS as I have never really had to make a web application. I am really stoked, but really nervous to tackle this project. I have never worked with MySQL, Javascript, TomCat, or REST so it will be a huge learning curve. I think we will be able to manage though and make something very special..
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Proposals Day 2
Second Day of Pitches
Well the second day of presentations is complete as well as my final selections. I think the pitches really influenced my overall decision even though I read many of the proposals. I was impressed again at how well the pitches were delivered, but there were a few exceptions. Some of the proposals seemed too casual. I mean the target audience is young adults, but I feel as though some of the proposals could have been more professional. I am excited to see where I end up and what project I am on. I feel as though the projects I listed really could change the world and I would be excited to be on any of them.
Well the second day of presentations is complete as well as my final selections. I think the pitches really influenced my overall decision even though I read many of the proposals. I was impressed again at how well the pitches were delivered, but there were a few exceptions. Some of the proposals seemed too casual. I mean the target audience is young adults, but I feel as though some of the proposals could have been more professional. I am excited to see where I end up and what project I am on. I feel as though the projects I listed really could change the world and I would be excited to be on any of them.
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Initial Pitch Reviews
Pitches: Day 1
After listening to half of the classes project pitches today, I was very impressed at the creativity and presentation of everyone in the class. I really liked Trent's project of making a program that synchronizes visual effects with music played on a MIDI board. Also, Alan had a very elegant proposal and was very fluent with his speech. You could tell that he has a great vision for the backpacking project and knows the ins and outs of what needs to be done. I also liked Kishore's project about the social snowboarding app. As a snowboarder myself, I see this as a really rad idea that I would be excited to use when on the mountain. Ronald's project was neat as well, but I was more impressed with his verbal skills and his selling skills. One thing that I noticed is that in my proposal I attempted to use the Goldilocks's method to pitch my idea. From other speeches I heard, I did not see anyone else try to use it. If they did, maybe it was hidden and I didn't catch it.
From the projects proposed so far, I think my top picks are
Kishore - Snowboarding App
Alan - Backpacking App
David B - Converting web pages for PC to web pages on smartphones
Seeing other people present and how well they did, I know what I can work on in the future and, hopefully, have more impact on my audience.
After listening to half of the classes project pitches today, I was very impressed at the creativity and presentation of everyone in the class. I really liked Trent's project of making a program that synchronizes visual effects with music played on a MIDI board. Also, Alan had a very elegant proposal and was very fluent with his speech. You could tell that he has a great vision for the backpacking project and knows the ins and outs of what needs to be done. I also liked Kishore's project about the social snowboarding app. As a snowboarder myself, I see this as a really rad idea that I would be excited to use when on the mountain. Ronald's project was neat as well, but I was more impressed with his verbal skills and his selling skills. One thing that I noticed is that in my proposal I attempted to use the Goldilocks's method to pitch my idea. From other speeches I heard, I did not see anyone else try to use it. If they did, maybe it was hidden and I didn't catch it.
From the projects proposed so far, I think my top picks are
Kishore - Snowboarding App
Alan - Backpacking App
David B - Converting web pages for PC to web pages on smartphones
Seeing other people present and how well they did, I know what I can work on in the future and, hopefully, have more impact on my audience.
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Final Revised Project Proposal
Final Revised Project Proposal
The following is a link to the final project proposal for SmartPaper complete with revisions:
SmartPaper
The following is a link to the final project proposal for SmartPaper complete with revisions:
SmartPaper
Monday, February 10, 2014
Design Patterns
Software Design Patterns
A software design pattern is basically an abstract, general solution to a continuously recurring problem.
I will focus on describing the Factory Method design pattern.
Factory Method
- Essentially the Factory Method defines an interface for creating objects, but lets the classes that implement this interface decide which class they are going to instantiate.
- Basically, object creation is delegated to subclasses to:
1) Avoid code duplication
2) When creating an object requires access to information that should not be in the composing
class
- A problem with the Factory Method is that if it is not implemented right away, then refactoring existing code to use this pattern can be very time consuming and can break the code for a while. As we all know, breaking the code should be minimal and basically non-existent in refactoring.
- The Factory Method is an excellent way to abstract the creation of objects to help the code be more modular. It makes the code easy to change or to add new objects without changing the existing base of the code.
A software design pattern is basically an abstract, general solution to a continuously recurring problem.
I will focus on describing the Factory Method design pattern.
Factory Method
- Essentially the Factory Method defines an interface for creating objects, but lets the classes that implement this interface decide which class they are going to instantiate.
- Basically, object creation is delegated to subclasses to:
1) Avoid code duplication
2) When creating an object requires access to information that should not be in the composing
class
- A problem with the Factory Method is that if it is not implemented right away, then refactoring existing code to use this pattern can be very time consuming and can break the code for a while. As we all know, breaking the code should be minimal and basically non-existent in refactoring.
- The Factory Method is an excellent way to abstract the creation of objects to help the code be more modular. It makes the code easy to change or to add new objects without changing the existing base of the code.
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