CSUMB CS Online Learning Journal - Ryan

 This week we focused on building out the front end of our application. One thing I learned this week is that I feel like I am more interested in front end development. Last weeks iteration was somewhat challenging and abstract to me because, it was just information. This week doing React I felt I understood it more, and could see how my code directly translates to the look and feel of our application. I also found it easier to troubleshoot because I could change a line of code and see how it affected the design. Overall a good week of learning how to develop a larger software application.

 One of the most interesting things I have learned reading "Software Engineering at Google" is the idea of code reviews. When I first was thinking about programming I thought the actual coding would take up most of the time, but it appears that code reviews can consume an equal if not more amount of project time. I also learned that there are different types of code reviews and how there are many different aspects that the code reviewer is looking for before approving a piece of code. Reading about software engineering at Google it does sound like coding and reviewing code is very much a group effort with team members switching between the roles, similar to our current group projects.

 The week we learned about Git and how to utilize source control. Some good points about git is that it allows users to create save points in their code. When developing a new feature the programmer can make use of branches to create new code while still being able to reset to a previous state if something goes wrong with adding the feature. I think this is incredibly useful especially when dealing with large programs because it allows programmers to work on small pieces of the code without modifying the existing code base. With online websites such as Github, programmers can collaborate and work on code simultaneously. This does present a challenge though if both programmers make modifications to the same lines of code. This will cause a conflict and require a code review to determine how to resolve the conflict. Overall I think tools such as git and Github are incredibly useful for programmers to collaborate on software projects.

 This week, I learned the core fundamentals of React, including how to build reusable components, manage state using useState , and handle side effects with useEffect . I also explored JSX syntax and how it allows us to write HTML-like code directly within JavaScript, making UI development more intuitive. In my opinion, React’s biggest strength is its component-based architecture, which encourages modular and maintainable code. It also has a strong ecosystem, with tools like React Router and Redux that support complex application needs. The virtual DOM makes UI updates efficient, and the use of hooks makes it easier to manage logic in functional components. However, React also has some weaknesses. The learning curve can be steep for beginners, especially when diving into advanced topics like context, custom hooks, or performance optimization. Additionally, setting up a project with all the necessary tooling can be overwhelming requiring building both the front and backend in diff...

 This week was the first week of CST428 Software Engineering. In this week we started to learn about REST APIs and how to start building one. The program we built this week was based on a user being able to register in a database and create orders tied to their customer id. I also learned how to utilize some new programs such as Spring and Postman. I also gained experience in creating unit tests to validate that my code is performing as expected. I look forward to learning more about complex software projects and how they are built.

LeetCode Practice Reflection - 1. Two Sum Date:   19MAY25 What I Worked on Today: Practiced doing LeetCode Problem 1.Two Sum. What I Learned: - How to use the enumerate() function - How to optimize possible solutions after considering brute force methods - How to declare a new dictionary (key value pair) Code Snippet I Wrote or Studied: class Solution(object): def twoSum(self, nums, target): seen = {} for i, num in enumerate(nums): compliement = target - num if compliment in seen: return [seen[compliment], i] seen[num] = i In My Own Words: This function takes in a list of numbers and will return the index of the two numbers that add up to the provided target value. The way this program works is that it creates a dictionary called "seen". It will then iterate through the list of numbers and use the enumerate function to keep track of the index and the value of the specific item in the provided list. The for loop will calculate the compliment numbe...