Another week and another few blocks of code down. This last week has been an eventful and busy week making sure our project had everything needed for the midpoint demonstration. We have made a lot of progress, but of course, there is still much to do.
It was a somewhat frantic week making my commits and testing the functionality on iOS and Android to make sure our code worked on all platforms. I was able to learn enough React Native to create the menu and cart screens with basic functionality. It has been quite tricky learning a new language and figuring out how to do basic things. It’s times like these where I get a quick ego check and realize how well I can actually code. It can be quite frustrating coding in a new language but not being able to display data like I would in other languages. Sometimes I feel like I’m back in CS161; Googling “How do I pass variables to another screen in React Native”. There is nothing worse than being like “I swear I know how to code… just not in React Native”.
While this last week tested my skills and my patience, it is rewarding and fulfilling to finally have an app we can demonstrate. When doing my demonstration, I realized how cool our app actually is. It’s different when I see the code everyday and make incremental changes versus when I show the project as a whole and explain how it works. It kind of makes it more exciting and makes me want to continue learning outside of what’s required for the Capstone.
In many ways this class reminds me of starting my current job building React dashboards. I felt overwhelmed and underprepared. Googling simple things and having major imposter syndrome. But then, you publish a website and your boss is thrilled. That little reassurance is all I need to know I am doing well and making progress and growing everyday. It’s great to be working in a field that is challenging and constantly developing. There is always something to learn and new tools to help.
It felt great to submit the midpoint demonstration and feel like we have made great progress so far. While there are many things left to do, I’m excited to keep learning and put that knowledge into an app. Only a few more weeks to go and they will surely fly by.
Until next time,
Max Grier