S-STEM Scholar Andre Ta's Blog

 This week I decided to give myself a refresher on Java since I haven't studied it heavily in a few months. I'm currently going through Java 11 For Complete Beginners by John Purcell on Udemy. So far in his lesson plan, he has talked about how Java compiles the code so that it can be used from computer to computer with no real issue. John has also ran through the very basics of how to print out different things.     System.out.println("Hello world!");  That's the famous first line of code that every beginner to coding learns. Although it may be slightly different depending on language, the concept is the same. The course is also teaching the fundamentals of code like creating integers and variables to be used throughout the code. They can incorporated into different kinds of arithmetic depending on my needs.      int cats = 7;     int dogs = 5;     int total = cats + dogs;     System.out.println(total);  This small bl...

      This week, I figured it would be best for me to learn and better understand how apps are created and how the workflow is separated. This ending up showing me the difference between backend and frontend development.      The easiest way to understand front end development is by realizing it is work on the user's experience. This means that front end developers will work to create the best possible experience for the users' via user interface or UI. Through UI, they include all sorts of visual aspects from buttons that help create a smooth experience to a nice layout that is easy to follow.     Back end development is everything that is not seen by the users. A majority of what back end developers do is build code, debug code, create framework, and create databases that help store user information for the website. According to an article by Kenzie Academy, another way to think about the two forms of development is by thinking of front end as c...

      My goal throughout this year is to develop an application for athletes where they are able to find and plan games, practices, meetups with other local athletes. I would also like the app to include health information and tips for each sport. With this being said, I am still in the early stages of creating the app due to still being very novice at coding and having to learn how to plan and design the user interface, how to incorporate different locations similar to how Pokemon Go has "PokeStops".      This week, I decided to research on what it takes to develop an app and figure out the things that I would need to learn and understand before I could even start coding. According to an article by Mona Joorabchi, Ali Mesbah, and Philippe Krutchen, I would have to decide what platform I would like to create the application on.  They stated that the three categories for mobile apps are native, web-based, and hybrid. I think the application that I am lo...

     Virtual reality or VR is where individuals can wear different forms of technology like a headset and be able to experience the virtual world. It can be described as a window to the virtual world where people can hear and feel realistically. This is done by utilizing 3D, stereoscopic head and body trackers. With companies like Facebook as the driving force into virtual reality and the metaverse, this brings a lot of attention to it. Companies are looking are to build products to improve the immersion that can be attained from VR.      TeslaSuit and Hive are two more well-known advocates for advancing the virtual reality experience. TeslaSuit is developing a suit that the user can wear to receive haptic feedback and record biometric data. This can be utilized in both in terms of video games but also teaching medical groups. Through a study conducted in 2016 by Mahnaz Samadbeik and co., they were able to find that the flexibility that being able to condu...