In computer science, we learn programming languages such as HTML and Java. In HTML, we constructed and published our individual websites. In Java, we created small programs to complete a variety of tasks, such as calculating salaries with user input of hours worked and hourly salary. Since I have previously taken APCS and also have experience with other programming languages, I am in the advanced CS group where we are working on a larger project. As in the past I have created numerous mini-games, I decided to challenge myself and make a larger, complex game for my project. The project is still under development, but you can read more about it below!
One assignment was a decisions exercise, where we had to complete a variety of challenges using branching mechanisms like if and else commands. This assignment had different parts which took in user input, did different calculations depending on what was entered, and then outputted a response.
My computer science project is a large, complex point and click game where the player has to manage a space colony. I came up with the idea as I enjoy playing and coding games and wanted to challenge myself by making a much larger game than I usually do, complete with a level system. It has been a fun and challenging project as I have learned many new coding skills and had to improvise functions that were not in the library I was using, such as a scrolling feature. Additionally, I made a navigation system that allows the user to move between the 'Home page', 'How page', and 'Level select pages'. To add these features, I had to self-learn and improvise on my programming skills by using the tools in different ways. My game is available here on GitHub for you to play.
During the second half of the year, we work on a project called Apps for Good where we make an assistive mobile or web app to help our community.
Our Apps For Good project was working with a food pantry called “Loaves and Fishes”. The food pantry is open one day a month for three hours only. Since it is open for a short duration, all clients of the food pantry go early and often have to wait in line for up to an hour so they can get food before it starts to run out. Additionally, volunteers maintain all of the clients’ information on paper slips that the clients fill out on their first visit. At the next visit, volunteers have to manually look through all the paper slips to find the right slip for the right client. Looking through all of the papers to find one person is not only tiring, but also time consuming and contributes to the long wait. Furthermore, to schedule the volunteers, an email is sent out and the food pantry admin must manually compile a schedule of everyone’s response. Our app aimed to solve these challenges through an easy-to-use user interface where the users would input all of this information in an organized way.
Below is our poster!
Here is my website for you to see again!