Project Toolboxes
Software Design and Python are wide worlds, and we only explore part of them in SoftDes. The goal of the Project Toolbox exercises is to gain practice with a variety of interesting topics we won’t talk about in class. By completing them, you will develop a suite of skills that will allow you to do great things on the final project and beyond.
The exercises are modeled after the way many practicing software developers teach themselves as lifelong learners. In each, you’ll:
- Read about a topic
- Try an example
- Extend it in ways that are interesting to you
The basic part of each exercise is intended to be relatively quick, taking an hour or so. (If you find yourself taking significantly longer, be sure to ask for help.) There are also lots of opportunities to take things further – many of the topics are active research areas, and you could easily work on some of them for a lifetime!
Tips for success
- Don’t suffer in silence. Many of these exercises require installing new packages, which can sometimes come with hiccups. If you’re struggling with something, let us know about it so we can fix it for you and everyone else.
- Start early. The project toolbox can be a great source of inspiration for your final project – but only if you try them in time.
- Have fun and follow your own learning goals.
Toolboxes
- Al and Algorithms
- Algorithmic Music Composition
- Evolutionary Algorithms
- Geocoding and Web APIs
- Image Processing
- Image Steganography
- Machine Learning
- Pickling
- Web Apps
- Word Frequency Analysis
Submitting exercises
Get the starter code for each Project Toolbox exercise by accepting the GitHub Classroom invite in the “Get Set” section of its instruction page above. Each Project Toolbox exercise has a description of the minimum required deliverable.
To submit your assignment, push your code to GitHub and fill out the Toolbox check-off survey. For several of the exercises, you may want to schedule a brief demo with a NINJA.
You will complete at least 5 Toolbox exercises of your choice over the course of the semester. Due dates for each are listed on the course calendar.
If you complete your Project Toolbox exercises and you have a great idea for a new one you’d like to create, get in touch with the teaching team!