CS Online Learning Journal

  What project milestones did you accomplish this week?  This week, I worked on improving the layout and visual presentation of our TiddlyWiki site. The default layout provided by TiddlyWiki is very basic, so I explored different approaches to customize it. I tested a new layout plugin, integrated it into the project, and experimented with styling options to enhance readability and overall user experience. I also helped troubleshoot the publishing pipeline when the API became stuck, and through that process I identified duplicated variables in the Docker Compose file that were breaking the build. What is your plan for next week?  Next week, I plan to begin working on the testing component of the project. My goal is to implement unit tests and, if possible, incorporate full system tests as well. Even if we can only include a subset of system tests, I want to ensure that we establish a solid foundation for testing and reliability before the final stages of the project. What...

  What project milestones did you accomplish this week? If you're working in a team, please list what you personally contributed, not the project status overall.  This week, I worked on the website layout for the TiddlyWiki project. I also integrated a plugin that streamlined part of the setup process and made it easier for the team to customize and maintain the layout. What is your plan for next week?  Next week, I plan to do some minor touch-ups on the website and then move on to testing. This will include unit testing, full system tests, and making sure everything functions smoothly across different components. What challenges, if any, are you currently facing in project development? Do you need instructor assistance?  My main challenge has been hardware limitations. My computer doesn’t have enough RAM to run local LLMs, which makes it hard to test the entire pipeline on my end. Because of that, I’ve been relying on my teammates for some of the heavier testing. I ...

  What project milestones did you accomplish this week? This week, I worked on developing the publisher feature for our project, TiddlyWiki . This feature integrates outputs from the entire pipeline — including the crawler, extractor, and summarizer — and publishes the processed information to a public webpage. I also implemented several enhancements to the webpage itself, such as a search bar that allows users to enter keywords and view related summaries dynamically. What is your plan for next week? Next week, I plan to continue improving the publisher feature. My focus will be on enhancing the UI/UX design , performing end-to-end testing of the entire pipeline, and identifying and fixing any bugs. Additionally, I will begin working on the literature review assigned by our mentor, which I volunteered to lead. What challenges, if any, are you currently facing in project development? Do you need instructor assistance? The main challenges we’re facing are technical and hardwar...

  List the 5 most important things that you learned in the course, and why you chose them. The five most important things I learned in this course are JUnit testing, full system testing (covering both backend and frontend), how to use Postman, working with Vite, and using the H2 database. Before this class, my experience with web development was pretty limited, and honestly, I think many of my classmates came in with more knowledge than I had. That made the course challenging for me, but in a good way, it pushed me to learn quickly and adapt. Each of these tools and skills feels practical and relevant for real-world development, especially JUnit and system testing, which taught me how important it is to verify that everything works together as intended. Postman made it much easier to understand and test APIs, while Vite showed me a faster and more efficient way to work on frontend projects. The H2 database was also helpful because it gave me a lightweight way to handle data during ...

  Describe some of the differences between using an Agile process and using a  Plan and Document (or Waterfall) process.      One big difference between agile and plan and document or also known as waterfall process is how flexible they are. With agile, the team works in short cycles and gets feedback quickly, so it is easier to make changes along the way. This is really helpful when the project is still evolving or when the client’s needs are not really clear from the start. On the other hand, the waterfall approach is more structured, you plan everything upfront and follow each step in order. That can work well for projects where the requirements are stable and unlikely to change, but it can also be frustrating if something needs to be changed later, because you'd have to go back and redo earlier steps. Agile feels more collaborative and adaptable, while waterfall is more rigid and focused on sticking to the original plan.

  This week I learned more about how companies like Google run their systems using things like containers, virtual machines, and serverless computing. One thing that grabbed my attention was how batch jobs are managed. I did not realize how important it is to break up jobs into small chunks and use things like checkpointing to keep things running smoothly, even if something goes wrong. I also learned what hybrid cloud means and how companies mix their own servers with public cloud infrastructure to save money and stay flexible. Some of the quiz questions were tricky at first, but going over the reading helped everything make more sense.