GitHub
- Downloading Git - GitHub is a repository that makes it easy to share code with your group.
- Git Repositories and SourceTree - If your project requires Git to share code, SourceTree is an easy-to-use graphical interface 3rd party tool that allows you to skip using command lines. You can download it here: https://www.sourcetreeapp.com/. When you make an account use the same credentials as your Git account.
- TIP: we wanted to point out that fact that McComb’s offers students to upgrade their account. This provides the options to make repositories private, which is unavailable to the normal free account. API keys can safely be pushed into a private repo without compromising the application’s security.
Cherry Picking Github Commits
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GitLab
GitLab is a great alternative to GitHub that offers free private repos and automatic CI and unit testing for FREE! This can save your client money if they do not want their code out in the public but also do not want to pay for a GitHub subscription for devs. This also makes testing and deploying easier (automatic) if you can write a script. https://about.gitlab.com/
SharePoint
Overview
SharePoint is a Microsoft collaborative workspace environment.
With enough configuration, SharePoint can do nearly anything.
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This can be downloaded for free from Microsoft here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=35491
For developing forms in SharePoint, native forms provide some functionality (developed through the browser).
For more control, use InfoPath, a free Microsoft form editor.
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Users generally pay for servers and user licenses.
Total server costs vary greatly, but servers are generally $7000 each.
User licenses are usually ~$100 per user, but may be greater if extended functionality is required.
MS PowerBI – This visualization tool is fairly standard to integrate with a company’s existing technology if they have other Microsoft products (Excel, Access, SharePoint, etc.). It is pretty straightforward to develop visualization dashboards on PowerBI, and requires very little technical skill beyond plugging in the backend spreadsheet or database. Moreover, PowerBI allows for a free 90-day trial of their pro-level license that will help tremendously in both development and allowing the client to test-drive the full functionality of the tool.
MS Access – This tool is essentially a local database that you can query/filter using standard SQL syntax. If there is a list of queries that must be done on the database, it is fairly straightforward and recommended to write a macro that can execute all of the SQL statements in one click. If you are hooking Access up to remote Excel spreadsheets (hosted in something like SharePoint), make sure you use the correct URL filepath and not a local filepath when referencing the files.
MS SharePoint – Think of SharePoint almost as a Google Team Drive but for companies. This tool can potentially complicate development significantly if you don’t secure sufficient access for your team up-front but can be extremely useful in hosting/distributing your system if executed properly. Talk to the client early on and ask about setting up developer-level access for your team at the beginning of the project.