Hello! I’m getting closer and closer to graduation. Just this semester and one more! As usual I hope to learn more to further my knowledge of computer science. Soon, I’ll be working at a company! Anyway, expect more posts as I further document my computer science journey.
From the blog My Journey through Comp Sci by Joanna Presume and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.
Hello, this is Benjamin. I want to explain what steps I took in order to try and learn over summer. I wrote down a list of 4 steps for me to do within the week. Step 1; read a couple of chapters a week about a subject from a textbook or notes like blogs. Step 2; then watch tutorials and practice coding fundamentals on multiple coding websites. Step 3; next I would solve getcracked.io problems and leetcode problems. Step 4 is to make projects for my portfolio. Over the summer I could not do any coding projects due to taking 3 classes so I just did more coding problems on getcracked.
The reason I am trying to learn coding in this learning method is because it is better to understand why people choose a certain coding method instead of another option. I want to be helpful within a company and still be able to learn independently. So that I can have as many opportunities available. Moving on, I would watch podcasts that would have developers or professors about certain topics so that they can help explain certain concepts better.
I understand that in this field a lot of changes are happening. Which allows more opportunity for so many people and industries. Regardless of what some people say about the current state of computer science, I will still try to learn new concepts and how to implement them. I want to use this year to enjoy a few concepts and coding projects that I am passionate about so that I can enjoy this process.
From the blog CS@Worcester – Site Title by Ben Santos and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.
Hello, this is Benjamin Santos Patrocinio with this blog I want to reflect upon what I did over this summer vacation. First let me explain what I did over the summer primarily, I took 3 summer classes to finish my general electives in school. During classes over summer I looked at other blogs and podcasts to learn about new topics in programming. For a couple of weeks I started to learn more about algorithm analysis, memory. The reason why I wanted to learn more about these topics is because I want to improve as a programmer.
With programming even though knowledge is available from blogs, textbooks, videos and courses it is a field where programmers have to continuously learn. Being able to learn about new topics and even be able to use the skills are really important. Furthermore, I want to use this time to make a portfolio that can help standout and use all the skills I have learned. What I did first is find textbooks and documents I want to learn from. In order to build a plan to learn on my off time. In order to not be burned out, I would read textbooks and watch videos on youtube to learn more about certain topics. Also a few times a week I would try to solve a few getcracked.io questions (just an alternative leetcode platform). So that I can get better at interview questions and find out which topics I did not really know.
From the blog CS@Worcester – Site Title by Ben Santos and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.
Hello Everyone!!
I came into computer science as a beginner, and honestly, I still feel like one. I’ve made it this far, but I don’t consider myself fluent in any programming language. Coding is not my strong suit, and truthfully, my first pull toward computer science was about learning and understanding the hardware.
I’ve come very far and software is obviously the largest component of computer science so i have to learn and clear my confusions. That’s what this blog is for: a place to track my progress as I learn more about software process management.
I don’t have it all figured out yet, but I’m here to keep learning If you feel lost you’re welcome to follow along with me in my new arc of learning software process management.
From the blog CS@Worcester – A Beginner's Journey Through Computer Science by Christiana Serwaah and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.
Hello everyone, my name is Rick Djouwe, and this semester I am also taking Software Process Management. While some of my other computer science courses focus on the technical side of software development, like design, coding, and architecture, this class emphasizes the processes, management strategies, and professional practices that ensure software projects succeed.
Software Process Management is designed to explore the methods and tools used to manage software projects from start to finish. Topics include:
In short, this course highlights the practices that make the difference between a project that simply “works” and one that is well-managed, scalable, and sustainable.
By the end of this course, I will be able to:
These skills go hand-in-hand with the Computer Science program outcomes, such as analyzing problems, applying ethical reasoning, and demonstrating leadership and effective teamwork.
As I prepare for a career as a software engineer, this course will strengthen my ability not only to contribute technically, but also to lead and manage software projects effectively. Understanding process management is critical in real-world environments, where collaboration, deadlines, and accountability are just as important as writing clean code.
I also see a strong connection to my current role at The Hanover Insurance Group, where teamwork, version control, documentation, and project management practices are essential to delivering quality solutions. What I learn in this class will help me bring even more value to my work, both now and in the future.
I look forward to exploring how different methodologies shape the software development lifecycle, and how project management skills complement technical expertise. My goal is to come out of this course not only as a better developer, but also as someone prepared to guide teams, manage projects, and ensure successful outcomes.
I’m also excited to meet everyone in this class and learn from each other’s perspectives and experiences as we grow together throughout the semester.
From the blog Rick’s Software Journal by RickDjouwe1 and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.
Hello everyone, my name is Rick Djouwe, and this semester I am beginning CS 343: Software Construction, Design & Architecture. I am truly excited for this class because it represents the next step in strengthening my ability to think beyond coding and focus on building well-structured, scalable, and maintainable software systems.
CS 343 covers a wide range of essential topics in modern software development, including:
In short, this course is not just about writing code, it’s about learning to think like a software engineer who can approach problems critically, design solutions thoughtfully, and work effectively with others.
Through CS 343, I will gain valuable experience in:
These outcomes connect directly to the broader goals of my Computer Science major: analyzing problems, building solutions, and developing the professional skills needed to succeed in the field.
As someone pursuing a career as a software engineer specializing in artificial intelligence, this course will help me strengthen the foundations of software design and architecture that are critical in building intelligent, scalable systems. Beyond my academic goals, I also see a strong connection to my current role as an Automation Developer at The Hanover Insurance Group, where I contribute to projects that rely on thoughtful design, testing, and collaboration. The principles and practices I learn here will make me more effective in my work today while preparing me for even greater responsibilities in the future.
I am eager to reflect on my progress throughout the semester, connect this material with experiences across my other courses, and apply these lessons directly to both my professional role and long-term career.
For me, CS 343 is more than a class, it’s a bridge between where I am now and the kind of innovative, responsible, and skilled software engineer I strive to become. I am also excited to meet everyone in this course and learn from each other as we move forward together. Feel free to reach out if you’d like to connect, collaborate, or study together this semester!
From the blog Rick’s Software Journal by RickDjouwe1 and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.
After 12 years in the veterinary medicine field as a nurse, I am actively focused on a career shift into computer science, specifically in software engineering.
This blog is where I will document my technological discoveries, achievements, setbacks, and anything else that contributes to conquering my career goals.
From the blog cs-wsu – Anna The Dev by Adrianna Frazier and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.
Assigned Gitlab Issues
Continued and finished the development of the launch page for Thea’s Pantry
Reflection
During this sprint I wish I was better about just starting my work. Often I kept delaying it because I was worried about problems down the line that haven’t even occurred yet. Another thing i should’ve done was just ask for help regarding the page when i wasn’t sure on what to do. If I had just asked then I would have saved myself a lot of headaches. This could also apply to asking for help regarding keycloak. Because at many points I was confused about how the tokens worked, or what roles I had to account for. It took me a while to realize that keycloak would handle the login for me so I didn’t need to implement that myself. Which would have saved me some time. One thing I think I did well was learning the vue framework and transferring my work to the vue framework. And kinda just the overall structure of vue and what i needed to do.
During this period i missed quite a few classes so i can’t speak as well as we did in our classes. One thing I can say is that at some point we kind of broke off into two groups. And each of our groups was tackling a different issue together. I’m thinking of the time that me and Andrew teamed up to find the port mapping while Cameron and Ben worked on another issue. This kind of goes into something I talked about before. But I think I could’ve done a better job of communicating to the team that I was stuck and or times where I couldn’t come in due to other issues. I also didn’t share my work very often with the team to get their input.
The pattern I tried to employ this time around was the Craft Over Art pattern. This pattern is about having the chance to build something impressive. While you have this great opportunity, its important not to get ahead of yourself. Remember to keep the function in mind and make sure the software can function properly before adding the flare. I think this was an important pattern for me to keep in mind because at many points I was full of ideas of what I could do. But by doing this I overwhelmed myself because I had no idea of how to complement. So at a certain point I decided on making sure that the launch page can first fulfill its function, before getting into the more aesthetic stuff. Especially near the end of the sprint I became more focused on getting the page and token stuff to work first. In the end I didn’t have as much as I wanted to improve the look of the page. But I did have something functional in the end which is better than something that looks nice but is broken.
From the blog CS@Worcester – Code Craft by Kyle Tucker and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.
Assigned Gitlab Issues
Worked on starting development of the launch page for Thea’s Pantry.
Reflection
What I think worked well for me during the sprint was just research into what a launch page is and what its purpose is. Like I had heard of the name before, but wasn’t really sure how to apply to theas pantry. I think the hardest part of building was figuring out where to start and what I needed. In the beginning I was just building with an html file with help from bootstrap. I also wasn’t too familiar with building an app from the ground up. Like I had built simple web pages before, but they were bare bones and meant for learning purposes. I had built something like a page and brought it to class. I think after you gave some more direction I had a better idea of what to do. One thing I think could improve was just experimenting more. Like I kinda just stuck to my first design and moved from there. The design is simple which is fine. But I think I could have made it better. Or just experimenting with different ways to spice up the feel of the page.
One thing I think we did well as a team was just working together to troubleshoot issues. Of course at this point we all have our own separate work we could do. But we used the work classes as time to put all our heads together and tackle the same problem. I mean it didn’t always work, but I always thought we at least came away with something new or at least some direction. One thing I think we could do better is just updating each other more often on work or if we are stuck on something. Though it’s kinda hard to do so when none of us really know too much about what we’re working on.
I think the design pattern I tried to use during this sprint was Confront Your Ignorance. To summarize this pattern is saying instead of being afraid that you don’t know something that others seem to know. Just try to learn actively instead of being afraid that you don’t know it. I tried to employ this pattern because although I have messed with frontend before. It was not to this degree of involvement. And felt I was sort of the one in the dark. So instead of being afraid I tried my best to learn more about designing app. Tried to learn what everything means and some cool things that I could to improve the appeal of the app. Near the end of the sprint I realized that I needed to learn more about keycloak and how to incorporate that. I won’t lie, it was definitely overwhelming at first. But near the end I started to be better about taking the time to learn what I needed to learn.
From the blog CS@Worcester – Code Craft by Kyle Tucker and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.
https://gitlab.com/LibreFoodPantry/client-solutions/theas-pantry/inventorysystem-culling/inventorybackend/-/commit/96464eb852632dc728f438b7f4c0165831091a80 – Changed the modal pop-up to better match our visual identity guidelines.
https://gitlab.com/LibreFoodPantry/client-solutions/theas-pantry/inventorysystem-culling/inventorybackend/-/commit/93a04bbdc54647d56d91fe797d7b3fea86c42236 – Changed the inventory table layout to accommodate for smaller screen sizes by adding a slider to view the entire length of the table.
https://gitlab.com/LibreFoodPantry/client-solutions/theas-pantry/inventorysystem-culling/inventorybackend/-/commit/d81fe66a0adf27aff2dd29f7ba3713be9b9aa09d – Added buttons to navigate between the scanner and inventory pages to not make it necessary to go to the home page first.
This was our last sprint, and I think that during this sprint a lot of my previous qualms were addressed and fixed. One thing I had said before was that I thought our communication was lacking in certain areas and that since we were working in pairs, the rest of the group was mostly in the dark about what we were working on, but I felt an increase in transparency this sprint. It felt like more of a team effort which I think was in big part because we were finally finishing up working for the semester so everything that we were working on individually was coming together. Working on the final presentation also helped with this as we felt everyone needed to be on the same page to be able to deliver a presentation that showed off our project well.
This leads to what I don’t think went as well, which was that it didn’t feel like as much progress was being made toward the project this sprint, at least in comparison to previous sprints. This was probably due to our presentation preparation, as well as a focus on cleaning up already implemented features rather than starting new ones. We knew since this was our last sprint that it was the time to wrap up what we were working on, which is probably why it felt like not much was getting done, but in reality I think what we actually did was just as important.
I can’t think of any major improvements to make to the team to get it to function better, as we worked just as well as I think we could have. It was a pleasure working with this team and I think that these reflections in past sprints helped us come to a point where those points of improvement were answered and made us become an efficient team. As an individual though, I do think that I could have done more, which again circles back to the point of not feeling like too much was done. Looking back at what we’ve done though, I am happy with our progress, seeing as we started the semester with a blank slate and now we have a functioning scanner/database app. It’s just a personal feeling that more could have been done, but I think it’s true that there is always room for improvement. And I also think it’s good for me to have that mindset, but for this project specifically I’m not disappointed with my performance.
The apprenticeship pattern that stuck out to me for this sprint was the “walking the long road” pattern. It’s an important one that comes with mastering a discipline, the mindset that you are never really done learning, that there is always more knowledge to be had, always more challenges to overcome. This being our last sprint makes this pattern important, because we just spent months working on a project, emulating a real scrum team, but it doesn’t mean we are anywhere near mastery. Just because the semester is over and we completed this chapter doesn’t mean we are done, in fact I’d say we are at the very beginning of our journey still.
From the blog CS@Worcester – The Science of Computation by Adam Jacher and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.