It’s Sunday following the 13th week at Tech Elevator’s Spring 2017 coding bootcamp. This week we kicked off our final two-week capstone project and continued to search for jobs. I also put a lot of time into my passion project.
Our final capstone project requires groups of three to four students to create a full-stack web application. Last week students were given a list of project ideas and chose their top three favorite ones. I chose to work on an application which allows people visiting Columbus, Ohio to organize their agenda; the site is called “Tour Columbus.” I was particularly interested in this idea because I wanted to learn about the Google Maps APIs.
The capstone project is completed using the Agile Software Development methodology. Since software is so abstract, development projects are executed differently. Developers can create an entire feature before the structure of a project is complete. This would be like a construction worker putting the roof on a building before pouring the foundation. Projects also evolve as they are completed because the customer can’t be expected to know exactly how an application will work before making a few iterations. That’s where Agile comes in. Agile development accommodates unexpected circumstances and allows developers to collaborate faster than traditional methods.
Agile development is typically done in four-person teams which are kept on track by a ‘Scrum Master.’ Each morning the Scrum master holds a short ‘stand up’ meeting during which teammates address roadblocks and discuss what they’re working on. Projects are broken into time segments called ‘sprints,’ which are often two weeks long. Before each sprint, the team sets goals for what they want to complete. After each sprint, the team meets with a ‘product owner.’ The product owner is basically the team’s customer who gives them requirements, assesses their progress and requests changes throughout the process. The Agile philosophy focuses on adaptation, iteration and code versus documentation to develop applications as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Before Agile, development teams used Waterfall methodology. Waterfall uses traditional project management theories. Projects are broken into five stages; requirements gathering, design, implementation, verification and maintenance. Developers complete each stage before moving onto the next.
The problem with waterfall is that it doesn’t allow developers to complete entire features independently and there’s not enough interaction with the product owner. Waterfall requires unnecessary collaboration during each stage to ensure all of the pieces of a project are being connected correctly. Projects often take longer than expected because once a project is complete, the customer often expects something different, or wants a lot of changes.
For the capstone project, teams work in three-day sprints throughout the two-week project. The Scrum master and Product Owner roles are filled by Tech Elevator instructors Brian and John.
In addition to the Capstone project and job interviews, I’ve been putting a lot of time into my ‘passion project.’ I described the project in Week 9, but the idea has evolved since then. I’ve broadened its scope to encompass all United States citizens, not just Ohio residents.
The project is now a website that allows U.S. citizens to select a legislative issue, answer a few questions and receive a well-written letter, addressed to his or her congress representative, that reflects the survey answers. When the user is presented with the letter, they copy it, follow a link to their congress members’ contact page and paste it into the message field. The survey description and questions share pertinent information about the issue. With my website, people don’t need to do exhaustive research or learn how to format an email to their representative to make their voices heard. I’m hoping it will educate people on issues and break down barriers between Americans and their government.
The project is called WriteMyRepresentative.com. Click the link to check it out!
That’s it for this week. Thank you for reading! If you have any questions for me, please reach out! joeosterfeld@gmail.com