David M. Stanley Jr.

I used HTML with pretty much every assignment and project that I worked on during my bootcamp. HTML is incredibly important and it was the first thing we were taught in the bootcamp. I'm glad I became familiar with it first because the simplicity HTML increased my confidence and let me know I could be a sofware engineer.

I also used CSS with every project and assignment that I did for the bootcamp that was deployed to the web. I'm very proficient with CSS and enjoyed using it to style my web pages. CSS is another technology that is relatively simple to learn and it's the second technology we learned during the bootcamp. Becoming skilled at CSS also boosted my confidence and made me feel like a real software engineer.

We spent most of the bootcamp learning and using Javscript. It was difficult at first because it is so different from HTML and CSS but after getting the hang of it, I realized how important it is. It adds logic to the projects I worked on and it's the most important programming language that we learned. It makes everything else we learned just a little bit easier to digest.

I did not like working with bootstrap at first because I felt that the grid system was too complicated. I also had trouble early on trying to style around bootstrap. Now, I use bootstrap for every frontend project that I do. I couldn't imagine doing anything frontend without using bootstrap. I like it because it's a templating technology, which allows me to pick and choose ready-made elements that I find useful. Also because it makes my projects look so much more slick and polished. I also like that it has built-in mobile responsivity, so I don't have to use media queries.

Jquery is cool because it simplifies Javascript code. You can write in 50 lines of code what it used to take 100 lines of code to write. The first time I used it was for the Crystal Collector assignment. The only thing that I don't like about it is that node.js doesn't like it, so I could only use it for frontend applications.

I liked MySQL because it allowed me to save user input into a database. The first time I used it was for the Friend Finder application. I did find the technology a bit cumbersome and clunky to use, but I do understand its benefit.

Firebase was the first database technology that we used. I used it for the train scheduler assignment. This is the database that saves all of the train information that the user types in. When I first saw it in class, it blew my mind. Up until that point, everything we were typing in didn't stay on screen after we refreshed. The database allows everything to stay exactly as it is.

I prefer using MongoDB over using MySql because it is easier to use and less clunky. I used it for the Clicky Game assignment. The mongoose npm package made database technology much easier to use.

I liked using Node.js and was blown away by the technology when we learned it in class. I like it because it allows you to write backend code that doesn't have a user interface. It's actually simpler because you don't have to write any HTML or CSS. The first time we worked in Node was for the LIRI assignment.

I hated using handlebars. I get that it's important because it allows you to update the DOM, but it was so difficult to use and fro what I understand, it's an outdated technology that nobody uses anymore. We had to use it for the Burger assignment and it was incredibly stressful. I'll never use it again.

React is amazing and I really enjoyed working with it. I can see why it is so popular these days because there is so much that you can do with it. It's very robust and allows you to power your application while using backend code. The first time we used it was for the Clicky Game assignment but we used it a lot after that and even had to implement it into our final project in some way.

Git isn't really a programming language but it is a technology that we had to become familiar with because we used it everyday. The first thing we did on day one was generate SSH keys so we could connect our Github accounts to our computers and push our code to Github. We learned a few basic commands at first and learned even more as the program progressed. Git is a technology that i'll be using for the rest of my career and I'm so glad that I became familiar with it during my bootcamp.

Axios is a very important resource for me. It allows me to make API calls and i've used it in many of my projects. It's an NPM package and it's very helpful.

Font awesome is a really cool NPM package that allows users to utilize logos and icons in their projects. I've used it a lot and will continue to do so.

I've used the Google maps api for a few projects and it's incredibly helpful. It allows you to find directions to any place based on your location and find different places on the map. This is the same technology that allows users to use Google maps on their phones

The Google Search API is incredibly useful. I used it for my Google Clone project and it allowed me to use search results made possible by Google and consume it in my project. It was very simple to use and I' looking forward to using it again.

I used GraphCMS for a Disney Plus clone that I did and it was very useful. It allows you to create content to be consumed in your projects. It reminds me of Strapi but it's easier than Strapi. It allowed me to create an account with a username and avatar and upload videos and utilize all of that in my project.

GraphQL is a really great service that allows you to create content to be consumed in your project. GraphCMS doesn't work without GraphQL and I highly recommend it.

I've used hero icons at least twice and I enjoy it a lot. It's similar to fontawesome but more robust and isn't complicated. It allows you to use really cool logos and icons.

Kaboom is a great Javascript Library that makes it easy for users to create video games. It was released in June 2021 and I've built two games with it.

Lyrics finder is a great NPM package that allows users to include lyrics with their music projects. I used it with my Spotify project and when you search for a song and play it, the lyrics for the song appear on screen.

Material UI is a great technology that is similar to Bootstrap. It had ready made chunks of code that you can put into your project and it allows the user to build great looking projects really quickly.

Moment.JS allows the user to utilize exact time in their project. The first time I used it was for my train scheduler project and I've used it a few times afterwards.

Netlify allows the user to deploy very simple frontend applications. It's similar to Github Pages and I prefer to use it now because Github pages has become a bit more complicated to use.

Next.JS is a React library that is very robust and simple to use. It allows the user to do way more than React allows. I've built a few projects using Next.JS and I will continue to use it in the future.

Open Weather API makes it super easy to include weather data in your application. I used it in my travel companion app and it made it look really slick.

Rapid API is a free service that has thousands of API's to be used for software development.

React router is an NPM package that makes it easy to switch between pages within an application.

React Spotify Web Playback allows the user to play music in apps that utilize the Spotify API.

Redux works with React and is used for state management. It makes it easy to write code to be used throughout an application.

Socket.IO is a JavaScript library for realtime web applications. It enables realtime, bi-directional communication between web clients and servers. I've used it for the chat applications that i've built.

The Spotify API is really good for music projects. I've used it a few times and it's simple to use. In order to play music though, you need to have a premium Spotify subscription.

Strapi allows the user to create their own API and consume the content within their app. I used it for my Svelte E-Commerce project and it was incredibly useful.

The Stripe API allows the user to make real bank transactions. The API connects to the user's bank and takes money from it. I've used it in two E-commerce websites.

Svelte is a Javascript Library that is similar to React. It has chunks of ready-made JavaScript that makes building webpages very simple.

Tailwind CSS simplifies how software engineers style their projects. We no longer have to make css files and connect them to our html. Tailwind css allows users to write in-line css right there inside of their Javascript files. I really enjoy using this technology.

I used the TripAdvisor API in my Travel Companion app. It allowed me to populate the page with the best restaurants, hotels and landmarks in each city. I enjoyed using it very much.

UUI is useful for chat and video applications that require a unique ID. I've used it a few times and it was simple to use.

Vercel is a deployment service that is similar to Heroku. It allows the user to deploy apps that utilize Front and Back end code. I like Vercel better because it doesn't put your apps to sleep when they're not in use.

The Wikipedia API is really good and I like it better than the Google search api. It allows you to pull all the info that is contained in the Wikipedia site. The google search api only allows a certain amount of queries per day and it puts limits on search results. The Wikipedia API doesn't do that.

The youtube api allows the user to play youtube videos in their application. It's super easy to use and I'm looking forward to using it again.