by Avery Cupples

SDX (Summer Development eXperience) was an amazing two week experience I was a part of this summer.  The goal of this experience was to finish the DocuSim web app on web-based patient assessment form for nursing students use in their simulated labs.  I was extremely nervous going in for the first day because I had no idea of what to expect.  There was a lot to take in very quickly. We had to learn all about the project we were to be completing and all the new technologies that it involved; however, the rest of the two weeks was less overwhelming.

Our goal was to come as close to completion as possible in the two weeks we had.  Luke Fader and Cory Dalton worked on the project the previous summer, but they were unable to complete the login/logout functionality as well as some parts of UI.  We were able to find a helpful post on implementing login/logout with token authorization, the new recommended method of authorization.

We used many different technologies while building this web application and had to learn on the job everyday. We decoupled our backed from our fronted, a common architecture in modern web apps.  We used ASP.Net Web API for the backend and Angular JS on the front-end.  I worked primarily on the backend while Kyllian Mobley worked on the front-end.  Dr. Casey helped us out whenever and wherever we needed help.

While looking at the code on day one, we decided we need to rewrite the back-end using the Code First model of Entity Framework. Originally the project had been in model-first; however, it was going to be much easier if we changed to code first.  With help from the post we found on token authorization, I was then able to integrate it into our code and complete login/logout functionality for the back-end.

Kyllian used Angular Strap, a framework which helps connect  AngularJS and Bootstrap. He completed the login/logout functionality on the front-end as well as all of the UI components needed to make it usable.

At the end of the two weeks, we had completed approximately 90% of DocuSim and were pleased with how far we had come.  This experience challenged me to learn and grow as a programmer and as a person.  These two weeks were extremely enjoyable, and I would strongly recommend it to any Computer Science major interested in learning more in just two weeks than in a typical semester-long course and in having a great time.