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layout: post
title:  "Operation PiBake"
published: true
---

Hello fellow bloggers! I have recently begun a new endeavour with some friends of mine. A endeavor never before seen!

Okay, maybe it has been done before, where some Raspberry Pi's gather some temperature data and sends it to a centralized location and then the data is viewable via a web browser. Maybe it's been done, I don't know.

Yeah, so, four people and myself started PiBake, a solution where we solve to very niche problems, but very fundamental problem nonetheless. 

I'll introduce the team to you guys.

First, we have Jacob Barsheff. Jacob is a class of 2017 graduate whose passion for coding is something he only recently discovered. Within two years at Northwestern Michigan College, Jacob has acquired fundamental skills in C#, JavaScript, PHP, HTML, CSS, and SQL. His passion and enthusiasm for developing software is something he translates into his work; especially this project. Jacob aims to create a highly functional web application that provides a simple, effective user interface. 

Next, we have Chris Cosnowski. Chris is in charge of implementing hardware Infrastructure and will be working with Wyatt Miller on Server Administration. He has experience with various different software languages like, C#, JS, Java, HTML/CSS, SQL, etc, but he’s always had a knack for computer hardware and server systems since early high school. His passion for computers stems all the way back to his childhood when his parents purchased him a Commodore 64 for his birthday. 

Then, we have Josiah Pippin. Josiah is working in tandem with Jacob Barsheff to design and develop the PiBake frontend web portal.  His visual communications education and years of front end experience with HTML, CSS, Javascript and WordPress, a PHP platform, will help us design a seamless user experience and top notch administrative backend interface.  In addition, his years of training as a graphic designer and small business owner give him the skills and unique insight we trust to develop our visual brand assets and identity.

Finally, we have Thresa Schultz. Thresa is the Database administrator for this project as well as planning and documentation. She has experience with C#, PHP, SQL, MySQL, HTML, CSS, Javascript and many other technologies used to bring them all together. Thresa has a passion for data, designing the user experience and project management. 

I believe that we did the best that we could for the three (?) weeks that we had. 
To be honest, I’m working with two different languages, languages being Python and Rust, and not knowing whether or not I’m going to get this project done. In conclusion, from that last sentence, you could very well assume that I was freaking out. We each had our own roles and, it may be just me, but I wanted everyone to do their part of the project. For example, I wanted to setup a web frontend so that Thresa could set up the database. I wanted Jacob and Josiah to setup the web frontend would be another example. Everyone had their own task and they have to do it well is I guess what I’m saying. It’s kind of personifying the Unix Philosophy in a way. 

As for the rest of my comrades, they are the real ones that powered me through these three weeks. Although, they did not provide me with solutions but rather a morale boost. If was working on this project alone, I would either give up on the project altogether, present the project halfway done (code all over the place, no class diagrams, no data flow diagrams, etc.), or somewhere in between the two. But now, the core software works! Plus, the UUID generation tool works as well! I think that’s so great, not to downplay on everyone else’s accomplishments or anything, but it’s one big step forward for the whole project. It’s what I explained to Thresa (she was confused as much as I was): there is a big umbrella being the finished project and she got the database completed and that goes under the big umbrella. Once I have my part of the project, and get my data into the database, that small portion that was under the umbrella soon turns a larger portion under the umbrella. Before you know it, the portion becomes a unified, larger portion that is functional. 

I really appreciate Jacob really pulling it together before presentation day. He made all the data flow diagrams and class diagrams (except for the ones I talked over, those I created but anywho) and created most of the presentation, with everyone’s help of course. Presentation day went well but I believe there was some room for improvement.

I have to say well done to the PiBake team, we did well, and let’s keep it up throughout the next three sprints!
