This week I decided to dive more into APIs in general, not just RESTFUL APIs. So let us start at the beginning. API stands for Application Programming Interface, and it is an interface with a set(s) of functions. These functions allow programmers to use specific features or data of an application. A web API is an API that is accessed over the web, like through the HTTP protocol. The web API is a framework that assists in creating and developing HTTP based services.

An API usually works as follows, the client application initiates an API call, usually to retrieve information. This call is also known as a request. This request is then processed from the application to a web server using the API’s Uniform Resource Identifier, and usually has a request verb, like GET or POST, for example, headers, and a request body. After receiving a valid request from the application, the API makes a call to the web server. The server then responds to the API with the requested information, and the API then transfers the data to the initial requesting application.

APIs are often used for many reasons. This includes, but is not limited to, improving collaboration, offering easier innovation, data monetization (as money makes the world go round), and added security. APIs enable integration such that platforms and other applications can easily communicate with each other, allowing easier automation, therefore improving collaboration. They also offer flexibility, allowing connections to new businesses and reaching new markets, offering easier innovation. APIs are also often offered for free, usually initially, to allow the developers audience to grow so they can build relationships with their audience of developers around their brand for the future, securing future business partners, thus offering data monetization. Lastly, APIs create an added layer of security between your data and a server. Developers can also choose to add further security measures like tokens, signatures, and Transport Layer Security encryption, just to name a few.

There are also many types of APIs, some of which include, but are not limited to, SOAP, or Simple Object Access Protocol, XML-RPC, which is a protocol that relies on XML to transfer data, JSON-RPC, which uses JSON instead of XML for its work, and REST, which we have covered in prior weeks blog posts.

Source:

IBM

I decided to use the above source for this weeks blog post because they provided a ton of good information about APIs in general, and IBM is also a very well known company and therefore also a good reputable information source.

From the blog CS@Worcester – Erockwood Blog by erockwood and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

This week will be continued talk on APIs and specifically I wanted to learn more about the structure of our API’s including on the differences between frontend and backend and any extra information on API’s that can be included. I have chosen a website that goes over what exactly these are and gives a good amount of information that could be useful later down in our careers.

In summary, frontend and backend are two very popular terms in web development. The term frontend is usually used for the part of the website that the user directly interacts with like the GUI’s. This is also called the “client side” of the application and use languages that should sound familiar to you such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript with JavaScript being the most popular language of them all. This is because of several advantages such as flexibility, speed, and extended functionality although it does have some disadvantages in areas such as with debugging. Now if the frontend is what the user interacts with, the the backend should be everything that is kept out of sight from the user such as work with the databases, the scripting, and the API itself while making sure it can connect to the frontend. The languages used include python, PHP, and java all being widely used. The work on the frontend and backend has also become quite specialized over the years in which it is usual for one person to either work with just the frontend or just the backend and people who work on both are called full stack developers.

This resource has given me insight on the work we are doing with the API’s and with the work we are doing on the backend. The work that we are doing with the databases and the API’s is an entirely different area from the frontend that we haven’t even touched yet. The areas that have to be learned are numerous that require different sets of skills and talents to work in. It makes me wonder on whether we will get to work with the frontend in this class or in a future class. The I should prepare myself a bit more if one would want to become a full stack web developer seeing the needed skills in both ends. Although I haven’t done much work on any frontend material so I would have to wait to see on what the experience is like when working on the frontend on deciding if I should focus on one or another in the future.

Source:https://www.interviewbit.com/blog/difference-between-frontend-and-backend/

From the blog CS@Worcester – kbcoding by kennybui986 and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

This week I read a blog post that I thought really related to the class about agile software development. The blog is about the phases of the agile software development lifecycle. The blog starts off explaining Agile and why it is used. It is being used because of its flexible, iterative, and incremental character. The blog then goes into the phases, and some agile techniques and tools. The phases are requirements, design, development and coding, integration and testing, implementation and deployment, and finally review. Some of the tools and techniques are spiral SDLC, and waterfall SDLC. The blog then goes into the pros and cons of agile software development. A pro is that there are flexible working hours around the clock, and a con is that all communication takes place on the internet, so it might be harder to connect with fellow developers. The blog ends by summarizing the cycle of agile software development, and describing it as aiming to build and deliver flawless working software on a tight schedule.

I selected this blog post because software development is my dream job, and I thought it would be interesting to read about a possible way I might be working using the agile method. This blog has a great way of showing how agile software development works, and how useful it could be, and I think every CS major should read it since we have to take another class similar to the things in this blog with software process management.

 I think this blog was a great read that I recommend for many reasons. One reason I would recommend this blog is because of how deep it goes into explaining the cycles of agile software development . The blog gives a description for every phase, and explains what to do at every phase, what others are going to do while you are on that phase, and what tools to use when you are on the phase. Another reason I would recommend this blog is because a lot of jobs that we will be looking for in the future will be using the agile method, and if we are not good at using it, then we are at a disadvantage to be hired. The last reason I would recommend this blog is because it is focused on teamwork, and teamwork is important for every job, and not just computer science related jobs. Agile could be used anywhere. 

This blog taught me about all the phases, and that if they are all done correctly by a team of developers, they could really work productively as a cohesive unit. The material affected me heavily because it showed me what skills to learn, and what to expect if I want my future dream of software development to come true as many jobs might be using the agile method, so I must be prepared. Now that I know about the agile software development method, I will try to look for more different methods.

link: https://relevant.software/blog/agile-software-development-lifecycle-phases-explained/#Output

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

The Unified Modeling Language (UML) is a standard for diagramming the design of a computer program. UML class diagrams illustrate the classes and relationships of an object-oriented program. The five fundamental class relationships are dependency, aggregation, composition, inheritance, and realization. When my professor introduced UML, he provided instruction on inheritance and realization. Because an understanding of the five relationships is essential to reading and building UML class diagrams, the goal of this post is to familiarize myself with dependency, aggregation, and composition as well as their applications. To achieve the goal, I will be reflecting and adding to the blog, “Association vs. Dependency vs. Aggregation vs. Composition,” written by Niraj Bhatt, an enterprise architect at Advent eModal. In the post, Bhatt defines and applies the relationships.

Dependency is a relationship between two classes where one class uses the object of another class as a parameter of a method. One can represent it by drawing a dotted arrow from the user class to the class being used. Bhatt exemplifies the relationship in a program that simulates a turn-based game. The program acquires a Player class with a TakeTurn method that expects a Die object. Bhatt’s example is effective because, in many turn-based games, a player uses a die during his or her turn.

Aggregation is a relationship between two classes where one class owns the object of another class as an attribute. If an instance of the owner class ceases to exist, the object of the other class would still exist. One can represent it by drawing a line with a hollow diamond from the owner class to the class being owned. Because Bhatt exemplifies the relationship in an unfamiliar type of game, I will be providing another example. Another application of the relationship is in a course management system where the Course class owns Student objects. The application is effective because students will exist when courses do not.

Composition is a relationship between two classes where one class needs to have an object of another class as an attribute. If an instance of the former ceases to exist, the object of the latter class would cease to exist too. One can represent it by drawing a line with a filled diamond from the owner class to the class being owned. Because Bhatt exemplifies the relationship in an unfamiliar type of game, I will be providing another example. An application of the relationship is in an online shopping system where the Customer class has Order objects. The application is effective because orders would not exist without customers.

If I continue to pursue a career as a software engineer, my newfound understanding of class relationships will help me carry out my responsibilities. Many companies use UML to illustrate their software systems. I may need to apply the relationships to blueprint software or understand them in existing software to implement new features.

From the blog CS@WORCESTER – Andy Truong's Blog by atruong1 and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

When writing code, it is always important to write as cleanly and efficiently as possible. Code can be sometimes confusing and hard to read to begin with, and writing poor code makes it much harder. We measure the quality of code using design smells. Design smells are different metrics such as rigidity and fragility which measure how poor a certain part of design is.

Yonatan Fedaeli writes in his article “Software Design Smells” that there are seven main design smells: rigidity, fragility, immobility, viscosity, needless complexity, needless repetition, and opacity. These smells exist in all code to a certain extent, but some code has much less smells than others. The goal is to limit each of these smells as much as possible.

Rigidity is software’s inability to change. This makes it very difficult to add new features to a project. An easy way to fix this design smells is by designing each section of software independently of each other since the more interdependence a project has the more rigid it will be.

Fragility is a software’s tendency to break whenever a change is made. This is similar to rigidity, but different in that it is not difficult to make the change but difficult to make the change work. Any small change can totally break the entire project in a very fragile design.

Immobility is a project’s inability to reuse components. When a project is immobile, each piece of the project is so dependent on the rest that is almost impossible to use it in a different context. When writing a large project it is important to reuse code so that you are not wasting time writing the same thing multiple times.

Viscosity is how closely a project follows the original design goal. When a project is very viscous each new feature either preserves a complex design or does not follow the design goal. When a project’s environment is viscous it means that the project exists in a complex work environment. It may be difficult to build or test and you may spend extra time trying to get the project to run.

Needless complexity is when a project is more complex than it needs to be. Software is already complex to begin with, and it is important to write clear code so that people reading it do not need to spend extra time trying to figure out what it does.

Needless repetition is when code is repeated multiple times when it could be abstracted. This is similar to immobility in that code is not reused, but different since this smell focuses on abstraction and how code does not need to be rewritten many times.

Opacity is a project’s inability to be understood by the developer. This is similar to needless complexity in that an opaque project can be needlessly complex, but includes much more than that. Usually an opaque project has a poor initial design which is why it is difficult to understand.

When writing code it is important to write clean, efficient code. Keeping design smells in mind when coding will keep your projects clean and good quality.

From the blog CS@Worcester – Ryan Blog by rtrembley and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

This is the Keynote speaker for day two of Raleigh ISSA’s 2021 Information Security Conference. In my previous post about the Keynote of Day 1 Keynote Speaker I detailed my attachment to the Association and my appreciation for the monthly resource of meetings that I used to attend when I lived in Raleigh. The presentation for Day 2 is a little different in that it’s not themed around Halloween or any comedic points.

The speaker, Armando Seay, is a Co-Founder & Board Member at Maryland Innovation and Security Institute which is an organization that assists clients in finding security solutions and applying them to their IT infrastructure. He begins the presentation discussing the importance of understanding security standards and practices around the world and how young professionals in the IT field get their starts in the US, Ukraine, Israel, and other various countries. He describes his organization as “geographically boundless” due to the fact that they assist clients all over the world.

The importance of being able to work with people around the world is something that I’m finding to be more and more important as I travel around the US from one cultural hub to another. I grew up in Columbia, South Carolina and then I joined the Coast Guard after High School and now I’ve moved to Worcester. Each of these places are full of different demographics and being successful in each of them required working with different people from different backgrounds and finding common ground to build upon. I have friends that were born in Haiti, China, West Africa, Europe, Canada, and they all come from backgrounds that are exceptionally different from my own. Engaging with people from different backgrounds allows one to broaden their perspective and find solutions that they wouldn’t normally find on their own.

Armando goes on to talk about the Academic Partners and what they call their “Partner Ecosystem,” I believe that POGIL team structures kind of works as a microcosm of these in that when groups are switched around we form partnerships that we can maintain and use to better understand our assignments and accomplish goals.

One thing that I found particularly interesting was his discussion about Maritime Attacks, that is to say attacks on the software that ships use to either catalogue their cargo, their navigation, or even their movement. It’s important to be aware of software vulnerabilities and best practices so that we aren’t exposing others to cybersecurity vulnerabilities due to our negligence. Armando closes his presentation discussing Zero-Trust policies and how critical it is to verify any process or user in your network and everything you do before you entrust any security clearance to them.

From the blog CS@Worcester – Jeremy Studley's CS Blog by jstudley95 and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

This week, I have a chance to work with JavaScript files of a backend in my homework-5. However, there were many syntax that I had never seen, so I got no sense when I was writing code. Thus, I looked for some resources to satisfy my curiosity and to get a better understanding of JavaScript.

JavaScript Tutorial is one of the resources that I find useful because it provides all the information related to JavaScript. First of all, from the website, I know that JavaScript is one of the most popular programming language of the web. It is used to program the behavior of a web page. Next, according to the website, I can look up and learn more about new syntax or new definitions of JavaScript respecting to my homework 5. For example, the keywords “let” and “const”, Array Iteration, Async/Await appearing in my homework make me question that what they are for and why they are there in the .js files.

However, based on the information from the website I can answer those questions. It said that “let” is used to defined a variable, whereas “const” is used to define a constant variable which cannot be reassigned. Every “let” and “const” variables cannot be redeclared and have block scope. For the Array Iteration, JavaScript has many methods to operate on every item of an array, such as map(), filter(), reduce(), every(), especially forEach() which I have met in my homework. forEach() is used to apply a condition or a function inside the parenthesis to each element of an array. For Async/Await, it said that “async” is used to make a function return a promise, and “await” keyword is only used inside the “async” function. “await” will make a function wait for a promise. So, what is a promise in JavaScript? Promise is a JavaScript object that links producing code and consuming code. The below picture is an example given by the website to explain clearly what producing code and consuming code are.

In conclusion, in my opinion, this website is one of a good resources to help me learn more about JavaScript. It includes all the information that I wanted to know and it also explains clearly every new definition with easily understandable examples. Thanks to this website, I am getting more familiar with JavaScript and get a better understanding of the code given in my homework-5. So, I believe that this website will give me a good foundation to work with my homework-5 or with any .js files.

From the blog CS@Worcester – T's CSblog by tyahhhh and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.