When we started to tackle this project, there were multiple questions we had to keep in mind. What coding languages would we use? How would we divide the work? Could we work well enough together to provide an outcome we could all be proud of? Any coding project can be daunting, but working in a team can add more stress. How can you make sure four brains are on the same track?
Luckily for us four, our group seemed to mesh together very well. We started by using Alexander's foundation XML and schema of the base document to give us a platform to go from. After that, we each ran through the markup and edited tags and formations we thought could be improved or clarified. Working from there, we used XSLT to create an HTML web-page. We then created CSS to style our pages. We utilized a shared repository in GitHub where we could push up files we had edited and worked on, and pull other's completed work to our own personal files. Schemas and schematrons helped us to check that our work was functioning the way we wanted it to, and that nothing had been crossed between pushes and pulls. After we had the XSLT in place for our website, we then moved on to creating complimentary HTML and CSS pages to form our functioning website that you see here.
Choosing your coding languages for a project can be a complicated thing, because there are some you can't have without another. Each language we used in this project is intertwined with each other, creating a web that holds up our work and our website. Luckily for us, we had a brilliant professor who taught us the methods and tricks we needed to use along the way to succeed (thank you Dr. B, you really are the best).
Of course it all can't be sunshine and rainbows throughout a project, which we all realized quickly as we adjusted to working alongside others, and on a bigger scale than we were used to. There were a few instances where all four of us were pushing and pulling files at the same time and had a few hiccups with the code trying to consolidate the chages it was given. Luckily most of these problems happened while we were all on a zoom call together, and we were able to put our minds together to find bits and pieces that need to be changed or rearranged. Coding can be one of the most rewarding but also frustrating things you can do. For instance, Zak had an issue where he didn't specify XPATH enough, and overwrote the word "ANGELS" in a couple places with a link he was attempting to put into our document. These things can happen a lot easier than you'd think! We're still working on polishing up everything we want to accomplish with this project, and we're sure to make more mistakes on the way there, but we're all glad to be having the experiences and gaining the knowledge.
Giving our time and effort to something that has a big visual to show for it has been extremely rewarding. It's an amazing thing to be able to physically see the output of your hard work. By working together, we were able to strengthen each other’s knowledge and accomplish far more than we each could have done individually. Our group stuck together and overcame a lot of different issues and errors that came about while we were working on our coding and website styling. Some of the members were more aware of how to work with XSLT and XPath, and some were better with CSS and HTML constraints. Due to this, we all were able to meet in the middle in some way with our contributions. We could not have pulled this off without each other, and we're all extremely proud of what we've accomplished together. We hope that you can see the time and love we've put into this project. Thank you!
https://dh.howard.edu/ajc_plays/1/