Grade Aid Finally Getting Its Recognition? 🎓

Big news! After roughly two years, Grade Aid is finally getting attention within the Howard County School system. I’m scheduled to give a presentation on February 28th, and I’m equal parts excited and terrified. Fingers crossed that all this effort is about to pay off!

My First Dance with Code Generation 🤖

Two weeks ago, if someone mentioned code gen, I would’ve run for the hills. But now? It’s actually not the scary monster I imagined.

I initially feared code gen would:

  • Generate incomprehensible code
  • Add unnecessary complexity
  • Leave me helpless when debugging

But after implementing it for JSON serialization in Flutter, I realized it’s more of a time-saving ally than a complexity demon. The generated code wasn’t some alien language – it was practically identical to what I would’ve written by hand. I even found myself using the generated code as a reference for solving problems outside its scope. So, code gen gets a passing grade… for now!

A Tango with Death (aka Food Poisoning) 🤢

On a less technical (but far more dramatic) note, I got hit with food poisoning just as I was diving into the saving strategies work. One week down the drain, and I genuinely thought I was meeting my maker. I’m back now, though my homework situation is looking about as healthy as I was during that week.

Escaping Over-Scoping Hell 😅

Classic developer trap: I had ONE job – implement a JSON file save/load system. Instead, I went down the rabbit hole of planning a complete app refactor with Chrome-style tabs, ID management, and provider scopes. Hours lost theorizing about feature implementations until I finally realized I’d lost the plot. The good news? After getting back on track, the app is now in a semi-functional state (if we ignore those pesky rotation issues).

The Pretty Factor ✨

The UI improvements have taken this from “side project” to “wow, that’s actually nice!” Small tweaks made a huge difference:

  • Increased on-screen agent selection
  • Added a dotted grid background (personal favorite!)

Looking at the before and after, it’s hard to believe it’s the same app:

Early image of Icarus

Current image of Icarus

The Updated To-Do List 📝

  • FIXING ROTATION (seeking divine intervention)
  • Dynamically scaling ability widgets (prayers welcome)
  • ✅ Making everything pretty (DONE!)
  • Fixing center point issues (ETA: somewhere between tomorrow and never)
  • More painting options and proper undo functionality
  • ✅ Saving capabilities (DONE!)
  • That eternally promised YouTube video (it’s coming… eventually 😅)

P.S. Keep an eye out for my upcoming Zen Browser YouTube video! Don’t forget to subscribe to catch it when it drops! 🎥