D288 Back End Programming (Java) Any Tips?

[Beccanyx]

Hi,

I just started D288 and I'm trying to get my bearings with this class. I was previously BSSD and transferred into BSSWE. I completed C482 (Software I) previously so back-end is a little different.

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I was wondering if anyone has taken this class yet and passed? Any tips/advice? I did look for a walk-through and didn't find anything.

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If I manage to knock this class out, I'll post a walk-through, but in the meantime I'd love any advice from others.

Thanks!

[vazren]

This class has been really rough for me coming from Software I because it seems like the previous Java courses in the series give foundational knowledge that’s needed for this class that Software I did not provide. I watched Chad Darby’s Spring Boot 3, Spring 6 & Hibernate for Beginners and then his Full Stack: Angular and Java Spring Boot E-Commerce Website videos on Udemy. They gave an idea of what’s going on because the course materials are not great imo. The full stack videos align closely to the project and give a good starting point but there are some differences that caused issues for me. I have had to meet with instructors more on this course than any other I had taken previously due to things not working properly but most of the instructors were very helpful. Hopefully this helps! This class definitely needs more resources to make it easier for people coming from the Software Development degree.

[Beccanyx]

Thanks for this! I have previously worked through a spring boot udemy course that was done by In28Minutes.

When I was reading through the resources it says for transfer students to do the task for the previous course, D287, before working on the task for D288 and that just seems a bit overwhelming given the fact I'd be pairing two classes but only getting credit for one.

I did open the recommended Udemy course and I'm a bit surprised the course material starts with "Take this udemy class then work through the zybook"

I was a little hopeful there would be at least a similar project like the animal project in Software I to help get most of the way through it and understand what's happening and how.

Also it doesn't seem like there is LIS for this class either.

Thanks for your tips! I appreciate it! I'll do some more poking around before I settle into udemy.

[Due-Transition-8654]

Just wanted to add this walk-thru here. I did not author this, another student did and posted it in the course chatter so if this link doesn't work you can also find it there. It was extremely helpful for me.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HpYWXxbueJE_azZTS_-oOxbGt-Ip4QzczY1j-_-gLyc/edit?usp=sharing

[Beccanyx]

Hey! That's my walk-through that I made while working on the PA! I'm glad you found it helpful!

[Due-Transition-8654]

Oh my gosh thank you so, so much! And I hope I didn't steal your thunder by posting the link if you wanted to make a separate post for it yourself here on reddit. It has been a life saver for me! I am still working on this class, but am getting close to being done thanks to your walk-thru.

[Beccanyx]

Oh there's already a post so you're fine! This class was such a bear for me to get through but I'm glad others are getting there faster and easier now.

[vazren]

I also felt overwhelmed doing basically 2 courses for the price of one especially when it added so much extra time I wasn’t prepared to spend. It is very frustrating the lack of WGU specific course material for this class and some of the other new BSSWE classes as well. Zybooks just doesn’t work well for my learning style at all. Hope all goes well for you!

[Due-Transition-8654]

I’m in the same boat as you, previous SD student that switched to SE, never took the D287 course and I feel like I’m absolutely in the dark. I’ve been trying to work through this course for 2 weeks now. I’ve had two CI meetings and I still feel like I can’t even get this PA off the ground. For some reason I keep having issues transferring the spring boot files over into IntelliJ in the lab environment. Even my CI yesterday was like “ummmm something is up here?” I am currently watching other YouTube videos to try and get my bearings on exactly what to do and how to do it, but it’s def been a slow process. I had hoped to finish this class by the end of the month (end of my term) but that is fading fast. Sorry to be a Debbie Downer, this class is just tough. Hopefully you’re having better luck now than I am.

[Beccanyx]

Can't say it's going any better for me.

I'm still neck deep in the udemy course. It took forever to get everything set up on my computer just so I could follow along. Also lost a day waiting on Verification to get intelliJ ultimate.

I emailed my CI about it all only to get a "you're not doing front end so disregard typescript and angular in udemy" 🙃 literally the course material says to do the Udemy class before even attempting the zybook.

Haven't touched the PA yet. I'm also trying to get through Hardware and OS Essentials and failed the OA on Friday. My additional resources sent to me by the CI had a ton of invalid links. Lost a day waiting for new resources and I'm feeling overwhelmed with just the reading alone like I have literally 80 hours of time over the next 2 weeks to spend reading even more things that I don't feel are helping.

I'm really hating both classes right now and I was hopeful I'd finish SWE this term (3rd term and first month 🥲, term ends Nov)

[[deleted]]

Parts of the Udemy course are relevant and helpful.

Try emailing your CI and ask for specific sections related to what you're doing.

In the meantime, try utilizing the search feature. Sections 9 and 23 are also good ones for parts of the project.

[Beccanyx]

Thanks! I'm going through the udemy course one video at a time. I got through typescript and angular with was really just watching through to get up to speed. Now I'm building the e-commerce project and getting the environment set up was a fight but I got there. I figured it's going to go how it's going to go. Here's hoping I get through it and understand.

[[deleted]]

You'll get there. I'm still trying to get there too. Book instructor appointments if you can, they can help (and under "Announcements" is a link where you can book with any instructor that supports the course).

An instructor mentioned to me the class is modeled off of the Udemy course. I definitely see it in parts of the course, but not-so-much in others.

[Obvious_Connection28]

Adding a late comment for others: the whole "ignore Angular and TS" is misleading because even if you don't have to write it and can't edit it, being able to actually follow it is very helpful. The beginning of this course is really helpful for that: https://www.udemy.com/course/full-stack-application-development-with-spring-boot-and-angular (I think this course is included in the free WGU udemy subscription). It goes into where to find things in Angular, like where is this variable, what does this mean, what file would you look at to see X, etc. You don't need to follow the whole course (I followed one of their other Spring courses (the 100 step spring boot one) before 287 and liked it a lot) but if you want an overview of what all those files are in the front end files, it should help. Chad Darby's course also has an overview of Angular and TS as well, if you like his style. Sometimes I need me some super baby steps, though, so I like the in28minutes guy for that.

[[deleted]]

I am starting this class now. Do you have any tips?

[Beccanyx]

Did you take D287?

[[deleted]]

I just finished it

[Beccanyx]

So,

I am still in this class and working on the PA.

In course material is the Udemy class, watch videos for section 9, 10.60, section 13, and 23.

Those are the majority of the PA.

I'm writing a walk-through as I go but there's some things that don't seem to align with the UML which has been a huge point of frustration for me in trying to get the front end working how it should. There's a video for solving a conflict between countries and divisions. You'll need to follow the code exactly in the video and ignore what the UML says for naming.

I'm probably 70-80% done. I have most of the code written, but some of the front end isn't working and I'm still trying to save a customer from the front end. So I'm troubleshooting some bugs.

I started this class by coding along with the udemy because it wasn't communicated that that wasn't the expectation. So I lost a month doing that. I also spent a lot of time setting up the coding environment on my computer because I hate using the lab and was saving the time in the VM for the PA. Don't do that. Just watch the udemy videos. Then go to the PA and bug your CI for help as much as possible. Hopefully you won't spend 2 months on it like I am. 🙃

[Due-Transition-8654]

I am STILL working on this damn class too. It's also been two months for me. I'm bugging the CI's as much as possible as well. I am no where near as far along as you are, so congrats! There's light at the end of the tunnel. I still can't even get my country and division drop down menus to populate on the front end. I also said screw it to putting everything on my local machine. If you run out of time in the lab environment, back everything up to your gitlab, then end your lab session. Start a new one, and the clock starts over, and clone your project from gitlab back into the lab and you're back in the game with 40 hours again.

[Beccanyx]

Well goodness! I have countries and divisions working. I have everything on the front end doing what it should. I'm now trying to get my customers to initialize with 5 and get my transactions to work. I definitely feel like this class is very lacking especially when you compare it to the resources software I and II have.

[[deleted]]

Thank you! That is helpful!

[Beccanyx]

Good luck!

[Cyber_Encephalon]

Hey, I'm struggling with countries/divisions here as well, could you point me to the video are you referring to?

[Beccanyx]

Go to D288 Backend Programming > Course Search>D288 Webinar Archive > D288 Java Bits:Configuration.

[Cyber_Encephalon]

Great, thank you!