Software Engineering
Planing, Managing, and Programing Complex Systems
Pictured: The Agile design loop.
Pictured: The Agile design loop.
Modern programing projects typically involve large code bases where multiple subsystems interact to manage complex functions and large amounts of data. This makes it impossible for one programmer to work on it alone. Software engineering is the practice of planing, managing, and programing these systems, typically as part of a team. Software engineers utilize design patterns and write program APIs to enable cooperation between subsystems. They use development methodologies, such as Agile, to ensure their system meets requirements and is delivered on time all while working effectively with teammates. These development and systems skills are what differentiates a software engineer capable of contributing to projects in industry from someone who just knows how to program.
Agile is a software engineering methodology commonly used in industry. It revolves around small self-contained teams that work together to manage requirements, planing, and development. A key feature of Agile is that it mandates frequent iterations. An Agile team aims to always have a functional application that could be deployed. These features allow Agile teams to adapt to changing requirements and quickly react to setbacks. I learned how to operate as a member of an Agile team in my Software Engineering course. In this course I learned Unified Modeling Language (UML), software design patterns, git, and software management.
The Software Engineering course featured a large term project, completed by 10 person groups utilizing Agile Scrum, a specific type of Agile. We were tasked to develop a directory and request management system for Brigham and Women's Hospital in Worcester. To add to the challenge, all WPI courses went virtual due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Over the course of four iterations, our team wrote 21,120 lines of Java, managed testing and continuous integration, and wrote documentation. We presented several times including a final presentation to Brigham and Women's executives and staff. Additionally, we won best program of the second iteration.
While the program itself exceeds the download size limits of my hosting service, I am able to provide the user guide which can be downloaded from the link below.