Journal 52

August 5 - August 11

I cannot believe this is the final week of this course. I say it almost every class, but this one has truly flown by. 

To answer this week's journal prompt, a difference I have noticed between Agile and a Plan and Document process is how each approaches planning and change. Plan and Document relies more on establishing requirements and documenting the system before development begins, and Agile leaves room for the team to adapt as the project progresses. I used the Plan and Document approach while creating the SRS document for this week's homework. I defined the system requirements, use cases, user characteristics, data requirements, and other details about how the system should operate. This use of detailed documentation can be very useful because it creates a clear understanding of a system before it is developed.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, our GitHub team project was much more like an Agile process. Through the duration of the project, I regularly communicated with teammates, worked on separate branches, reviewed pull requests, tested our work, and made adjustments whenever problems appeared. I also saw firsthand how continuous testing is important because issues sometimes didn't become obvious until different parts of the frontend and backend were integrated. Instead of following one plan from beginning to end without changes, I had to be able to fix problems and adjust my work as I learned more about the system. I think Agile provides more flexibility, collaboration, and opportunities for feedback, and Plan and Document provides more structure and detailed expectations from the beginning. Working with both approaches throughout this course has really helped me to understand why the best development process can vary for each project and how much change can be expected during development.