CST 438 Week 8

 Question: List the 5 most important things that you learned in the course, and why you chose them.

1. My preferred development style is Agile

I discovered that the way I naturally work — iterating, adjusting, and refining based on feedback — aligns with Agile principles. For game development, especially something evolving like Wealth & War, it’s unrealistic to finalize everything upfront. Agile supports continuous improvement and player‑driven updates.

2. Communication is the foundation of any group project

The group project in this class reinforced that strong communication matters more than individual skill. When expectations are clear and everyone stays aligned, the project moves forward smoothly. When communication breaks down, even simple tasks become complicated.

3. UML diagrams and documentation are essential tools

Learning Sequence Diagrams and Use Case Diagrams helped me understand how to express system behavior clearly. For game design, these diagrams help me plan interactions, avoid confusion, and keep the project organized. Good documentation reduces mistakes later.

4. End‑to‑end testing should be a small part of the test suite

I learned that end‑to‑end tests should only make up around 5% of total testing. This made me rethink my Unity workflow, since I used to rely almost entirely on end‑to‑end tests. Now I understand the importance of unit and integration tests for faster, more reliable coverage.

5. Flexibility and adaptation are necessary to make learning useful

The biggest takeaway is that learning only matters if I can adapt it to my own projects. Whether it’s Agile methods, communication habits, UML diagrams, or testing strategies, I need to adjust these concepts to fit my workflow. Being flexible allows me to apply what I’ve learned instead of treating it as theory. This mindset helps me grow as a developer.