It may be surprising to hear that despite pursuing a degree in computer science, I am not familiar with what software engineering is. My understanding of it is that one develops software is at least a part of the process. My closest experience is game development from my first computer science course and our final project was a group project that required a lot of collaboration. I am hoping that we delve into more complicated projects and perhaps even learn how to work with git since it appears to be the industry standard for programmers in any field.
Because my current focus lies in data science, I began to learn Python this summer. I also tried to dabble in skills such as automation, web-scraping, and working with pandas. I was surprised to learn that even if I had no intention of trying web development, I needed to at least learn how to read HTML to scrape a site. To start a personal project working with data, web-scraping for data is a great start but I had to take a break for a few days to study HTML and a little Javascript. The more I learned, the more I realized that a solid programmer does not just have a small focused set of skills but rather a more dynamic mindset that accumulates tools to work with.
I am hoping that by committing to this software engineering course, I can develop a complement of hard and soft skills necessary for any computer science career. I was excited to learn that we would be implementing a language other than Java since it creates an opportunity to practice a new language in a practical setting. Although I currently do not know much regarding web development, I have come to learn that Javascript is a very powerful language with far-reaching applications and I am confident that it can only be an asset. Besides, who wouldn’t want to learn the skills to become a full-stack developer?