When I first started looking into coding bootcamps, I had no idea if this was something that I wanted to do. After a few months I found a few different ones I was interested in but I still felt unsure. Even after enrolling in the Software Engineering course at the Flatiron school I was unsure about my decision.
As I learned more about Ruby and object orientation I felt more confident in the material and my ability to understand it but something was still missing. I didn't have that 'Aha' moment where I knew that I had made the correct decision. It was not until we began working on our CLI application projects last week that I felt certain that this was something that I wanted to do.
While my project partner, RJ and I began to map out how we were going to divide the work and what topic we wanted to use, I began to think about more than just completing the assignments. I started to consider how to simplify our idea down to a Minimum Viable Product.
After reading up on Minimum Viable Product and the benefits of this product development strategy, I approached RJ with an updated suggestion on where we should start. We began to plan out an MVP that was specific to our project and determine what it would take to get there.
When visualizing what an MVP for our project would look like I began to think about more than just writing methods. I started to consider how much time we could save by creating a working version and then building off of it for the rest of the week. I was hoping that we would be able to complete our MVP within the first couple of days and then start adding more intricacy for the last two days.
Luckily, as a result of this coordinated planning and preparation we were able to complete our MVP on the first day. As we had the rest of the week to add it, there was much less pressure to "complete" the project and we had time to improve on a working application.
Even though it was just a simple CLI application, this project proved to me that taking some time to plan it out before you get started can completely change the way you approach a project. I had no idea if I was going to like working on a CLI app or if I was going to like this coding bootcamp. However, after making something that works and turning it into something that looks and functions much better, I can say that I made the right choice and can't wait for what comes next!
You can find RJ and I's project on Github
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