Joshua's Blog

 My software dev capstone is a few weeks in, and I have been tasked with reading a textbook titled 'Apprenticeship Patterns', written by Dave Hoover. The book reframes software development in an interesting way; it structures it as a craft, with the necessary skills developed through an apprenticeship as if it were a conventional trade. The apprentice has a master they work under, who acts as a goal to work towards, with the intention of becoming one themselves. Importantly, it presents this not necessarily as a rigid structure or protocol to follow, but more-so a mindset to inform your decisions. Instead of seeking out a specific track to follow, it suggests you try to turn your day-to-day operations as opportunities to learn, by seeking feedback or mentorship. In other words, it encourages you to actively look for improvement.  I haven't read the entire book, so far I have only read the first chapter and the introductions of a few subsequent chapters, but it is pretty int...

 For my first blog post, I read a blog written by Steven Cross, a professional software developer. The blog is titled 'The Curious Case of the Test Case", linked here: https://stevencrossblog.wordpress.com/2017/03/15/the-curious-case-of-the-test-case/ I chose this blog because it helped introduce me to a new but important aspect of software testing in how you actually go about "structuring" it.  In the blog, Steven talks about test cases, and how they are a very useful and important aspect of software testing. Test cases, as I understand, are documented procedures that ensure software behaves as expected under a set of pre-defined conditions. In other words, a set of steps laid out before the testing actually takes place. He talks about how these test cases provide a consistent structure that can be adhered to, and how this structure can be especially useful for new hires in their onboarding process, leading them to better understand how the software works. He also t...