GSOC Long-answer questions

My coding passion ignited in 8th grade with MIT App Inventor, where I built apps like "Study Time Management," earning finalist and winner titles in Google Code to Learn. This platform sparked my journey, fostering creativity through high school projects and connecting me to a global community. Now, as a GSoC participant, I’m eager to enhance MIT App Inventor with the Assets Library, a feature to streamline asset management for educators and students. This opportunity lets me give back by empowering new developers, drawing on my early experiences to improve usability and accessibility, and strengthening the ecosystem that shaped my career.

I conducted a workshop on MIT App Inventor for grades 5-6, introducing block-based programming to spark creativity among beginners, much like it did for me in school. Platforms like App Inventor and Scratch are vital for young learners, offering a low-barrier entry to coding that fosters problem-solving and innovation. As someone who started with these tools, I’m passionate about making programming accessible, a value I’ll bring to the Assets Library project. By enhancing its usability, I aim to support educators and students, ensuring the next generation of developers can easily explore and build, continuing the cycle of learning I benefited from.

My GSoC proposal develops an Assets Library for MIT App Inventor, enabling users to upload, organize (via folders), and import assets (images/sounds) across projects through a responsive Designer panel. Leveraging UserFileData for storage and GCS for scalability, it addresses educator, student, and developer needs (Pages 7-8). The 175-hour project includes a UI with drag-and-drop, search/filter features, and robust validation refactored from UploadServlet (Pages 10-11). With milestones from June 2nd to August 25th (Page 14), I’ll tackle challenges like performance and compatibility (Page 13), delivering a tool to enhance workflow efficiency and align with App Inventor’s mission to simplify app creation.

Proposal Google Doc

Proposal PDF

I’m proficient with development tools essential for this project, including Git and GitHub for version control, and JavaScript, React, Node.js, and TypeScript for coding. I use VS Code as my primary editor, Postman for API testing, and Chrome DevTools for debugging web applications, with experience across Windows and Linux environments (Page 15). At SDSLabs, I’ve leveraged these tools to build production-grade apps, ensuring scalability and performance. For the Assets Library, I’ll utilize GWT, JSNI, and App Engine, drawing on my hands-on experience to implement a responsive UI and robust backend, aligning with App Inventor’s technical stack.

I’ve collaborated effectively in teams using Slack, Trello, and Zoom, contributing to projects like Quizio and Evolve Network. My engagement with online communities includes active participation in Stack Overflow, GitHub, and the MIT App Inventor forum since school, where I’ve shared knowledge and learned from peers (Page 5). As a core SDSLabs member for over a year, I’ve managed large codebases, navigating complex architectures for production apps. This experience, combined with hackathon teamwork (e.g., Move on Aptos 2024), equips me to collaborate with mentors and the App Inventor community, ensuring a successful Assets Library implementation.