Sportivo is the first project that I’ve done on the Hague University of Applied Science. This project was done in the course I-G-MBO – Database Applications. It’s the first time that I got to work with Java and also the first time that I seriously started to make UML diagrams (because that was a little neglected in MBO)
Summary
Course: I-G-MBO Database Applications
Finished: November 2009
Gained Knowledge
Programming with Java
Designing and using MYSQL databases in Java
Writing a Project Initiation Document
Determining Use Cases
Create Use Case Descriptions
Design class diagrams.
The I-G-MBO course is the first course that I’ve done on the HHS. I immediately proceeded to the HHS from MBO, so I had no idea that this course would be pretty heavy and intense. I was really excited to begin my HBO education and I think many people noticed that. I had no idea what I had to do, when we started this course. Here I was, in a big classroom, with people that I didn’t really know (Except for Roy van Wensen), and everything that we were going to do the next 10 weeks was explained. We’re meant to create a database management application, based on requirements, use cases and class diagrams. I knew about use cases and a little bit about requirements, but I had zero experience with making class diagrams. Exciting stuff!
The application was meant to be written in Java. I’ve already gained noticeable experience with PhP and C#, but I haven’t touched Java before then. But that was anticipated, since we got quite a few great workshops and colleges about Java, so we could try and make it our own. It went pretty easy for me, because programming isn’t really about the language you’re using, but about the mindset and the specific way of thinking. When you know that, languages are just different syntaxes and it doesn’t really matter which one you use. Syntax is pretty easily learned.
To successfully execute the project, we were meant to work in project groups of four people. These groups could be formed any way you like, but I had no idea whom to choose for my group. Eventually I ended up with Mark Suurland, someone I now work pretty closely together with, and two other dudes. These dudes left our group and education at the same day, which left only Mark and me to work on the project. We got the choice to go into another group, or to keep going on our own. We decided the latter and ended up completing the project with only two people, whilst it was meant for four.
This lead to the both of us working really hard on the application. The Project Initiation Document was set up pretty well, the use cases were blown together effeciently and the class diagrams started to make sense. We noticed that we had to do a lot of detail work into the diagrams before we could even write down one word of code. I learned a lot from the processes of making class diagrams. Paul Breukel, a very cool teacher, taught us alot about these diagrams. At first I had some difficulties with making the class diagrams, but eventually I started getting it and the diagrams I made were pretty good. At that point it was time to finally start programming!
Having such a big past with programming already, Java was a peace of cake. We weren’t even meant to program OOP or with the MVC model, but I already knew about the philosophy of OOP programming, so we implemented it into the application. It might not have been a perfect implementation, but I was pretty proud with the way it worked. Mark and I shared the workload with eachother and build big chunks of the application. I would take everything relating to Courses, for example, whilst he would work on everything regarding Groups. We made pretty good progress, untill I faced a problem. I tried, in one of my “genious” moods, to create a sort of Tablefactory class that would display the information within in a pretty neat table. Everything went perfect. The building was easier than I thought and all the information was nicely put in a table … But then I had to try and get it into the Form. This was impossible! It just didn’t work. The table was created programatically, but to get that table into an already existing table that was stored in the Form, was just not working. I went to all the teachers and experts I knew but no one could help me. This was too bad, because I was really proud on what I created. After wasting a week on trying to solve this problem, I decided to stop and gain on the time I lost. Eventually we finished the project an hour before the deadline. I’m very proud on the work Mark and I did.
Sportivo definately is a fun project to begin with. I learned a lot and the things I learned I still use today! I have to say that, at the time, I really hated Java because it didn’t want to work with me, but by now I’ve already had a change of heart.
Sportivo Hoofdmenu
Sportivo Cursussen Invoeren