Job Offer!!

Hey guys! So like I said last week, this internship can be really useful for my future. Turns out,  they like what Ive been doing so far and I already got a job offer from him! It was really informal, and I am not really sure how much I would get paid,  but it is a great start in just a matter of three weeks!

So this week was largely an unsuccessful week, unfortunately.  One of they key components of their software is recordings and narrations, which use Adobe Flash Player. The problem with this is, the code I write has no way of detecting the buttons on the flash player like it would on a regular website like Google or Amazon. So, I tried a unique approach that I was hoping would work: there is a method which moves the mouse to a certain place on the screen (meant for hover drop down menus), and then I could make the code "click" the button from there. But unfortunately,  it was unable to detect an element there, so it returned an error message; but I will keep on probing for a solution. To put this in perspective, even my coworkers at Looplogic had no clue how to go about this, so this task could be consuming my time for a couple more weeks! On top of this, uploading the document using my code has also been very challenging, as launching Chrome through the code has a reported bug that has not been fixed.

Keep following next week to see how I solve these daunting tasks ahead!

Week 2

So after working at Loop Logic for a couple weeks now, I have realized it is much easier to sit down for 7-8 a day and just try to figure out the problems with each test. I found that when I come in the next day, I lose my train of thought.

So far, I have just been learning C# as I test, and through Youtube videos I have actually become pretty proficient in a matter of a couple weeks! By writing these tests across various websites (I have done some for Amazon and Google), I have been able to become adept in writing this code. My job is to simulate every possible user action, and then give them my scripts for future use and integration into their software. I was able to successfully finish my first one, but it started getting more complicated test by test. The problem I am encountering right now is that I have to simulate user actions on Adobe Flash Player. Selenium Webdriver, the software I write my tests with, is not able to detect any buttons when a video of flash player pops up, which is where I have reached a big barricade. But I might be able to sidestep this issue, as I am currently learning how to navigate the mouse automatically with my tests.

As a sidenote, when I was bored at the office a few days ago, I made a test that actually writes out replies on Facebook based on the message!

Stay tuned on my journey, as hopefully I can solve this next week!

Real World Applications

Just a quick side note.. I was talking to a family friend about my internship this week and little did I know that the exact coding I am using (known as selenium webdriver) is actually very very useful in every field, from medicine to engineering. The code simulates user actions on a browser such as Cbrome for different purposes, usually just to make sure everything runs as planned.
So to establish some ethos, this family friend has a Masters degree in sociology but has studied all over the world and after making enough money he decided to start a software company that he hopes can revolutionize the home-nursing industry. As a employer, he told me that good scripters get paid up to $50/hr to write Selenium webdriver code (if it was a full time job that would be approximately 140k/yr!)!
Now thats some added motivation to get this down pat!

The Logic Behind Loop Logic

So let me get into what Loop Logic actually does. Basically, they have these marketing and business clients who buy their software, and it gives them a platform -- like Google Drive is for example-- to make presentations to show to clients. So why Loop Logic, as opposed to just use Google Drive? They have a many features that come in handy to those in the marketing industry, like it allows the people making the presentation to view who watched their presentations, when, or which parts even. A few more added features are presentations with polls and voice narration. I am still learning the capabilities of their software as well, so I will keep updating as I learn more!

First Week!

So I'm not going to lie, I thought that not only would I not be able to catch on since I just started learning C#, but I thought that working 5-7 hours a day doing the same thing would get monotonous and boring. But my experience this week shook all those negative perceptions away. I was able to completely script my first working test this week!
The capabilities of software and technology today are just mind boggling. My first test-- a very small part of it at least-- involved the computer automatically signing in to Google and typing my password automatically; it just amazed me! On top of that, this technology, allows software startups with so little resources-- not just this one, there are thousands-- to rapidly evolve and sustain success in the long run, and it is mainly due to the capability of the software in today's day and age. Another thing I realized is computer science is very, very easy to learn. And not just C#, this extends to Python, Java, and C+, and probably most of the languages being utilized the most. I found this out because on my quest to learn C#, I found other tutorials; A majority of these taught the entire language within a day or two of learning. The best part is, that simply learning a language that is actually used by software companies, like C# which is used for basically all Windows applications, you can actually secure a job, even without a degree!
Another cool part of the job is the 'aha moment'. I was working on that test three days-- thirteen hours-- in a row trying to figure out that one test, and it was definitely frustrating seeing the error message again and again and again. But after I finally figured out the last error, I had the aha moment; seeing the test run successfully, and the green check mark by the project in the run manager, really gave me a sense of relief and joy.