DEV Community: Subha Harini

🎯 From College to Career: My Journey with Postman and APIs

Subha Harini — Thu, 31 Jul 2025 11:09:27 +0000

Hi everyone! 👋
I’m Subha, a recent Computer Science graduate who is passionate about building full-stack web applications. As I transitioned from college to career-building, I realized that one of the most important skills developers need today is a strong understanding of APIs.

That's when I discovered the Postman Student Expert program, which gave me hands-on experience and confidence working with APIs in real-world scenarios.

🎯 Why I Decided to Learn Postman
In every project I worked on — whether it was connecting to a weather API or storing user data — APIs played a critical role. But testing and understanding them wasn’t always easy.

Postman helped me:

Send and test HTTP requests (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE)
Work with query and path parameters
Use environment and collection variables to simplify workflows
Automate API tests with JavaScript scripts
Add authentication using API Keys
Organize requests into reusable, shareable collections

🧪 What I Did During the Skill Check
In the Postman Student Expert program, I built a mock project using the Postman Echo API where I:

Made a POST request to simulate booking a movie
Added a query parameter movieName with my favorite film
Sent a JSON body with the actor’s name
Used API Key authorization
Wrote a Test Script to automatically store the actor’s name as a collection variable

Here’s a glimpse of the script I used:

let res = pm.response.json(); pm.collectionVariables.set("favoriteActor", res.json.actorName);

It was exciting to learn how everything — request, body, headers, auth, and scripts — worked together in one clean workflow.

📝 My Personal Notes
While learning, I also created detailed notes on:

What APIs are and how they’re used in the real world
Types of APIs (REST, GraphQL, etc.)
Status codes (200 OK, 404 Not Found, etc.)
Variables and scopes in Postman
Query parameters vs. path variables
Authorization methods like API Keys and OAuth

📄 These notes helped me understand not just the how but also the why of API design and testing.

🎓 From Student Expert to Confident Developer
Even though I’ve now graduated, I continue to use Postman in my projects. For example, I’m currently building a smart ingredient checker app where APIs help scan, analyze, and compare product details in real time.

What I love most about Postman is that it's not just for backend developers — it's for anyone building modern apps.

🧡 Thank You, Postman
The Student Expert program was an incredible learning opportunity — it helped me improve my technical skills and build confidence for job interviews and real-world projects.

📢 Want to Become a Student Expert Too?
Here’s the official link to apply:
👉 https://www.postman.com/student-program/student-expert/

And if you’re already a graduate like me — don’t worry. You can still contribute to the Postman community by sharing your journey and applying for the Postman Community Contribution Program.

🎓 My Badge
I earned my official Postman Student Expert badge!

📜 Click here to view my badge on Badgr

🙌 Let’s Connect
💬 Have questions about APIs or Postman? Leave a comment!
🧠 Want to read more content like this? Follow me on Dev.to

🚀 Building My Project During Job Hunt — Should I Go Solo or Use ChatGPT?

Subha Harini — Thu, 31 Jul 2025 07:13:26 +0000

Hey devs! 👋

I’m currently between graduation and my first job. Instead of just waiting, I started working on my own project — SafeScan, a smart product & ingredient safety checker that I’m building using React, Node.js, MongoDB, and a bit of OCR with Tesseract.js.

But while working on it, I’ve had this ongoing question in my mind:

🤔 Should I Build This Entirely On My Own or Use ChatGPT as a Guide?
Here’s what I’ve been experiencing:

🔹 Doing it solo forces me to Google a lot, struggle through docs, and figure out every detail on my own. It’s slow — but deeply satisfying.

🔹 Using ChatGPT speeds things up. It’s like having a senior dev next to me. I can ask questions, debug faster, and get clarity on tough concepts. Honestly, it’s helped me stay consistent and motivated.

Also, let's face it — AI like ChatGPT is becoming a part of our daily life. Knowing how to use it smartly does boost productivity.

🧠 But Here’s Where I’m Stuck…
Even if I understand the code and concepts ChatGPT helps me with, interviews are a different game. You’re expected to write the code yourself, explain your thought process clearly, and solve problems without any help.

So now I’m a bit confused:

Is building a project with ChatGPT really helping me become interview-ready?
Or should I force myself to build everything solo, even if it’s slower and more frustrating?

💬 What Do You Think?
👉 Have you built projects with or without AI assistance?
👉 Do you think using ChatGPT helps or hurts long-term growth and interview performance?

I’d love to hear your experience and advice — I’m still figuring out what’s best for learning, growing, and eventually landing the right job.

Thanks in advance for reading!

🧩 Learning, Failing, and Growing: My Tech Story

Subha Harini — Sun, 23 Mar 2025 12:32:09 +0000

🌱 Hello Devs! I’m Subhaharini!

I come from a middle-class agricultural family where hard work is a way of life. Being the first child in the family, I’ve always felt the responsibility to pave my own path.

💡 My Journey So Far:

I chose Bio-Maths in 12th grade, even though I wanted CSE, but fate had other plans. I pursued CSE in college, thinking it would be an easy route to land a job. But reality hit me hard—I didn’t even understand a single line of code in my first year!

My college was 82 km away from home, and with a 6:25 AM bus ride and a 7 PM return, learning was tough. I didn’t have a laptop initially, so I started learning HTML, CSS, and JS through Sololearn on my phone, balancing my dreams with family responsibilities.

Things changed when I got an old government laptop (Windows 8!) from a relative. It was slow, took 5 minutes to open Chrome, but it taught me patience and perseverance. With that, I explored Java, solved basic problems on CodeChef, and gradually built confidence.

⚡ Turning Point:

In my 3rd year, I discovered Atlassian during an orientation program, and that spark made me dive into learning about DevOps and project management tools.
Despite facing rejections in multiple interviews (including Zoho where I missed a function logic), I kept going. Rejections became steps toward growth, and I promised myself that I would crack it one day.

🚀 Where I Am Now:

I’m currently a full-stack trainee intern at araCreate Group, where I’ve learned React, Tailwind, Node.js, Express.js, and MongoDB.

I’m mastering the art of combining AI with development to work smarter, not harder.

🎯 What’s Next?

I’m on a mission to create impactful projects, strengthen DSA skills, and explore core CS concepts. My ultimate dream is to work at Atlassian, and I’m determined to make that dream a reality.

💬 I’m excited to connect with fellow developers, exchange ideas, and grow together!