Apdx H: Tips from Past Students : OPTIONAL

Don't stress too much about the product; it's more about the process of building it. Keep it simple.

It is better to follow the timeline of the course. Don't stack everything until the last minute.

It would be ideal to properly plan out the project in the early stages so as to minimize the number of additional features/changes made along the way.

Plan more work for early iterations in TP instead of just meeting the requirements. Early iterations can be quite chill while mid-late iterations will be very busy

keep tempo with the weekly schedule.

The mod really demands consistency, not something that can be pushed or done last minute.

Tutorials are likely to be undervalued but taking notes then will prob help for finals alot. Learning > grades

Watch every lecture video so that you are familiar with the massive course content.

Workload is what u make it to be. As long as u meet around minimum functionality/lines of code, the course can be very manageable.

Put in sufficient effort for CS2103T and it shouldn't be as daunting as it seems.

It is good to consolidate some ideas of what kinds of bugs to test for beforehand to efficiently use the time

Have a good communication framework with ur team.

If using AI, adopt the mindset of a software architect if you are proficient. Or if you are not strong in fundamentals, learn on the fly as you use AI to help with our already stressful schoolwork.
Please please please double check AI-generated code; it is super easy to introduce subtle bugs this way.

I think reviewing the concepts in the textbook (via quizzes or whatever) is important to score well in the exam.

Don't add extra features for your IP or TP as you are better off spending that time focusing on other mods and it most likely won't add to your final marks too. Instead focus on just learning the core SWE concepts and do only what is necessary for the IP and TP.

Keep the project scope small and adjust according to your individual and team capabilities.

Please ensure that all your teammates are accountable, and have a stipulated deadline set for individual tasks. You probably won't want to deal with 17 files during a merge conflict at 1am :)

Set an expectation of your team early, make sure to be honest with each other! But still be ready in case anything happens.

Have a leadership role early and be prepared to take over if needed

For finals, do them as the sem goes not at the end cuz theres a lot to remember.

Start early or die due to the workload.

At the beginning of a project, put effort into design. It will pay off later. Once you start debugging, you'll thank yourself.

Set a suitable meeting time for your tP, preferably one or two days after the weekly deadline on Thursday, 11:59 PM.
Reason: Delegating of tasks can be done earlier so you would have more time to complete them, rather than rushing everything at the last minute.

When in doubt, ask in the forum. Profs (or other students) would most likely answer your question promptly.

Start early in everything (lecture, ip, tp).

Try your best to stay on track with the weekly tasks. Even though it might feel like you can catch up later, sometimes the work accumulates, and it seems even more difficult then.

The course is quite useful in making you think about how to work on a project, especially in the second half with your project team, and initially it might seem as unnecessary (for eg user stories), but it really helps you narrow down what exactly you want from the app, and what exactly should you focus on.

The tutorials are actually a great way to practically apply your weekly knowledge, and I have noticed some students tend to underestimate this.

Be wary of the crunch within the last few weeks of the semester when planning modules or allocating time for assignments.

For the PE, please read the bug grading instructions beforehand, and make sure you understand them.

Don't come in with the expectation of gaming the grading components.
If you don't have SWE experience, what this course teaches is quite important. It is more important for you to understand the concept compared to scoring the grade.

Do not push your work to the deadline, and start work on the deliverables early. There are often a lot of unforeseen challenges and it can be really stressful trying to resolve them nearing deadlines.

Do the Weekly Readings.

Follow the instructions very closely.

Just enjoy this mod and put as much effort as you have time for it/are willing to spend on it.
Most people seem to do well in this mod so don't stress.

Understand the requirements for the course' grades well, because if you put in effort but in the wrong aspect, you may not have reached your full potential for grades.

Read the textbook content bit by bit everyday before final exams. That way every knowledge can sink in.

I also feel that I now appreciate the experience of writing and receiving code reviews in CS2103T a lot. It matched well with the code review experience in my internship (choice of tone, wording, nits, common terminology, etc). Another positive experience is the use of debuggers. The Java debugger available to me in my internship was sufficiently similar to the IntelliJ debugger and I was able to use it to explain some unexpected test results that we encountered.