Category Archives: CS-343

The Art of Future-Ready REST API Design

Best practices for REST API design: https://stackoverflow.blog/2020/03/02/best-practices-for-rest-api-design/

In today’s digital landscape, REST APIs play a pivotal role in facilitating seamless communication between various clients and services. However, designing these APIs requires careful consideration of factors such as security, performance, and ease of use for consumers. In this blog post, we will delve into the key best practices for designing REST APIs that are not only easy to understand but also future-proof and secure.

Summary: The selected resource outlines essential guidelines for designing REST APIs. It covers crucial aspects like choosing the right data format (JSON), using nouns instead of verbs in endpoint paths, logical nesting for hierarchical objects, handling errors gracefully with standard error codes, and implementing features such as filtering, sorting, and pagination. The article also emphasizes the importance of maintaining good security practices, caching data for improved performance, and versioning APIs to manage changes effectively.

Reason for Selection: This resource was chosen because it directly aligns with the course material, providing a comprehensive guide to REST API design principles. The clarity of the content and its relevance to common challenges in API development makes it a valuable reference for anyone involved in creating robust APIs.

Comments on Content: The guidelines presented in the resource offer practical insights into building effective REST APIs. The emphasis on using JSON for data exchange aligns with industry standards, ensuring compatibility across various technologies. The recommendation to avoid verbs in endpoint paths simplifies API readability and adheres to the RESTful principles of using HTTP methods for actions. The article’s discussion on error handling and status codes enhances the overall robustness of API implementations.

Personal Reflection: As a developer, this resource reinforced the importance of consistency and adherence to best practices in API design. The concept of logical nesting for related resources provides a structured approach that can enhance both API usability and maintainability. Learning about caching strategies and the significance of versioning in API development has broadened my understanding of how to address performance and compatibility concerns in real-world scenarios.

Application in Future Practice: The insights gained from this resource will significantly influence my future API development projects. I plan to implement the recommended practices, especially in areas like error handling, security, and versioning. Additionally, the emphasis on caching strategies will be integrated to optimize data retrieval and enhance the overall performance of the APIs I develop.

In conclusion, the resource serves as a valuable guide for both beginners and experienced developers, offering practical tips for designing REST APIs that stand the test of time. By incorporating these best practices, developers can create APIs that not only meet current requirements but also adapt seamlessly to future changes in technology and user needs.

From the blog CS@Worcester – Site Title by rkaranja1002 and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

REST API | Week 10

Rest API Designs

In this article the general theme of it helps new or even current programmers understand the fundamentals of REST API’s and help make it more comprehensible as well as to remember important key points in this theme. From how to properly use HTTPS to getting to know how to construct it and remembering what errors you might have, what they mean, this article covers it all. 

I selected this article because sometimes I like to look at things from a different perspective and search around to help me understand something in a different way to clarify a problem or to just maybe help me to connect the dots. Personally this article is a very good introduction into grasping the fundamentals of REST API’s. The material that was observed and taught in class as well as this article really made this click and helped me to move forward with this knowledge in the lessons ahead.  

The article is set up perfectly to go in order of how to design a REST API and why per say the said details are important and it truly helped me to push forward in certain homeworks and as well as the assignments in class. The first operation is to make a simple URL that is simple and just easy. Following up is something that was surprisingly helpful and it was the importance of nouns that you needed to be aware of. This is sometimes being the most common mistake with developers. Tying into that is understanding when to use the right HTTPS methods and why said method should be used as well as why some are more useful than others. Diving to understand and help what parameters are and why we need them. HTTPS methods are just as important as the HTTP codes. Narrowing it down that the most important range of numbers that are used are from 200s all the way to the 500s. Moving to understanding versioning and why it’s very important because it helps keep a check on the amount of updates, small or big that lead to those said versions and helps tracking them when they come out. The last three titles are the use of pagination which helps understand the developer how downloading is going and if its causing any disruptions lowering the services that are in store. API responses must respond or  return in JSON though that may vary if you are using a legacy app. The cherry on top is the using proper error messages. Practice and observe what error messages pull through. 

Link:

https://betterprogramming.pub/restful-api-design-step-by-step-guide-2f2c9f9fcdbf

From the blog CS@Worcester – Site Title by Jon Skende and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

Week 11: CS-343

Software Frameworks

What is a framework?

A framework is a platform providing a foundation for creating software development projects. Frameworks can be thought of as a template of a working program where developers can modify the program by adding code. Because frameworks are essentially templates, there are shared resources that are bundled into one package. Some of these resources include libraries, image files, and reference documents. The package can be customized to match the needs of the project.

Different types of frameworks

Backend Web Frameworks

Backend Web, or also known as simply Web Frameworks, are the most commonly used. These frameworks help developers create web applications and dynamic websites. The use of web frameworks has streamlined the process of web development by automating common tasks of web developers such as database access and session management. Rather than using HTML, JavaScript and CSS, backend frameworks use programming languages to access a database, hosted on a server. A common backend framework is Django.

Frontend

Unlike backend where frameworks are loaded server-side, frontend frameworks are executed in the user’s browser. Frontend frameworks allow developers to customize and design the way the web application looks to the user. Popular frontend frameworks are Angular JS and React.

Mobile Development

Nowadays mobile applications are extremely common resulting in mobile development frameworks. Similarly to desktop frameworks, these give developers a foundation to build their mobile applications while allowing full customizability. There are two types of mobile frameworks, native and cross-platform. Native frameworks are for applications that are built specifically for a particular operating system (iOS or Android). Alternatively cross-platform frameworks are for apps that are built to be compatible with any phone. A commonly used mobile framework is Flutter.

What makes a good framework?

A good framework should be simple to understand and easy to implement. It should also follow design principles such as:

  • Being extendable, adding new functionality by adding code rather than modifying
    • Framework cannot be modified at all, but only extended
  • Allows developers to create components that can be reused
  • Should have a default behavior and be useful. No redundant code that is unnecessary

Why use a framework?

Frameworks greatly reduces the time spent on developing. When starting a new project, there are steps that need to be done regardless the project. Using frameworks helps streamline that process by already providing those details. This allows developers to focus their time on extending the functionality specific to their application’s needs.

Reflection

This article was chosen because it broke down the different parts of a framework such as what it is, the different types, and why one might use a framework. Prior to reading this blog, I had a somewhat unclear understanding of what frameworks are. Now I understand that they are useful tools that speeds up the development process by providing essentially a template of a working program. What was learned will be applied to future, larger projects that could benefit from a framework.

Resources:

https://codeinstitute.net/global/blog/what-is-a-framework/

From the blog CS@Worcester – Zack's CS Blog by ztram1 and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

Git and Game Development

     A subject that has always been near and dear to my heart is video games. Throughout my life I have always been deeply enamored with games and the process of their creation, from the intricacies of 3d modeling to the various game engines in use. Despite that, I would not say I am an expert in modern game development by any means. As my classes have progressed however, I have begun to understand more about the inner workings of software development and how teams are managed. This led me to investigate how game developers use these tools to manage projects and keep everything orderly. After doing some research, I found that many game engines are compatible with git and have no issue being stored on GitHub. Not only that but prominent game engines like Unreal Engine even have their source code up on GitHub, available for anyone to fork and clone. This was done to allow developers to modify the game engine itself, for whatever purposes they need. Godot is a free open-source engine that uses the MIT license and is also entirely up on GitHub. Of course, even if an engine does not have their code on GitHub or Gitlab that does not mean you cannot just host your code in an online repository. Thanks to what I have learned this semester, I can now make use of GitHub in the creation of repositories for any game projects I have. 

  It is not enough to learn about how game developers make use of git, project management is also a vital tool for game development. In terms of project frameworks, agile methodologies have seen widespread use within various industries, including the video game industry. Scrum is the most prominent of these methodologies and has been adopted by various companies. Due to the nature of video game development, there is a greater need for cross-disciplined teams comprised of developers versed in various skills. Game development can be effectively chopped up into tasks that fit nicely into each increment, for the medium itself necessitates a functioning step by step pipeline. Level designers cannot do anything without the assets created by artists and so on and so forth. The first couple sprints would work on creating functional assets like 3D models, textures, and game mechanics. The goal of each subsequent sprint would be to create a functional game section by section. I hope to one day make use of scrum and help create a game of my own.

https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/ue-on-github

https://www.gamedeveloper.com/production/agile-game-development-with-scrum-teams

https://starloopstudios.com/best-agile-practices-in-game-development/

From the blog CS@Worcester Alejandro Professional Blog by amontesdeoca and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

Git and Game Development

     A subject that has always been near and dear to my heart is video games. Throughout my life I have always been deeply enamored with games and the process of their creation, from the intricacies of 3d modeling to the various game engines in use. Despite that, I would not say I am an expert in modern game development by any means. As my classes have progressed however, I have begun to understand more about the inner workings of software development and how teams are managed. This led me to investigate how game developers use these tools to manage projects and keep everything orderly. After doing some research, I found that many game engines are compatible with git and have no issue being stored on GitHub. Not only that but prominent game engines like Unreal Engine even have their source code up on GitHub, available for anyone to fork and clone. This was done to allow developers to modify the game engine itself, for whatever purposes they need. Godot is a free open-source engine that uses the MIT license and is also entirely up on GitHub. Of course, even if an engine does not have their code on GitHub or Gitlab that does not mean you cannot just host your code in an online repository. Thanks to what I have learned this semester, I can now make use of GitHub in the creation of repositories for any game projects I have. 

  It is not enough to learn about how game developers make use of git, project management is also a vital tool for game development. In terms of project frameworks, agile methodologies have seen widespread use within various industries, including the video game industry. Scrum is the most prominent of these methodologies and has been adopted by various companies. Due to the nature of video game development, there is a greater need for cross-disciplined teams comprised of developers versed in various skills. Game development can be effectively chopped up into tasks that fit nicely into each increment, for the medium itself necessitates a functioning step by step pipeline. Level designers cannot do anything without the assets created by artists and so on and so forth. The first couple sprints would work on creating functional assets like 3D models, textures, and game mechanics. The goal of each subsequent sprint would be to create a functional game section by section. I hope to one day make use of scrum and help create a game of my own.

https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/ue-on-github

https://www.gamedeveloper.com/production/agile-game-development-with-scrum-teams

https://starloopstudios.com/best-agile-practices-in-game-development/

From the blog CS@Worcester Alejandro Professional Blog by amontesdeoca and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

Git and Game Development

     A subject that has always been near and dear to my heart is video games. Throughout my life I have always been deeply enamored with games and the process of their creation, from the intricacies of 3d modeling to the various game engines in use. Despite that, I would not say I am an expert in modern game development by any means. As my classes have progressed however, I have begun to understand more about the inner workings of software development and how teams are managed. This led me to investigate how game developers use these tools to manage projects and keep everything orderly. After doing some research, I found that many game engines are compatible with git and have no issue being stored on GitHub. Not only that but prominent game engines like Unreal Engine even have their source code up on GitHub, available for anyone to fork and clone. This was done to allow developers to modify the game engine itself, for whatever purposes they need. Godot is a free open-source engine that uses the MIT license and is also entirely up on GitHub. Of course, even if an engine does not have their code on GitHub or Gitlab that does not mean you cannot just host your code in an online repository. Thanks to what I have learned this semester, I can now make use of GitHub in the creation of repositories for any game projects I have. 

  It is not enough to learn about how game developers make use of git, project management is also a vital tool for game development. In terms of project frameworks, agile methodologies have seen widespread use within various industries, including the video game industry. Scrum is the most prominent of these methodologies and has been adopted by various companies. Due to the nature of video game development, there is a greater need for cross-disciplined teams comprised of developers versed in various skills. Game development can be effectively chopped up into tasks that fit nicely into each increment, for the medium itself necessitates a functioning step by step pipeline. Level designers cannot do anything without the assets created by artists and so on and so forth. The first couple sprints would work on creating functional assets like 3D models, textures, and game mechanics. The goal of each subsequent sprint would be to create a functional game section by section. I hope to one day make use of scrum and help create a game of my own.

https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/ue-on-github

https://www.gamedeveloper.com/production/agile-game-development-with-scrum-teams

https://starloopstudios.com/best-agile-practices-in-game-development/

From the blog CS@Worcester Alejandro Professional Blog by amontesdeoca and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

Git and Game Development

     A subject that has always been near and dear to my heart is video games. Throughout my life I have always been deeply enamored with games and the process of their creation, from the intricacies of 3d modeling to the various game engines in use. Despite that, I would not say I am an expert in modern game development by any means. As my classes have progressed however, I have begun to understand more about the inner workings of software development and how teams are managed. This led me to investigate how game developers use these tools to manage projects and keep everything orderly. After doing some research, I found that many game engines are compatible with git and have no issue being stored on GitHub. Not only that but prominent game engines like Unreal Engine even have their source code up on GitHub, available for anyone to fork and clone. This was done to allow developers to modify the game engine itself, for whatever purposes they need. Godot is a free open-source engine that uses the MIT license and is also entirely up on GitHub. Of course, even if an engine does not have their code on GitHub or Gitlab that does not mean you cannot just host your code in an online repository. Thanks to what I have learned this semester, I can now make use of GitHub in the creation of repositories for any game projects I have. 

  It is not enough to learn about how game developers make use of git, project management is also a vital tool for game development. In terms of project frameworks, agile methodologies have seen widespread use within various industries, including the video game industry. Scrum is the most prominent of these methodologies and has been adopted by various companies. Due to the nature of video game development, there is a greater need for cross-disciplined teams comprised of developers versed in various skills. Game development can be effectively chopped up into tasks that fit nicely into each increment, for the medium itself necessitates a functioning step by step pipeline. Level designers cannot do anything without the assets created by artists and so on and so forth. The first couple sprints would work on creating functional assets like 3D models, textures, and game mechanics. The goal of each subsequent sprint would be to create a functional game section by section. I hope to one day make use of scrum and help create a game of my own.

https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/ue-on-github

https://www.gamedeveloper.com/production/agile-game-development-with-scrum-teams

https://starloopstudios.com/best-agile-practices-in-game-development/

From the blog CS@Worcester Alejandro Professional Blog by amontesdeoca and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

Git and Game Development

     A subject that has always been near and dear to my heart is video games. Throughout my life I have always been deeply enamored with games and the process of their creation, from the intricacies of 3d modeling to the various game engines in use. Despite that, I would not say I am an expert in modern game development by any means. As my classes have progressed however, I have begun to understand more about the inner workings of software development and how teams are managed. This led me to investigate how game developers use these tools to manage projects and keep everything orderly. After doing some research, I found that many game engines are compatible with git and have no issue being stored on GitHub. Not only that but prominent game engines like Unreal Engine even have their source code up on GitHub, available for anyone to fork and clone. This was done to allow developers to modify the game engine itself, for whatever purposes they need. Godot is a free open-source engine that uses the MIT license and is also entirely up on GitHub. Of course, even if an engine does not have their code on GitHub or Gitlab that does not mean you cannot just host your code in an online repository. Thanks to what I have learned this semester, I can now make use of GitHub in the creation of repositories for any game projects I have. 

  It is not enough to learn about how game developers make use of git, project management is also a vital tool for game development. In terms of project frameworks, agile methodologies have seen widespread use within various industries, including the video game industry. Scrum is the most prominent of these methodologies and has been adopted by various companies. Due to the nature of video game development, there is a greater need for cross-disciplined teams comprised of developers versed in various skills. Game development can be effectively chopped up into tasks that fit nicely into each increment, for the medium itself necessitates a functioning step by step pipeline. Level designers cannot do anything without the assets created by artists and so on and so forth. The first couple sprints would work on creating functional assets like 3D models, textures, and game mechanics. The goal of each subsequent sprint would be to create a functional game section by section. I hope to one day make use of scrum and help create a game of my own.

https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/ue-on-github

https://www.gamedeveloper.com/production/agile-game-development-with-scrum-teams

https://starloopstudios.com/best-agile-practices-in-game-development/

From the blog CS@Worcester Alejandro Professional Blog by amontesdeoca and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

Git and Game Development

     A subject that has always been near and dear to my heart is video games. Throughout my life I have always been deeply enamored with games and the process of their creation, from the intricacies of 3d modeling to the various game engines in use. Despite that, I would not say I am an expert in modern game development by any means. As my classes have progressed however, I have begun to understand more about the inner workings of software development and how teams are managed. This led me to investigate how game developers use these tools to manage projects and keep everything orderly. After doing some research, I found that many game engines are compatible with git and have no issue being stored on GitHub. Not only that but prominent game engines like Unreal Engine even have their source code up on GitHub, available for anyone to fork and clone. This was done to allow developers to modify the game engine itself, for whatever purposes they need. Godot is a free open-source engine that uses the MIT license and is also entirely up on GitHub. Of course, even if an engine does not have their code on GitHub or Gitlab that does not mean you cannot just host your code in an online repository. Thanks to what I have learned this semester, I can now make use of GitHub in the creation of repositories for any game projects I have. 

  It is not enough to learn about how game developers make use of git, project management is also a vital tool for game development. In terms of project frameworks, agile methodologies have seen widespread use within various industries, including the video game industry. Scrum is the most prominent of these methodologies and has been adopted by various companies. Due to the nature of video game development, there is a greater need for cross-disciplined teams comprised of developers versed in various skills. Game development can be effectively chopped up into tasks that fit nicely into each increment, for the medium itself necessitates a functioning step by step pipeline. Level designers cannot do anything without the assets created by artists and so on and so forth. The first couple sprints would work on creating functional assets like 3D models, textures, and game mechanics. The goal of each subsequent sprint would be to create a functional game section by section. I hope to one day make use of scrum and help create a game of my own.

https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/ue-on-github

https://www.gamedeveloper.com/production/agile-game-development-with-scrum-teams

https://starloopstudios.com/best-agile-practices-in-game-development/

From the blog CS@Worcester Alejandro Professional Blog by amontesdeoca and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

Git and Game Development

     A subject that has always been near and dear to my heart is video games. Throughout my life I have always been deeply enamored with games and the process of their creation, from the intricacies of 3d modeling to the various game engines in use. Despite that, I would not say I am an expert in modern game development by any means. As my classes have progressed however, I have begun to understand more about the inner workings of software development and how teams are managed. This led me to investigate how game developers use these tools to manage projects and keep everything orderly. After doing some research, I found that many game engines are compatible with git and have no issue being stored on GitHub. Not only that but prominent game engines like Unreal Engine even have their source code up on GitHub, available for anyone to fork and clone. This was done to allow developers to modify the game engine itself, for whatever purposes they need. Godot is a free open-source engine that uses the MIT license and is also entirely up on GitHub. Of course, even if an engine does not have their code on GitHub or Gitlab that does not mean you cannot just host your code in an online repository. Thanks to what I have learned this semester, I can now make use of GitHub in the creation of repositories for any game projects I have. 

  It is not enough to learn about how game developers make use of git, project management is also a vital tool for game development. In terms of project frameworks, agile methodologies have seen widespread use within various industries, including the video game industry. Scrum is the most prominent of these methodologies and has been adopted by various companies. Due to the nature of video game development, there is a greater need for cross-disciplined teams comprised of developers versed in various skills. Game development can be effectively chopped up into tasks that fit nicely into each increment, for the medium itself necessitates a functioning step by step pipeline. Level designers cannot do anything without the assets created by artists and so on and so forth. The first couple sprints would work on creating functional assets like 3D models, textures, and game mechanics. The goal of each subsequent sprint would be to create a functional game section by section. I hope to one day make use of scrum and help create a game of my own.

https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/ue-on-github

https://www.gamedeveloper.com/production/agile-game-development-with-scrum-teams

https://starloopstudios.com/best-agile-practices-in-game-development/

From the blog CS@Worcester Alejandro Professional Blog by amontesdeoca and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.