CST 363 - Final Post

Final Thoughts

This course was my first foray into any sort of back-end development. Overall, I learned a lot more than I expected, since it was an entirely new and important component of software development. This was especially enlightening since, at the same time, I also started a new position that uses some of these concepts in our daily workflow. It made learning about the differences between OLAP and OLTP database systems much more engaging since, at the same time, I was also getting hands-on experience on how to properly manage and perform vital backups of those same systems.

Out of all the assignment from this course, the first project was my favorite. It was a good balance between making something practical that interacts with a database system while learning new concepts. I've had the least experience with python, MySQL, HTML/CSS and had to utilize all three at once to make the project work. And afterward, I felt like I gained a much better understanding of all three.

The SimpleDB assignments were the obvious roadblock and I'm still not quite sure why they were such a challenge compared to the other assignment. Once I have a break or get a little more practice with larger programs, it will be on my to-do list to go back and try to gain a better understanding of how that program should work.

All in all, the class was a new and engaging experience compared to any of the programming classes I've taken so far, even if there was a headache or two along the way.