Create an app that conveniently lets users view live market data for both cryptocurrencies & stocks in one place. I have not seen this done correctly before anywhere, so I figured this would be a perfect project to gain additional practice with using industry standard API's. The end goal is for the market data to be updated in live time & for users to be able to create custom watchlists with any of the assets.

After the general layout in place, the main focus was finding the best, yet affordable API that provides the necessary data I'm looking for. Once the data is returned from the API, not only does it need to be just displayed, but it has to be structured in an organized matter while also keeping in mind the potential ability for it to be filtered & sorted accordingly.

The biggest factor that I did not fully take into account initially was how tight the call budget is with most these API's, especially for the datasets I am interested in. Recognizing that an API call is involved for getting each coin's logo, applying a filter/sort, updating of the stats every minute, etc. All of these calls add up & require extreme levels of optimization to keep things affordable without sacrificing content or quality of experience.

Modernize a website which is from the early 90's for one of Chicago's top dental clinics.

The first step in starting this project was identifying the main aspects that contribute to crafting an efficient online interaction. After reviewing research, I was able to recognize who is the target audience, what is the company's overall intended goal, and which content needs to be displayed. Upon confirming the most user-friendly layout, it was time to start coding. I proceeded with a mobile-first approach as I believe prioritizing the mobile experience is absolutely essential in this day and age. I chose not to use any pre-existing templates guaranteeing complete control of customization, in addition to putting my skills to the test in making sure they are up to par.

Since launching the renovated website, the results produced have exceeded expectations beyond what anyone had imagined. Within the first 6 months, the clinic set a personal all-time record for the most amount of new cases initiated in a single day ranging over a 30+ year span. There also was a significant increase (over 30%) in the average amount of new patients reported to discovering the clinic through Google. This goes to show that the Search Engine Optimization of the website was thoroughly accounted for and meets modern standards. Being able to boost a local business with a website that is aesthetically pleasing while functionally performing inspires me to continue grinding in becoming a top-tier developer, so that I can continue to help hardworking professionals grow their business online.

Learn the basics of React while at the same time build an online portfolio that will help me land my first official job in the web development industry.

My approach to accomplishing this project consisted of A) allocating the best resources to learn React from & B) having a clear direction of the desired design in mind.

Upon completion, I applied to front-end positions online with this new portfolio which helped me attract a handful of interviews, ultimately leading me to land my first job in the industry. The hiring manager later stated that among the couple hundred applicants at that time, my portfolio stood out the strongest due to the consistent high quality apparent throughout my work.

Polish up on my WordPress fluency by building a pretend but realistic online store, in order to see how powerful its ecommerce capabilities are.

I started by researching which is the best relevant tutorial on YouTube to reference from.

As beneficial as this project was for practicing WordPress, my biggest takeaway was realizing that picking the right theme is absolutely essential in guaranteeing that all possible standards can be met when designing your desired website. In this case, the Astra theme I used doesn't allow full customization unless you pay for the upgraded version. There were many times I found myself wanting to do something that's usually simple with CSS, however the full version was required for that extra control, like wanting to make the navbar sticky for example.

Utilize artificial intelligence to generate a website. The main goal is to understand what's the current state of this new technology in regards to web design & development.

Upon discovering Gamma App on my Instagram feed, I immediately signed up & proceeded with initiating the webpage generation process. The first step, which is the most important, is to provide a prompt that tells the webpage what topic it should be about. This is where I practiced outputting different prompt structure formulas until I identified the best combination in yielding a well laid out page relevant to the desired topic, in this case a crypto coin project.

Using artificial intelligence to generate a webpage is not something I ever thought I would be doing. Since this technology is still very new, the webpages generated sometimes feel limited or similar to a generic template. However, when done right, the results returned can be valuable in providing inpiration for potential layouts. This project was not only beneficial with practicing prompting, but I also gained an insightful perspective on the level of design output & page customization with the current state of artificial intelligence as a whole.