Trials of Software Development
13 May 2025
Trials of Software Development
I’ve done a lot in my 314 programming class. Throughout the course of the semester, I made many errors, but in the process, I also learned a great deal about software engineering. There are many layers to software engineering beyond just writing code or building a webpage. To reflect on my learning experience, I’ll go over some of the most important concepts I dealt with and how they apply beyond the scope of web application development.
Coding Standards
One of the more subtle but critical lessons I learned was the importance of coding standards. At first, it felt unnecessary to be overly strict about formatting or naming conventions, especially when the code worked. However, as the projects became more complex and collaborative, I started to understand why these standards exist.
Coding standards help ensure that code is readable, maintainable, and consistent across a team. In the final group project, we followed the consistencies laid out by esLint. This consistency made it much easier to understand each other’s work, debug errors, and extend features. It also taught me to be more thoughtful and disciplined in my programming style.
I realized that coding standards ensure that the projects I build remain readable and withstand the test of time. This has helped me with not just my class endevors, but also with my other coding skills. One of my hobbies is game programming, and I’ve been slowly adopting a set of practices that add consistency to my game builds. As my programming abilities improve, so does my game making abilities, and it’s rewarding to see this progression.
Code standards have also oddly helped me with my note taking. I feel like as I become more aware of inconsistencies in code, I also become more aware of inconsistencies in other areas. Over the course of the semester, I felt like my notes have similarly improved in consistancy. I began to notice things like indentation and consistent naming on a whole new level.
Team Work Coding Projects
Potentially the most important assignment from my 314 class was the final webpage project. This was a group activity that required us to create and design a hypothetical webpage for UH that was both functional and useful. Because of the amount of work involved, each group needed to work effectively together to build the pages. Throughout this assignment, I learned how to communicate ideas and coordinate implementations.
One of the first things I realized when working as a group was how some functions could become bottlenecks. For example, some features couldn’t be implemented without having the database and login systems in place first. To avoid getting stuck, we needed to prioritize certain tasks and coordinate deadlines. This helped us stay on track and make steady progress.
I was mainly responsible for editing and reading from the database, so I focused on that part of the system while other team members handled different components like login functionality and front-end design. Communication was key—we had to regularly check in, share our progress, and help each other troubleshoot issues. This project taught me how important collaboration is in software development and how much smoother things go when everyone is on the same page.
I’m hoping to put these teamwork skills to the test with my future projects. Over the summer, I plan on making a game project with other classmates, and I think some of the things I’ve learned from class could be useful there as well. Having a board that displays all the tasks that need to get done is very helpful to organize things, and I’ve also learned how to communicate issues in the clearest manner. Team work is an important skill that will aid me in all endevors.
Concluding Statement
Software engineering is about creating systems that are functional, scalable, and sustainable. It requires planning, coordination, and continuous learning. This class gave me a strong foundation in those areas and changed the way I think about programming. It’s not just the ability to write code that makes a good programmer, it’s also about having code standards and excellent team work that trully makes a good programmer. By learning all apsects of software programming, I’ve evolved my abilties through this class.