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Here is a sample of our website!
Inspiration
As we discussed our many printing predicaments that have occurred just this semester, our group decided that enough was enough. We would build a website that would show where the nearest functional printer was located, in order to avoid time-wasting and late assignments.
What it does
Our website uses a Google Maps API with many overlays to indicate to the customer where certain utilities near him/her could be found. Our initial idea was to only show available printers (with a reporting mechanism so that we could disable the jammed/broken printers from appearing on the map), but we decided to add on two more utilities- microwaves and fun sculptures!
How we built it
Using a Google Maps API and a google cloud platform hosted server, we coded in Python, HTML, JavaScript, and CSS to ensure that we could control data flow as well as improve appearance of our website.
Challenges we ran into
Since only one of our team members had played around with HTML, some of the most time-consuming code to write was in HTML, as we had to devote some time into learning about its capabilities. Other challenges included unfamiliarity with JavaScript and figuring out how to send data between from our front end to our back end appliances.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We are proud of having a functional website, as well as having learned so much this weekend and enjoying ourselves while doing so!
What we learned
We learned that in computer science, it is truly preferred to have a passion for what you are doing (even if you have little clue as to what you are doing) than being an expert if you have little to no motivation. Although we came in not knowing much about web development and about the behind-the-scenes action that comes with web development, we can end this weekend indulging in the fact that we learned much more than we could have ever imagined.
What's next for VU Finder
We have many additional features that we would love to implement for VU Finder. One of the next steps we would like to take is to build a mobile application for our wesbite- this should make it much easier to use and easier to achieve better location accuracy results with GPS tracking. We also plan on adding more essentials to our website, such as vending machines, water bottle fillers, and maybe even a special events tab!
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