CST 438

  Week 8 Learning Journal Understanding Core Concepts Instead of Memorization One of the most important things I learned in this course is the value of truly understanding concepts rather than just memorizing information. At the beginning, I relied more on memorization, but I found that I would forget things quickly or get stuck when problems were slightly different. As I started focusing on understanding the reasoning behind concepts, I became more confident and flexible in applying what I learned. I chose this because it completely changed how I approach studying and made learning more meaningful. Problem-Solving Strategies I learned how to break down complex problems into smaller, manageable steps instead of trying to solve everything at once. This included identifying what the problem is asking, organizing information, and solving step by step. This approach reduced mistakes and made difficult tasks feel more achievable. I chose this because it improved both my accuracy ...

 Agile and Plan-and-Document (Waterfall) processes differ mainly in how they handle planning, flexibility, and development flow. In a Waterfall approach, the project is planned in detail upfront, with clearly defined phases such as requirements, design, implementation, testing, and deployment. Each phase must be completed before moving to the next. This makes it structured and predictable, but also rigid—changes are difficult to incorporate once the project is underway. In contrast, Agile is iterative and flexible. Work is divided into small increments (sprints), and requirements can evolve throughout the project. Teams continuously develop, test, and get feedback, allowing them to adapt quickly to changes or new insights. Agile emphasizes collaboration, customer feedback, and working software over extensive documentation. Another key difference is communication and feedback. Agile involves frequent interaction with stakeholders and regular reassessment of priorities, while Wate...

  Week 6 Learning Journal – Iteration 3 System Testing This week focused on system testing and how it fits into the overall software development lifecycle. One of the most important things I learned is the difference between unit testing and system testing. While unit testing verifies individual components in isolation, system testing ensures that the entire application works correctly as a whole, including interactions between the frontend, backend, and any external services. I also learned how to design and execute system test cases that simulate real user behavior. This includes testing complete workflows such as creating, updating, and retrieving data through the application. Using tools like Postman and automated testing frameworks helped reinforce how APIs and the frontend integrate during testing. Another key takeaway was the importance of identifying edge cases and handling unexpected inputs. System testing is not just about verifying expected outcomes, but also ensuring th...

 This week I learned how to build and enhance a React frontend as part of the second iteration of a full-stack project. I gained a deeper understanding of how React components work, including how to structure them effectively, reuse components, and manage state to create a more dynamic and responsive user interface. I also practiced handling user input, updating the UI based on changes, and improving the overall user experience. In addition, I learned how the frontend communicates with a REST backend by making API calls, retrieving data, and displaying it in a meaningful way. This helped me better understand how different parts of a full-stack application interact with each other. I also became more comfortable debugging issues that arise between the frontend and backend. Overall, this week reinforced my understanding of React development and showed me how iterative development works in practice. Each iteration builds on the previous one, allowing me to gradually improve both funct...