Software engineering is more than just learning programming languages and designing user interfaces. Adopting various disciplines can truly excel your development and elevate your skill set.
The use of ESLint throughout the semester was definitely something to get used to, but the growing pains are well worth it. I feel that learning to adapt to coding standards really improved the way that I think about programming. I have become more conscious of what my code is doing in each line and I’m able to analyze its effectiveness at a glance. In a group project, having all team members comply to the same coding standards made it extremely easy to build off of each other’s work and make suggestions where needed. At this point, the practices instilled by the use of ESLint has consistently improved the quality of my work, which would otherwise be disorganized and unreadable.
Agile project management provides the structure and stability to allow a project to effectively go from an idea to full fruition. It keeps all members on the same page in terms of project goals, work expectations, and progress. For my group’s final project, we utilized issue-driven project management (IDPM) which entailed scheduled biweekly meetings, 72-hour work sprints, milestone “deliverables,” and GitHub organization. This process kept each of us accountable and made it easy to communicate our ideas and concerns.
Several video games have become controversial due to portrayals of violence and concerns around the promotion of gambling. News of companies experiencing data breaches and consumers suffering from their compromised information is a common headline. As AI progresses, the industry is scrutinized for allowing people’s works and likeness to be used by the generative software without their consent. With simple, beginner projects, contemplating the ethics of your work may not be the biggest concern. What harm can come from a text-based tic-tac-toe game? But as projects move from your own computer to the world wide internet, it’s important to consider what the software we make is capable of.