Wednesday, December 6, 2023

Before starting my capstone, all of my projects were done from scratch with minimal use of Software as a Service (SaaS). Previously, when I wanted to create login/authentication for an application, I researched Json Web Tokens (JWT) and implemented something from scratch. It was very time consuming and felt like it distracted me from the bigger picture of the project. However, with SaaS from AWS, they manage that all for you.

Another example is setting up a database. There is a lot of complexity involved with setting up a database for a large project — server configuration, scaling, monitoring, etc. Luckily, there are SaaS options from AWS that handle everything for you.

I realized the importance of using SaaS to save time and money, especially for large projects organized around agile practices, where quick product delivery is key.

My teammates decided that we will use AWS for most of our project functionality since the application is expected to perform various complex functions.

Experience with AWS, and SaaS in general, will help me land a job as a software developer. I recently accepted an internship for a DevOps position where SaaS options like Terraform and Azure are used regularly. For this project, however, we are using AWS, but I expect there to be a lot of overlap between AWS and Azure.

Overall, I’m happy with my team and how things are progressing. The project mentors are always eager to help despite their busy schedules. My teammates all seem excited to get the project off the ground despite the hiccups we had at the beginning of the term. The class is structured nicely to ensure that we are consistently making progress, while ensuring that everyone in the team does their part. One difficulty is working with the in-person team since our schedules and assignments don’t align. My team is adapting well however, and I expect it to get easier as time goes on.

I’m glad this difficult term is coming to a close and winter break is right around the corner. I plan on getting some AWS and Azure certifications during the break and maybe starting a small personal project of my own. I’m excited for Winter term since it will involved much more development.