WEEK 73 - CST 438 week 1

Learning Journal - Week 1

What did you expect a course in Software Engineering would cover?

Initially, I expected this course to just cover more software development tools and techniques. Things like the best ways to code, how to build a project, and how to improve my programming skills. I figured it would be similar to my previous programming courses, just with more of a focus on developing larger projects and learning how to write better code. I didn't really think much about the other aspects of software engineering outside of programming.

After completing week 1, how has your opinion changed? 

After this first week, I understand that a lot more goes into Software Engineering than I originally thought. It is not necessarily just a coding class. It also teaches best practices for building programs, working with a team, organizing a project, and managing the overall development process. As mentioned in the textbook, programming is more so a building block in the bigger picture of Software Engineering, and the two are not synonymous. I found that interesting because I had always associated software engineering mainly with coding. Now I understand that there is a lot more planning, communication, and organization involved in developing successful software.