Prototype Structure - Overview
Thomas J. Kennedy
This document is a work in progress. It will be updated based on recitation discussions over the next couple weeks.
1 Seed Questions
Every Prototype and CS 411W Project is different. This precludes a cookie cutter set of instructions. You (and your team as a whole) need to keep two things in mind:
- This is your project. You get to decide (with a fair amount of latitude) what tools to use.
- Take ownership of this project. If you find a new tool show it to your team, write up a set of instructions, and share it with other teams.
As we start setting up Virtual Machines (VMs), Docker, and Git Repos, we need to discuss:
- What goes on your VM?
- Does your team need multiple VMs?
- Why Docker?
- What is Docker Compose?
- Ubuntu Server vs Windows?
- One Git Repo? Or Multiple Git Repos?
Depending on the nature of your team’s project, we may need to consider:
- Web App, or Android App, or both?
- Does your team need to use REST API?
2 Web App or Smartphone Application
In CS 410 many teams design a software system with both a smartphone application and a web application. For the prototype… one almost always gets eliminated.
Teams are usually directed to focus on a web application, for two reasons:
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Less time is needed to learn the ropes (i.e., set up the tools and learn the platform/APIs).
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Web applications can be built mobile-first (i.e., designed to run on smartphones).
Modern web browsers (i.e., Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox) support a few lesser know features, including:
When combined with Bootstrap and jQuery a websites with functionality similar to a smartphone app can be built… in a browser.