Course Introduction

• This is an exciting course where you get to apply all skills you have learned throughout the Applied Computer Science program. Hands on is a large part of the course and you will be working on a semester long project.

Course Description

• CMPS 480 Senior Project
• In this course the student will demonstrate their mastery of material undertaken in coursework by selecting and creating a programming solution to a significant business application. The group will work together to construct their solution and present a working model of their problem to the class. This project is designed to give the student a hands-on demonstration of their coursework suitable for a portfolio of accomplishments. Prerequisites: All I.T. Core Classes. 3 credits.

Course Objectives

• Upon successful completion of this course, you should be able to:
  • Define business and user requirements for a software application
  • Develop and deploy a software application including a front end and back end component
  • Apply a business analytics approach as a component of the software application
  • Document the development process including security considerations
  • Collaborate in different roles as part of a team environment
  • Present results at various stages of development in a professional manner

Course Modules

• Module 0: Course Design
• Module 1: Defining the Prototype
• Module 2: User Interface
• Module 3: Database
• Module 4: Web Server
• Module 5: Business Analytics
• Module 6: Finding Customers
• Module 7: Refinements
• Module 8: Releasing the Prototype

Module 1

• Defining a Prototype
• Part A
  • Form groups
  • Business model canvas
• Part B
  • Requirements
  • Architecture
  • APIs
  • Security

Objectives

• Upon successful completion of this module, you should be able to:
  • …

Introductions

• Instructor introduction
• Please tell us about your major, background, interests, and what you hope to gain from this course
  • Online: See Discussion Board or post to Element
  • On-Ground: Go around the classroom

Course Design

• 8 modules in total: for both online and on-ground
• Each module is divided in Part A and B
  • Online is 8 weeks: Complete one module per week
  • On-ground is 15 weeks: Complete one module every two weeks
  • The final module is completed in the final week in both cases
• For more info see Module 0: Course Design

Syllabus

• See Canvas course shell for syllabus
• Make sure to read carefully
• Most important is to work through these slides every week
• Submit homework on time (start early!)

Using (AI) Tools

• Read the policies on how you are allowed to use AI tools
  • This is IMPORTANT
  • More to follow

Required Books and Materials

• There is no required textbook for this course
• Rely on publicly available resources and tools
• Utilize open educational resources
• Necessary materials are always linked from slides

Extra Credit

• Make sure you are engaged in class and with the content
• To be successful, reach out for help when needed
  • Do not wait until it is too late
  • It will only make things more difficult
• Therefore, extra credit is typically awarded for active participation

How to Ask Questions

• Related to reaching out for help, it is important to ask questions properly
• “it doesn’t work”
  • Too often instructors receive one liners from students without any context
  • More effort is expected than sending a text message
• Instructions on how to ask questions
  • This page contains some good pointers that should be followed

How to be Successful

• There are simple steps one can follow to be successful but that is typically not easy
  • Most students know what to do to be successful
  • But it is not (always) easy to execute on this
• Instructions on how to be successful
  • This was compiled from class discussions with students
• Key takeaway: form habits to be successful long term
  • Will be revisited

Build a Portfolio

• Start creating a portfolio for when eventually applying for a job
  • This can help make your resume look a lot better
• Instructions on how to build a portfolio
  • Some ideas are shared on this page

Best Way to Contact

• Preferred
  • Element chat (see next slide)
• Alternatively
  • Email
  • Canvas messaging

Using Matrix/Element

• Built on the Matrix protocol
  • Open standard and communication protocol
• Can use any client but Element is recommended
  • Follow the instructions to use Element
• You will be added to the Point Park University Space
  • Several rooms are available to join
• Benefits
  • Realtime interaction for asking questions (as opposed to email)
  • It is federated like email
  • Receive updates about the Applied Computer Science program
  • Learn about internship and co-op opportunities
  • Stay in touch even after you graduate

Additional Resources

• The Applied Computer Science website provides many resources
• Continuously updated with new information, tutorials, etc.
• For example
  • Tutorials (for more advanced classes)
  • Courses (including descriptions and objectives)
  • Etc.

Utilizing the Jump Box

• The purpose of the jump box is to be able to connect to your FreeBSD jail
• Unfortunately we are not allowed to connect to the jails directly anymore
• Follow the instructions to use the jump box
• Make sure access was provisioned (ask your instructor)
• You can use PuTTY to connect to your FreeBSD jail over SSH
• You can use FileZilla to upload files to your FreeBSD jail

Using Your FreeBSD Jail

• Make sure a jail was provisioned to you (ask your instructor if unsure)
• Use PuTTY to connect to your jail
• Save the settings to prevent reentering credentials every time
• Watch the second half of this video for the steps

Possible Missing Background

• Depending on your individual course sequence, you may lack some background that is useful in this course
• For example, normally one would take the Senior Project after Advanced Programming but there are some exceptions to this rule for this group
• Some of you have more experience, so you can help out the others. I will also help along the way but you have to take the initiative.
• Especially the back end (server side) may be tricky
  • Interact with the frontend(JSON)
  • Interact with the MySQL database (SQL)
  • More on this in a later module …

What Will You Work On?

• You will work on a semester long group project
• It is almost a startup setting
  • You have to write something functional quickly
  • There are few resources–time is limited
  • You may need to learn some new things on the way
  • You should try out your prototype on actual customers
  • Ideally, the idea should be commercially viable (make money)
  • A good example is the Pioneer Pantry website
• You should come up with your own project but it has to be approved by me

Create Groups/Teams

• You should split into groups of approximately 4 students
• Each team should pick a team leader
  • Responsible for communicating problems to me
• Each group should pick their own project
• There will be a competitive element
  • Who does a better job?
  • You can also learn from each other

Business Model Canvas

• Business plan in simplified and visual form
  • In my opinion a much better version of a business plan
• Read the complete Wikipedia page
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Model_Canvas
• Work through this tutorial
  • https://www.alexandercowan.com/business-model-canvas-templates/
• You should create an online business model canvas here
  • https://canvanizer.com/new/business-model-canvas
• You may not have all the information yet, in that case just use your best possible guess (you can fix it later)

Set Up Tools

• This includes
  • GitHub
  • Git
  • Matrix/Element
• Everything should go into GitHub
  • This includes code, but also all the documentation such as the business model canvas
  • Do this from day 1
• These tools were covered in Advanced Programming and other previous course work

Things to Cover

• Create teams
• Pick a team leader
• Pick a project
• Fill out business model canvas
• Set up GitHub, Git, and Matrix/Element
• Think from the perspective of the customer
  • What questions would you ask a potential customer?
  • Try to find out what the pain points are
  • I will play the customer throughout the course
• Next week
  • Refine business model canvas
  • Understand enough to build a first prototype
    • What are the requirements?
    • What features should be included? Etc.

Assignment

• See Canvas for details

UML

• This is also covered in CMPS 262
• Unified Modeling Language
• Should remember this term
  • Used often to specify program designs
• Consists of many types of diagrams but we will only use a few
• Study the following articles to get an impression:
  • https://www.smartdraw.com/uml-diagram/
  • http://creately.com/blog/diagrams/uml-diagram-types-examples/

Topics

• Requirements
• Architecture
• APIs
• Security

Requirements

• Create 3 (important) use cases (part of UML) for the user of the prototype
  • I.e., how the user would use with the system
  • Study https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Use_case
• A use case diagram shows the user and the use case
• Follow the structure under Examples on Wikipedia
• See next slide for an example

Use Case Example

• Use Case: Update the repository
• Primary Actor: Administrator
• Scope: The inventory system
• Level: User goal
• Brief: The user logs into the system and updates the repository with a newly arrived order of food
• Stakeholders: Administrator, Food Pantry management
• Postconditions: Database is updated
• Preconditions: Administrator has account
• Triggers: Food order arrives
• Basic flow: 1. Log in 2. Enter a new line for each food 3. Press the process button 4. The database is updated
• Extensions: …

Architecture

• See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_architecture
• High level overview of the system
• What are the components?
• What are the interactions?
• Draw a box and line diagram (see next slide for example)

Box and Line Diagram Example

API

• Application Programming Interface
• What data will be sent between Node.js and the Browser?
• See example using JSON for data exchange on next slides
  • See here for an introduction to JSON

API JSON Example Input

{
  "action": "create_account",
  "name": "Mark Voortman",
  "email": "mvoortman@pointpark.edu",
  "password": "some_password"
}

API JSON Example Output

{
  "success": true,
  "message": "Account was created."
}
or
{
  "success": false,
  "message": "Email already in use."
}

Security

• How do you make sure the system is secure and data safe?
• Document how you will achieve that
• What data is sensitive?
  • See:
    • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personally_identifiable_information
• How will you protect it?
• For example, use HTTPS for logins to not leak passwords

Assignment

• See Canvas for details