Essays

Don't Fear the Timer: How Effort Tracking Made Me a Better Developer

10 May 2024

Making Effort Estimates: A Buffer for the Unknown  The Clubs At Manoa web application project with my group provided valuable insights into effort estimation and tracking for coding and non-coding tasks. Initially, I estimated effort hours by considering the maximum...

From Pixels to Principles: Unveiling the Software Engineering Core

09 May 2024

Introduction While the web development tools in this class provided a practical foundation, there are also broader software engineering concepts we explored. Agile project management, coding standards, and development environments are the three concepts that extend far beyond web applications....

AI and I: My Journey with AI Tools

07 May 2024

I. Introduction My experience with integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) into my software engineering education has been a journey of discovery and enhancement. Utilizing AI tools in the classroom has provided me with insights and practical aids for learning complex concepts,...

Design Patterns: The Blueprint for Software Architecture

25 Apr 2024

Introduction In software development, the concept of design patterns serves as a master blueprint book for an architect—a curated collection of solutions to common problems refined over time by many skilled engineers. These patterns provide a standardized approach to solving...

Final Project Idea

28 Mar 2024

Project: Reverse Bingo Team members: Jennie Parrott, Candace Huynh, Matthew Matsuo Overview The problem: Educators face the challenge of keeping students engaged and effectively supporting their study habits. Traditional educational games like bingo, while useful, often fail to fully capture...

Software Engineering Meteor

Building Blocks of Design: Reflections on Exploring UI Frameworks

22 Feb 2024

Introduction The UI framework comprises pre-built code, components, libraries, and design elements, all tailored for software development to craft user interfaces. These versatile elements, including buttons, icons, forms, menus, and layout templates, are readily adaptable for use. Prominent UI frameworks...

Coding Standards: Elevating Software Quality

08 Feb 2024

Introduction In software development, “coding standards” can conjure thoughts of mundane details like indentation styles or whether you place the close-curly-brace on a new line by itself. However, beneath these seemingly trivial aspects lies a significant impact on software quality...

Smart Questions

25 Jan 2024

How To Ask Questions The Smart Way Introduction Effective communication is paramount in software engineering, and one crucial aspect of this skill is the ability to ask questions the “smart way,” as outlined by Eric Raymond in his essay. This...

Software Engineering Effective Communication

Initial Impression of JavaScript

17 Jan 2024

Prior Experience My first programming language was Java, which posed a challenge for me initially. However, it provided a solid foundation for learning other programming languages. I see programming languages as tools in a toolbox. Each language is not inherently...