Monday, February 1, 2016 The first week of classes went well in my opinion. I am beginning to accept that this will be my last semester at St. Norbert College. However, being my last semester also means that I now get to take part in the Computer Science Capstone assignment that I have been anticipating since I became a CS major in my Sophomore year. During the first week of classes, I visited Dr. Pankratz and Dr. McVey to receive my assignment, the Visual Circuit Builder. My project is to construct an application that can be used as a learning tool for logic purposes. I am to "design a visual editor that allows users to build circuits of their choice and a means to follow the logic flowing through the circuit" according to the definition sheet I was handed. Naturally, I was excited but a little confused. I have begun my project by researching similar applications such as aspects found in Legos Mindstorms and AppInventor. However, I do believe that I need to pay a visit to DCP very soon in order to more fully understand what an CAD system does. I have also begun to draw out designs for what I might want the system to look like. I would like to do something a little more original that what I have seen so far and hope to design it so that it is easy to understand, yet with a modern, sleek look. I will continue my research on this "logical" application in the days to come.
Monday, February 8, 2016 After the second week of classes (and a meeting with Dr. Pankratz), I feel much more confident in how to design and implement the logic gates and program that goes along with my project assignment. I have started to design some of the customized buttons in which I will use for the software, attempting to create a sleek and attractive look. I will need to show a few drafts to my fellow peers and professors this week to receive some feedback, and hopefully upload the first drafts with next week's Journal entry. In my meeting with Dr. Pankratz, we discussed what the expectations of my project should be: how should it work, what features can we expect, the overall design structure. In general, I feel like the meeting cleared up many questions I first had. However, I still do have one or two questions right now, and I am sure that as I keep progressing, that I will soon have many more questions to ask. That being said, I am truly grateful that Dr. Pankratz will be there to help me along the way. For the beginning of my design, I have chosen to create every symbol and button image that I need on my own. I will use my knowledge in programs, such as Adobe Illustrator, that I have obtained through the various Graphic Design courses in the past years at St Norbert College. I am excited to truly bring both my major, Computer Science, and my minor, Graphic Design, together in a large project during my last semester on campus. I look forward to designing and coding more this week, as well as to receive feedback on my designs from anyone who is willing to do so.