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.

So, since the end of the semester is coming up, I should be posting weekly for the near future, so stay tuned for a lot from me! With this week of work, I have two topics I wanted to discuss, both related to each class I’m taking with Professor Wurst.

Firstly, on the Software Process Management side, I wanted to discuss how we’re using Scrum, and the way it’s set up. We’re using GitLab’s issue boards, dividing them amongst where they currently are in The Sprint, with stuff like the Issue Backlog, In Process, Needs Review, Finished, and so on so forth.

This setup reminded me a hell of a lot of Trello, a website/service I’ve been using for years now! And what’s funny is that I even mentioned this in class once, and the Professor said he used to as well for Scrum. My setup is quite different compared to the setup we have on GitLab, however, it still uses a similar Scrum/Kanban-esque setup.

Here’s the two boards I mainly use, one for School, and one for Commission work, as I freelance in art. With my Comm board, it is a bit more simpler, having using tags within lists as opposed to using a list per tag. As for my schoolwork board, it’s simply just listed with each course I’m taking and items of work I need to finish. It’s a very good tool, and I highly suggest it to anyone looking to utilize Scrum or even need a good tool to organize things.

Check it out here! https://trello.com/

As for the Software Design, I was curious what kind of file the .json’s we were using were. We have been using them to store data about students and members of the modified version of LibreFoodPantry’s backend. I’ve seen them used before many times in my times modding games before, usually they store data for configuration files.

So, to learn more, I found this blog from HubSpot: https://blog.hubspot.com/website/json-files, and honestly I think I get it a bit more now. They’re simply data storage files, able to store comma seperated values, objects, and arrays. They also support multiple data types, like integer, boolean, and strings.

So putting that into the context of configuration files, like for settings in games, it makes sense why they are used, due to integer and boolean values. If an option for a game has an on/off choice, a boolean data value to hold that information would make sense, as “true” would be on, and “false” would be off. As for how integers would be used, say you want to store the value of the volume the user wants while playing the game, that can be stored as an integer from 0-100.

All in all, it’s really interesting to learn more about filetypes I don’t know too much about, and I should look into more and how they are written, like .obj, .html, and .ini.

From the blog CS@Worcester – You're Telling Me A Shrimp Wrote This Code?! by tempurashrimple and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

Overview

This week in class, my group and I installed Java in VSCode and created a unique file to write code in. It was the first time that I created a file that wasn’t in BlueJ or ZyBooks in order to write runnable code inside of. Being it was my first time experimenting with it, it took a while for me to understand. But once it became clear to me I found it very interesting. A tutorial on getting started with Java in VSCode I read went further into detail on how to use Java in it, covering tools, testing, project management, what needs to be installed and many other helpful things.

Installing Java

To first get started a coding pack needs to be installed. There’s a link leading to the files that need to be downloaded. However, the Development Environment activity we did in class only required that the Java devcontainer extension packs in VSCode were installed. Installing that same extension pack is actually the second step for the article’s “Hello World” example. A JDK (Java Development Kit) is vital for running Java in VSCode. With the coding packs and the JDK, Java has been successfully installed onto VSCode.

Creating Source Code Files

The part that fascinated me was creating a source code file. Since the Java coding packs and development kits have now been installed, you can create a file specifically for Java code. This is achieved by choosing a name for your file and adding “.java” to the end of it. VSCode now knows that it is a java file and will recognize any terms and symbols specific to Java that it wouldn’t if it was just a regular text file. Write down code and it won’t take you long to notice that terms like “int”, “for”, “public”, “class”, etc. are colored differently. When you are done writing your code, there should be either a play symbol or a link that says “Run|Debug”. If your code is compilable, the output of your code will be returned in the terminal. 

Interesting Features

VSCode offers many interesting tools that make it easy to search for, test, and edit code among other things. If you have a project in Java or any programming language, it is easy to sort through. On top of that, there are so many extensions such as code spell checkers, debuggers, test runners, and many other tools that make creating code that much easier. Compared to BlueJ and other IDEs I’ve used, this has been the most useful. It took a while to get the hang of, but once I did, I realized how good of a tool VSCode is and can potentially be.

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

From the previous week’s we have been covering the different types of software copyright licenses and their differing purposes in the field. The blog post I chose to cover is “Understanding Software Licensing” by Fernando Galano. The goal of the blog post was to help simplify the legalities of differing software copyright licenses as well as expressing the importance of understanding copyright licenses and why you should know when to use the different kinds. From what we learned in class, from the videos as well as our in class activities, the blog post worked hand in hand in reinforcing the pros and cons of the different copyright licenses to give a better grasp on the topic.

The blog post started with what a software copyright license exactly is. Galano described the concept of a software license is the establishment of a contract between the creators of the software and the individuals who would be using it. The contract would lay out the terms and conditions that the user must follow when it comes to use of the code as well as the rights and liabilities of the user and creator. As explained in the post, the license will protect both parties and make sure that the use of the software is as intended from both the creator and user. After Galano described the preemptive information about what a license is he explained the different types and their pros and cons. He described Public Domain Licenses, Copyleft Licenses, Lesser General Public Licenses, Permissive Licenses and Proprietary Software Licenses. Each license had a almost like tldr description that allowed the reader to easily understand what each license is meant for. He ended the blog post stating that every license has a purpose and it is up to you as the creator to decide what your purpose is for the software and what you want it to be used for.

The reason I chose this blog post was due to the fact that while we have been covering copyright licenses I feel like I still didn’t fully grasp the differences and when you should use each kind of license. This blog post was perfect in using simple terms to allow me to easily understand the different kinds of software licenses and their differing uses. From this I will now be able to one hundred percent understand why I am choosing a certain license when it comes to protecting my work. I feel like reinforcing my knowledge on items like this is very important as copyright licenses are a huge part of developing software.

https://www.bairesdev.com/blog/understanding-software-licensing/

From the blog CS@Worcester – Giovanni Casiano – Software Development by Giovanni Casiano and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

When it comes to software, and working on it as a team, or sharing it with others, Git appears to be the bread and butter of it. That is what class is kind of centralized around, learning how to use Git, and how it benefits you and others. At first glance, it appears very hard. However, after understanding its role in the greater scheme of things and putting it into practice, it’s not all that hard. Originally, I thought Git was another coding language, like Java or C++. I was severely wrong, as it is more similarly to Bash in a way, but unique in its own way. It allows for people to create code, share it with others online, where it can be used, changed, and reshared with the original creator or other people, where the same thing can happen, making branches of versions of code different from the last.

To use Git, you need a code hosting platform, like GitHub or GitLab, and a code editor, like VS Code. You don’t need to use these specific sites or editors, as each is similar and unique in their own way. Once you have these, you can start writing your code, stage it, commit it and push it into your code hosting platform on the internet for others to see, use and change. Or you could fork some code you see and change it up however you want, stage, commit and push it back and see what others think. Git allows not only teams to work on code together, but strangers to work on it, from all over the world. 

But who says Git can only be used for coding purposes? In this blog post, by Bruno Brito, they describe how Git can be used for designers, as in those creating graphic design and photo editing. In the post, they describe what Git is, how it is used, how to use it, and other things needed to know as a beginner to Git. However, instead of editing code, they use photo editing software. In the specific post, they are using Tower, which is similar to our VS Code. They describe how to create repos, how to stage and commit, and then how to use code hosting platforms, or for designers, cloud-based hosting platforms, to maintain synchronization. Then they go on to describe forking, cloning, pushing, pulling and branches. 

At quick glance, this could be interpreted as a tutorial for Git, which it is. But it is in a setting different from coding, specifically for design. I like this post because it shows that Git can be used for other fields, similar to my last post. I find that these ways of organizing code, among teams and many people, efficiently, and it allows many people to chip in, and upload their work. Although the post to me is essentially useless, as I have already learned how to do Git, it can be helpful to others who are looking for ways to create an efficient work environment. I can relate to this in a way, as a communications student as well, I am somewhat fond of art, and graphic design. I may not use Git if I am creating work on my own. But in a team, keeping track of who is doing what, and what changes have been made to this piece and what not, it can be helpful.

From the blog CS@Worcester – Cao's Thoughts by antcao and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

Software Testing

Software testing is an important process that evaluates and verifies a software application works as intended.

Types of Software Testing

There are many different types of software testing, some are:

• Acceptance – The entire system as a whole is tested and verified
• Integration – Ensuring that individual parts of a software system properly work together
• Unit – A unit is the smallest testable component of a software system. This type tests each unit and verifies correctness.
• Functional – Tests functions by emulating business scenarios
• Performance – Tests the performance of the software under different system workloads
• Regression – Tests rigidity of the software by adding new features and seeing if those new features break or impede on fucntionality
• Stress – Testing the software under maximum workload to see how much the system can handle until it fails
• Usability – Testing how well a customer can complete tasks using the system

Software Testing Best Practices

The software testing process is typically done with a common methodology. Steps to this methodology can include configuring test environments, writing test cases, analyzing test results, and submitting bug reports. Testing tasks are typically automated using tools. Automating tests is beneficial because it allows teams to quickly implement different test cases, test frequently, and get feedback on what did/didn’t work.

Some best practices include:

• Continuous testing – Testing builds as soon as they are ready. This relies heavily on automated testing, allowing software to be validated earlier in the development process. Testing often allows for bugs and errors to be found earlier; therefore, reducing the amount of time spent having to go back and redesigning.
• Configuration Management – Organizations keep test assets (code, test scripts, requirements, etc) in a central location and track what builds need to be tested. These assets allows teams to follow the organization’s testing requirements.
• Bug Tracking – Keeping track of defects is important

Why Test Software?

Testing software regularly can help teams reduce costs and time spent on developing the software. Before releasing a project, testing the software for any errors or bugs is important to give users the best possible experience. If users find that the software does not work as intended, they may stop using it and find an alternative that does work. Although testing has a cost, the cost of releasing defective software outweighs that of continuous testing.

Reflection

The resource used was chosen because it clearly breaks down the different parts to software testing such as the different types of testing, best practices, and why testing is important. Prior to reading this article, I had heard of a few types of testing like Unit Testing, but only became aware of the other types of testing such as Regression Testing. I now understand when designing software, code should be tested regularly and often as overall it will save time and headache.

Resources:

https://www.ibm.com/topics/software-testing#:~:text=Software%20testing%20is%20the%20process,Test%20management%20plan

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.