This blog article argues whether database seeding should make the application look as if ordinary users have already been using it, in contrast to showcasing edge cases and test suits. While seed scripts in reality can be used to accomplish both the argument is not that seed data can never support testing but instead that one development dataset should not be filled with every technical edge case.

1. Introduction Rev Match Market is a used car marketplace lead by the left right swiping mechanism for marking interest in used car postings and connecting buyers with sellers. This blog post describes the second phase of development that took place on this project. Initially a MVP was made in the 1st phase that already […]

Somewhere in the middle of this semester, after wiring up an encrypted database, a category-learning system, recurring expense logic, and local notifications, I realized I had no idea what all of that actually cost the user in the first few seconds after tapping the app icon. Every one of these features runs the moment the […]

When I added local database encryption to HomeBudget+ this semester, I made the decision mostly on principle: a personal finance app should protect its data if the phone is lost, so the SQLite database is encrypted with SQLCipher. What I hadn’t actually measured was what that decision costs in performance. This article is that measurement […]

Abstract Many mobile apps look simple until they must preserve an unfinished edit, work offline, survive a crash, and reconcile changes from two devices. Then “save and sync” becomes an architecture, and a promise to the user. An offline-first iOS app treats its local store as the immediate source of truth. User actions update it […]

Software projects are often described through architecture, data models, and technical milestones. Interface design tends to appear later in that story, as if it were simply the visible layer added once the important work is complete. During the development of this personal planning app, I experienced almost the opposite. The design process helped define how […]

Software projects often begin with a feature list. This one began with a feeling: everyday planning tools are everywhere, and yet personal organization still often feels fragmented. Calendars live in one place, tasks in another, reminders somewhere else, and the mental work of connecting them is left to the user. The goal of this project […]

For my second semester project, I continued working on HomeBudget+, the offline budgeting app I originally built in Semester 1. The first version could track expenses and income, but categories had to be selected manually and recurring payments had to be entered again every month. This semester, I extended the app with automatic categorization, recurring […]