Welcome to post #3 of my blog documenting my journey through the CS 467 Capstone Course. This week was a great week of learning, testing and implementation. I was able to learn a ton of React Native, Expo and Firebase, the key components my team will be using to develop our crowd-sourced fitness app. Let me tell you more about my experience learning React Native and my mentality when dealing with bugs and challenges.
Learning React native definitely came with a steep learning curve, but my slight familiarity with React and good understanding of Javascript helped me learn key concepts quickly. I was able to follow a great tutorial that facilitated my learning experience and helped me build a solid foundation of knowledge to have a good start when building our project.
Through the tutorial and additional documentation, I was able to learn how to create screens for the application, implement user interactivity through text fields, buttons and other components, and how to properly display content in the app. I was also able to learn how to run a React Native application in both iOS and Android simulators and on a physical device.
This part, and the overall installation and configuration of React Native and Expo, was the one that gave me the most challenges to overcome. As you may be aware, the steps given in tutorials and documentation are often not as straightforward as they seem. Although challenging, I took these obstacles as a learning experience and practice of what is to come when I graduate and start working as a software engineer.
This is the approach and mentality that I am focusing on having during this term. Given that I will start working as a software engineer soon after graduation, my goal this term is to implement practices that I will use at work, and dealing with bugs and obstacles is a big one. I want to challenge myself by learning new things and overcoming any roadblocks efficiently by reading documentation and connecting with my project partners. I believe mastering these skills will help me be better prepared for my role.
With clear goals in mind and technical foundations built, the real fun begins. Time to set up a good playlist and start developing. Thank you for reading and I’ll see you next time.
Rod
