As I reflect on my journey through the capstone course, I’ve found that some of my greatest successes have come from some of the most unlikely places. For instance, I’ve always been a visual learner, but I never considered how this could be considered an asset. Yet, my seemingly simple approach of sitting down and planning out my work on paper has greatly shaped the course of my group’s capstone project. Breakthroughs that occurred throughout the development process have highlighted one role that I seem to easily fit into, the architect.
The first instance of a breakthrough happened fairly early in the course. I initially made a simple document to plot out my understanding of my group’s application. I made a simple flow chart showing what systems I thought our application would need to function. This document ended up evolving and becoming the group’s schema and ERD. Which became the blueprint that guided the development of my group’s application going forward.
Another breakthrough moment occurred during the planning and implementation of the matching system. At first, the task at hand seemed rather daunting, but after a bit of brainstorming, I was able to formulate a simple mockup of the process. The document helped highlight the exchange of information between the various data tables within our database and even helped my group collectively realize that we needed additional sub-tables within our database for our systems to function. Again, what started as a simple mockup for visualization helped guide my group’s development process and allowed us to formulate a plan to execute a complicated bit of code.
In hindsight, my role as an architect shouldn’t be a shock to anyone who knows me. I’ve always been someone who likes to make flashcards when it comes to studying. Diagrams have always been my bread and butter when it comes to learning new systems. Heck, I even love board games where I can plot and plan my next move. Yet I had never considered how much of an impact this kind of planning could have when invoked during the development of an application.
Overall, this course has illuminated the profound impact that planning can have when navigating complex problems. Having a clear path forward has been a vital aspect of my group’s success. It has provided each member of our team with a clear goal while they apply their unique skills to our project. As I embark on future endeavors, I’ll certainly continue to embrace my architect tendencies knowing that they will help guide me onward toward success.
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