Reflections and Aspirations
Well everyone, we finally made it to the end of the term! This marks the completion of the first third of the CS Capstone. I feel like I’ve been going 90 miles an hour since September, and I’m looking forward to getting a chance to slow down for a couple of weeks before we hit the ground with development in Winter Term. In this blog post, we’ll take a look at where we’ve been so far on this development journey and where we’re looking to go next.
Looking back over the last teen weeks, my team has accomplished quite a bit. We’ve settled into a workflow, we’ve laid out the requirements for a minimum viable product, and we’ve created a detailed plan that describes exactly how we plan to build what we want to build. We’ve also (at the advice of our mentor) pared down the requirements to include only what we know for sure is able to be accomplished in the short development time we’re allowed. The whole team is confident that the goals we’ve set at this point are realistic and achievable. Overall, all three of us are feeling pretty good about our plan moving forward.
We’ve started preliminary development steps, and I am really excited about how it’s looking so far. We’ve got our collaborative Git repository set up, and it currently contains a project that compiles to a clickable map with sample species data displayed for each map area. I think that this is a solid first step towards beginning development since we’ll be able to pick up from here next term rather than having to spend that time setting everything up.
Next term, I’ll be focusing mainly on the environmental variables that drive evolution – such as available energy, temperature, terrain, and other factors. These variables will have differing effects on the fitness of different species depending on their traits. Through this cause-and-effect system, we hope to achieve a realistic model of evolutionary change over time.
In a way, I do feel a bit like a flowering plant at this point in the term. I’ve worked my hardest all season to prepare and get my deliverables all sent out at the right time – now, for winter, I’ll be taking a moment to rest and then launching into ‘build’ mode in order to accomplish as much as I can before spring, working on the system and making sure all necessary parts are in order. Then, in spring, I’ll have to switch gears again and get ready to send this baby off into the world. Hopefully, at that point, our blossoming project will reflect the effort we’ve put in over the previous two terms.
I’m usually not a fan of the cold months, but this winter I’ve decided to do what the plants do and spend this time working on myself and my projects, so that I can show off all of these efforts when spring finally comes.
With love,
Your friendly neighborhood Plant Lady
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