Update for the Week of Aug 11 - Aug 17

First of all, I wanted to add a quick update.  As can be noticed from lack of posts on this blog, I have been slacking off on my study with MOOCs courses.  The situation probably won't change for next of couple of weeks as I have some tasks for work that is due next Friday and as I have a vacation coming up in two weeks.

Having said that, I have completed the week 1 of CS 169.2x Software as a Service - a follow-up course to previously mentioned CS 169.1x - Software as a Service, which I have mentioned in my previous post.  I believe this is second or third offering of this course and this offering started on August 13.

For those who have not taken CS 169.1x, it is a fantastic course on Software Engineering course.  It not only provides thorough introduction to Agile development methodology, with coverages on such topics as Test-Driven Development and Behaviour-Driven Development, it gives an excellent overview on Ruby programming language and Rails web framework.  After taking the course twice, including when it was originally offered on Coursera, and having volunteered as a World TA a couple of times, it, to me, is one of the best courses I have taken, and I highly recommend it to any first and second year CS students (or anyone studying CS for that matter).

Now, back to CS 169.2x, this course picks up whether CS 169.1x left off, with coverages on such topics as refactoring and project management.  As someone who is working in the industry, these really are crucial skills for any Software developers, and I am looking forward to enrich my skill in these areas.  The first quiz are not due to until Monday, so if you are interested, but haven't registered, it is not too late.

Coming back to the lessons from the week 1, the course covered some advanced Rails functionality.  It first introduced the Aspect-Oriented Progamming (AOP) and how some of the concepts from AOP are incorporated into Rails through its validation and filter.  Also, we have learned how Rails support many-to-many relationship and some tips and tricks on use of Rails routes.