CS-499_Capstone

Jordan Mitchell’s Capstone Portfolio

Hello! Welcome to my portfolio. Below are three key projects that demonstrate my experience working with software design, algorithms, and databases. Each section below includes both the original work and enhanced versions completed during my capstone.

Assessment

My Time at SNHU (Click to Read More)
Over the course of this program, I’ve grown a lot as a developer. Coming into it, I had some basic coding experience, but I didn’t fully understand how to build real, usable software. Through each class and project, I’ve been able to take what I’ve learned and apply it in more hands on ways. This final capstone gave me a great opportunity to pull everything together and reflect on how much I’ve improved and where I want to go from here. One of the biggest things I’ve learned is how important it is to connect with others. While I didn’t get to collaborate on coding projects with my peers, the discussion boards were really helpful for sharing and hearing new ideas. Communicating clearly and taking feedback in stride have made a big difference in how I approach problems. I’ve also gotten a lot better at writing clean, readable code. Adding comments that actually help someone understand what’s going on, using good structure, and thinking about how others might read or use my code are all things I’ve practiced throughout the program. Another key area I’ve developed is how I communicate technical ideas. Whether it’s explaining how a function works or writing a summary for a user or mock stakeholders, I’ve had lots of chances to practice getting my point across without being overly complicated. My artifact narratives and the code review video especially helped me practice being more confident and clear when talking about my work and thought processes. When it comes to solving problems with code, I’ve learned how to think things through more carefully. Using pseudocode first really helps break down bigger tasks into smaller steps. I’ve also become more comfortable choosing the right data structures and understanding how to balance performance with simplicity. The CS-300 project especially challenged me to come up with a logic structure that not only worked, but made sense to someone reading the code. I’ve also gained more experience using professional tools and techniques. I’ve learned how to follow a software development process from planning to testing, and how to write code that meets certain standards. I spent time reviewing and improving my work to make it more efficient and easier to understand. That process showed me the value of slowing down to really think about each part of the program. Security was something I thought of, but didn't know how to approach at first. Now I understand how deeply important it is. I’ve learned to look for vulnerabilities, validate inputs, and avoid risky coding practices. I also think more carefully now about how a program handles sensitive data or how even minor user actions can affect the system. These are things I know I’ll carry forward in future projects, as they are not things you should ever stop doing. Looking at all three of my artifacts together, I think they give a good picture of what I can do. The weight tracker app shows how I can build software that’s useful and easy to use. The algorithms project highlights my ability to write and improve complex, logic-heavy code. The animal shelter dashboard is an example of how I can work with real data, visualize it, and turn it into something meaningful. Each one touches on different parts of what I’ve learned in this program, and I’m proud of how they came out. Putting this portfolio together helped me realize how far I’ve come. It’s also made me excited to keep learning. I want to keep growing as a developer, improve my skills, and eventually work in a place where I can build software that helps people. I’ve got a clearer idea of where I’m headed next. I know what I enjoy, what I still need to work on, and the kind of work I want to do. This program gave me a strong foundation, and I’m ready to take the next step.

Click here to view the live portfolio

Projects Overview

CS-360: Weight Tracker App

Category: Software Design & Engineering
Description: An Android app designed to help users log their weight and track progress toward personal goals. The enhancement added dynamic progress updates and improved in-code documentation.

What I Learned
Working on the weight tracker app helped me strengthen my understanding of user focused design and mobile development. I met the course learning outcomes related to software design and engineering by implementing clean architecture, improving documentation, and making the interface more intuitive based on feedback. I was able to hone my ability to apply design principles in a way that balances functionality with usability.

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CS-300: Algorithms & Data Structures Project

Category: Algorithms and Data Structures
Description: A C++ program that uses a binary search tree to manage and sort academic course data. The enhancement focused on logic improvements, duplicate prevention, and sorting functionality.

What I Learned
This project gave me the chance to improve my problem solving and algorithm design skills. I reinforced concept surrounding data structures and algorithmic thinking, which are two of the program outcomes. I also worked on improving the logic so it was easier to follow and ran more efficiently. This gave me the chance to refactor parts of the code thoughtfully and think through how different conditions and edge cases were handled.

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CS-340: Animal Shelter Dashboard

Category: Databases
Description: A MongoDB-powered dashboard that visualizes animal shelter outcomes. Enhancements included optimization for large datasets and additional graph options for user interaction.

What I Learned
The animal shelter project was a great opportunity to experiment with data analysis and full stack development by building a dynamic, interactive dashboard. I used tools like Dash and Pandas to connect a database, manage user input, and display the data in a way that made sense. I feel that it helped me meet the learning outcome related to working with databases and current data tools, and also showed me how to make complex data easier for others to understand.

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Code Review

Watch my recorded code review, where I walk through each artifact and discuss my enhancement plan:
My Code Review on YouTube

More About This Portfolio

This site was created as part of the CS-499 Capstone to demonstrate: