It has been exactly a year since I took ICS 314. That was when I started my journey in software engineering and developed a few of my first web applications. Now, I’m in ICS 414 and building upon my existing software engineering skills, continuing to develop more projects. Throughout this past semester, I have learned a lot from this class. I got to experience what it would be like to develop a web application for a customer and working with a bigger team that was made of people that I didn’t know before. Although the journey wasn’t always easy and there were many challenges, I was still able to benefit from this course and use my takeways in the future whether that be in my other ICS courses, in other group projects, or in the real world.
To be honest, it wasn’t easy and it was a bumpy journey. I remember the first week of the semester when we were randomly assigned our teams. Each team was made up of 8 total members, but our team only had 7 because 1 of our members decided to drop the class early on. It didn’t really affect our group or our project since that person didn’t contribute anything during their time with us. Our team was actually able to move on easily and not have to stress anymore wondering if they will ever get back to our messages. Although it gave us some ease, it meant that we had to spilt the work amongst fewer members. I believe that from the start, some of the others teams had an upper hand since they had more members, but we didn’t let that discourage us from what we could achieve.
We all didn’t know each other so the first week was mainly us breaking the ice, setting everything up for our GitHub, and figuring out which roles and responsibilities we should assign each other. We all had different strengths and weaknesses but we were able to help each other out and learn from each other. I ended up focusing on working on the frontend UI since that was what I was most comfortable with. At the start of the semester, I actually made working on some backend stuff one of my 3 SMART goals. Even though I wasn’t able to do much backend work, I was still able to see how my teammates developed the backend and how it all came together in the end.
One of the regrets I had while working on this project was not contributing as much as I wanted to. This was because of many unexpected events in my personal life occurred throughout the semester. This made it difficult for me to be consistent but luckily after talking to my team, they were understanding and let me take a step away from the project in order for me to take care of myself and my family. I of course did what I could and I am still proud of the work that our team accomplished despite of all the challenges we faced.
This semester and course was a great experience! I got to see how a real-world project is developed and how different people can work together to achieve a common goal. I was able to benefit in many different ways after taking this course. I believe that anyone who wants to refine their software engineering skills and know what it’s like to develop a web application for a customer should consider taking ICS 414. I’m also glad to have met my teammates and got to know them. Some of us have similar interests and got along well, so I wouldn’t mind working with them again if we ever cross paths again in the future. I learned a lot about teamwork, communication, and how to work with people that I didn’t know before. I am looking forward to the next semester and the new projects that I will be working on.