Beginning Your Development

Learning Objectives

• Understand how to effectively begin dissertation project development
• Set up a professional development environment
• Establish project structure and architecture foundations
• Implement good coding practices from day one
• Create an initial working prototype or proof of concept
• Plan iterative development cycles

Why Start Development Now?

Benefits of Early Development:

• Discovery of Issues: Technical problems emerge that weren't apparent during planning
• Realistic Timeline: Understand how long tasks actually take versus estimates
• Scope Adjustment: Time to pivot or adjust features based on feasibility
• Learning Curve: Master new technologies gradually rather than cramming
• Buffer Time: Handle unexpected challenges without panic
• Quality Improvement: Iterate and refine your solution multiple times

Common Timeline:
Week 5-10: Initial development & core features
Week 11-15: Feature completion & integration
Week 16-20: Testing, refinement, & documentation
Week 21-25: Polish, final testing, & report writing

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Planning Forever Without Building

• Spending months on design documents without writing code
• Waiting for the "perfect" plan before starting
• Over-engineering solutions before understanding the problem

Starting Too Ambitious

• Trying to build everything at once
• Selecting technologies you don't know for "learning experience"
• Ignoring MVP (Minimum Viable Product) principles

Poor Time Management

• Leaving development until the last few weeks
• Not scheduling regular development time
• Underestimating debugging and testing time

Setting Up Your Development Environment

Essential Components:

• Code Editor/IDE: VS Code, PyCharm, IntelliJ, etc.
• Version Control: Git installed locally
• Language Runtime: Python, Node.js, Java, etc.
• Package Manager: pip, npm, Maven, etc.
• Database: PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB (if needed)
• Testing Framework: pytest, Jest, JUnit (language-specific)

# Example: Python project setup
python -m venv venv
venv\Scripts\activate  # Windows
source venv/bin/activate  # Mac/Linux
pip install -r requirements.txt
# Example: Node.js project setup
npm init -y
npm install express mongoose dotenv

Organizing Your Project Structure

Well-Organized Structure Benefits:

• Easier to find and modify code
• Clear separation of concerns
• Professional presentation
• Easier for others (and supervisors) to understand

my-dissertation-project/
├── src/                    # Source code
│   ├── components/         # Reusable components
│   ├── models/             # Data models
│   ├── services/           # Business logic
│   ├── utils/              # Helper functions
│   └── main.py             # Entry point
├── tests/                  # Test files
├── docs/                   # Documentation
├── config/                 # Configuration files
├── .env.example            # Environment variables template
├── .gitignore              # Git ignore rules
├── README.md               # Project documentation
└── requirements.txt        # Dependencies

Creating a Professional README

Essential README Sections:

• Project Title & Description: Clear explanation of what it does
• Features: Key functionality and capabilities
• Installation: Step-by-step setup instructions
• Usage: How to run and use the application
• Technologies: List of frameworks, libraries, tools
• Screenshots: Visual demonstration (if applicable)
• Testing: How to run tests
• License: If applicable

README.md Example

# Student Performance Tracking System
A web-based application for tracking student academic performance
and generating predictive analytics.
## Features
- Student grade tracking and visualization
- Performance prediction using machine learning
- Interactive dashboards for tutors
- Export reports to PDF/Excel
## Installation
```bash
git clone https://github.com/username/project.git
cd project
python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt
python src/main.py
```
## Technologies
- Python 3.11
- Django 4.2
- PostgreSQL
- Scikit-learn
- Chart.js

Version Control from Day One

Benefits of Version Control:

• Track all changes to your code
• Revert to previous working versions if something breaks
• Document your development progress
• Collaborate with supervisors or team members
• Demonstrate systematic development for your report

# Initialize Git repository
git init
# First commit
git add .
git commit -m "Initial project setup with basic structure"
# Connect to GitHub
git remote add origin https://github.com/username/project.git
git branch -M main
git push -u origin main

Writing Good Commit Messages

❌ Bad Commit Messages:

git commit -m "fixed stuff"
git commit -m "update"
git commit -m "asdfasdf"
git commit -m "final version"
git commit -m "final version 2"

✅ Good Commit Messages:

git commit -m "Add user authentication with JWT tokens"
git commit -m "Fix database connection timeout issue"
git commit -m "Implement student grade calculation algorithm"
git commit -m "Refactor data validation in forms module"
git commit -m "Update README with installation instructions"

Format: Start with a verb, be specific, explain what and why

Task 1: Initial Project Setup

The MVP Approach

What is an MVP?

A version of your project with just enough features to be functional and demonstrate core functionality.

MVP Benefits:

• Early proof of concept validates your approach
• Identify technical challenges early
• Something to show supervisors for feedback
• Foundation to build upon systematically
• Achievable milestone that builds confidence

Example MVPs:

• E-commerce: Product listing + shopping cart (no payment yet)
• Chat App: Text messaging between two users (no groups)
• Analytics Dashboard: Display one chart type with sample data

Breaking Features into Iterations

Example: Building a Study Planner App

<strong>Iteration 1 (MVP - Week 5-7):</strong>
- Create account and login
- Add study tasks with title and due date
- Mark tasks as complete
- Basic list view
<strong>Iteration 2 (Week 8-10):</strong>
- Add task categories/subjects
- Calendar view of tasks
- Edit and delete tasks
- Basic statistics (tasks completed)
<strong>Iteration 3 (Week 11-13):</strong>
- Task priorities and reminders
- Study time tracking
- Progress visualization
- Export study schedule
<strong>Iteration 4 (Week 14-16):</strong>
- AI study recommendations
- Collaboration features
- Mobile responsive design
- Performance optimization

Establishing Coding Standards

Essential Standards:

• Naming Conventions: Consistent variable, function, class names
• Indentation: 2 or 4 spaces (pick one and stick with it)
• Comments: Explain complex logic, not obvious code
• Function Length: Keep functions focused and concise
• DRY Principle: Don't Repeat Yourself - extract common code
• Error Handling: Use try-catch blocks appropriately

Style Guides by Language:

• Python: PEP 8
• JavaScript: Airbnb Style Guide
• Java: Google Java Style Guide

Code Quality Examples

❌ Poorly Written Code:

def calc(a,b,c):
x=a+b*c #calculate result
return x
result=calc(5,10,2)

✅ Well-Written Code:

def calculate_total_with_tax(base_price, quantity, tax_rate):
"""
Calculate total price including tax.
Args:
base_price (float): Price per item
quantity (int): Number of items
tax_rate (float): Tax rate as decimal (e.g., 0.2 for 20%)
Returns:
float: Total price including tax
"""
subtotal = base_price * quantity
total = subtotal * (1 + tax_rate)
return total
final_price = calculate_total_with_tax(
base_price=50.0,
quantity=3,
tax_rate=0.2
)

Building in Testing from the Start

Types of Testing:

• Unit Tests: Test individual functions/methods
• Integration Tests: Test how components work together
• User Acceptance Tests: Test from user perspective
• Manual Testing: Explore your app like a user would

Simple Testing Example (Python):

# tests/test_calculator.py
import pytest
from src.calculator import calculate_total_with_tax
def test_calculate_total_basic():
result = calculate_total_with_tax(50.0, 3, 0.2)
assert result == 180.0
def test_calculate_total_no_tax():
result = calculate_total_with_tax(25.0, 2, 0.0)
assert result == 50.0

Documenting as You Develop

Why Document Early?

• You'll forget implementation details later
• Easier to write reports with existing documentation
• Helps clarify your own thinking
• Useful for supervisor meetings

What to Document:

• Architecture Decisions: Why you chose certain approaches
• API Documentation: How functions/endpoints work
• Setup Instructions: How to run your project
• Known Issues: Problems and workarounds
• Development Log: Weekly progress notes

docs/
├── architecture.md      # System design decisions
├── api-reference.md     # API documentation
├── development-log.md   # Weekly progress
└── setup-guide.md       # Installation instructions

Establishing a Development Workflow

Recommended Daily/Weekly Routine:

<strong>Daily (30-60 minutes minimum):</strong>
1. Review yesterday's progress
2. Pick one task from backlog
3. Implement feature/fix
4. Write tests
5. Commit with clear message
6. Push to GitHub
7. Update documentation
<strong>Weekly:</strong>
1. Review all commits
2. Update project roadmap
3. Test full application
4. Plan next week's tasks
5. Write development log entry
6. Prepare supervisor update

Environment Variables & Configuration

What Belongs in Configuration:

• Database connection strings
• API keys and secrets
• Email service credentials
• Environment-specific settings (dev, test, production)

Example .env File:

# .env (DO NOT commit this file!)
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:pass@localhost/mydb
SECRET_KEY=your-secret-key-here
API_KEY=your-api-key-here
DEBUG=True
EMAIL_HOST=smtp.gmail.com
EMAIL_PORT=587

Example .env.example File:

# .env.example (commit this as a template)
DATABASE_URL=
SECRET_KEY=
API_KEY=
DEBUG=True
EMAIL_HOST=
EMAIL_PORT=

Managing Project Dependencies

Python Projects:

# Create requirements.txt
pip freeze > requirements.txt
# Install from requirements.txt
pip install -r requirements.txt

Node.js Projects:

# package.json automatically manages dependencies
npm install package-name --save
# Install all dependencies
npm install

Best Practices:

• Keep dependencies updated regularly
• Document why each dependency is needed
• Remove unused dependencies
• Use specific version numbers for stability
• Test after updating dependencies

Debugging Effectively

Debugging Approaches:

• Print Statements: Simple but effective for tracking values
• Debugger Tools: Step through code line by line
• Logging: Record application behavior
• Error Messages: Read them carefully - they tell you exactly what's wrong
• Rubber Duck Debugging: Explain your code to someone (or something)

Systematic Debugging Process:

1. Reproduce the error consistently
2. Read error messages and stack traces
3. Form hypothesis about the cause
4. Test hypothesis with minimal changes
5. Document solution for future reference

Task 2: Build Your MVP

Self-Review and Refactoring

Review Your Own Code:

• Read through code before committing
• Check for obvious errors or improvements
• Ensure naming is clear and consistent
• Verify comments are helpful
• Test edge cases

When to Refactor:

• After getting something working
• When you notice repeated code patterns
• Before adding new features to messy code
• After learning better approaches

Early Performance Thinking

Don't Optimize Too Early:

• Get it working first, optimize later
• Focus on code clarity over speed initially
• Profile before optimizing (measure, don't guess)

But Do Consider:

• Algorithm Choice: O(n²) vs O(n log n) matters at scale
• Database Queries: Avoid N+1 query problems
• Asset Loading: Don't load huge files unnecessarily
• Memory Leaks: Clean up resources properly

Rule of Thumb: Write clean code first, then optimize hotspots if needed.

When You Get Stuck

Problem-Solving Strategy:

1. Reproduce: Can you make the problem happen consistently?
2. Simplify: Create minimal test case
3. Research: Google error messages, check documentation
4. Ask: Stack Overflow, forums, supervisor, peers
5. Take a Break: Fresh perspective helps
6. Alternative Approach: Sometimes need to try different solution

Good Resources:

• Stack Overflow: Specific coding problems
• GitHub Issues: Library-specific problems
• Official Documentation: Always check first!
• Reddit: r/learnprogramming, language-specific subs
• Discord Communities: Real-time help

Staying Motivated Throughout Development

Strategies for Sustained Progress:

• Small Wins: Celebrate completing features, no matter how small
• Visual Progress: Keep screenshots/videos of your app evolving
• Regular Demos: Show friends, family, supervisors
• Break Tasks Down: Large tasks are overwhelming
• Reward Yourself: After completing milestones
• Join Communities: Connect with other dissertation students
• Remember Your Why: Why did you choose this project?

Your Action Plan This Week