This week I focused on building out my front end. I refreshed my React skills and immersed myself in Material UI Component Library. At first I dove in to a free dashboard template from Material UI and unfortunately it was too complicated for me to use. While working with Claude AI to make a front end interface inspired by the free dashboard template and simple design elements, Claude asked if I would like for it to build a template for me. This template ended up being better than anything I could have made in a single day (the amount of time I assigned for this). I took the template and stepped in, modifying where I needed while refreshing my React muscles and learning a few things along the way. I extended some of the components and layouts as well as modified the forms and data to match my API. The next day I recreated the React project within my .NET core project. I connected it to my API with a CORS policy and implemented all the API calls needed to replace the mock data I used to implement the interface initially.

The great thing about this new front end app is that it gives me a foundation and styling language to build the wireframes for the rest of the project by extending the layout and design logic already in place.

With only three weeks remaining in the summer semester, I’ve decided to structure my time strategically. This week, I’m devoting myself entirely to learning, aiming to cover as many remaining topics as possible. Topics include Deployment with Docker Containers, CI/CD Pipelines, Logging and Monitoring, and more. Next week, I’ll shift focus to final implementation, incorporating as many of these learned concepts into my project as I can. In my final week, I’ll concentrate on polishing the project’s surface level details, completing my final report, and finishing any remaining documentation.

Meanwhile, everyone in my family has been sick including the baby which has caused me to fall a few days behind in my coursework and in this project. My main impediment is just catching up while running out of time for summer semester.

Upon reflecting, I noticed that Material UI is a fantastic way to dive into React without having to make a bunch of components. On top of that, using tools like Claude AI have a way of speeding up development in ways that always shock and surprise me. Combining Material UI and Claude were a winning combination to create a simple React MVP in a very short amount of time.

Here are some pictures:

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