The Next Step I Software Engineering
09 May 2024An Experience To Remember
Well I better remember what I learned in my software engineering class because it is valuable information that I can use to pursue my career. I’ve learned a lot, much more than my other programming classes. I didn’t just learn a new language, I learned a lot of concepts that are actually related to software engineering. Some of the memorable ones are Development Environments, User Interface Frameworks, and Agile Project Management.
Development Environments
Integrated Development Environments, or IDE, are applications that assist us programmers to code easily and much more efficiently. It’s much more reliable than using a notepad to write the code and using the command line to run it. You can compile and run your program with a simple push of a button and it’s easier to find errors in your code. I’ve used some IDEs before when I was coding in Java. I used JGrasp when I first started learning coding, but later on when I began expanding my knowledge on my own time I made the switch to using Eclipse. Between the two, Eclipse is the better IDE.
But these two IDEs weren’t enough to become a software engineer. After learning about and using IntelliJ, I felt more like a software engineer. It can connect with GitHub which is where I’ll be keeping track of all my projects. I’ve used this for web application development but I can see myself using this for much more intricate projects. I can use this IDE to start developing my own game in Java.
User Interface Frameworks
Now for something completely new to me and that is User Interface Frameworks. While I was learning about web development, I thought the only thing I will be learning is HTML and CSS. Well, I was wrong. I ended up learning about something called Bootstrap alongside HTML and CSS.
Bootstrap is known as A User Interface Framework, Or UI Framework. It’s pretty much like learning HTML but the tags are different. Bootstrap is mainly for web development since pretty much everything in bootstrap relates to designing websites. However, this is valuable knowledge for me since there are probably a lot more frameworks out there, and not just for web development. I just need to find them. Maybe there is one for game designing.
Agile Project Management
If there is one thing that made me feel like a true software engineer, that would be Agile Project Management. Even though I didn’t learn anything coding related from this, this was the most valuable information that I learned. Agile Project Management is just like the name says. It’s a way to manage your projects especially when working with others. There are guidelines you have to follow like naming branches and you set up milestones to reach before certain dates. This is so you can keep track of what everyone is working on and on which branch, and what needs to be done.
This style of project management can be used outside of coding too. I can use it for creating video games. For example, an RPG usually contains different areas with different types of enemies and environment.. Each person can be designated a different area to work on and once it’s all done, merge it all into the main.