Logan Ragland
Computer Scientist
"Technology should be created and utilized for the greater good.
Merging my skills as a developer with my passion for the environment,
I aim to build programs that create positive change in the world"
Python
My primary language for quick side certifications. Python allowed me to connect to the OpenAI API and send queries to ChatGPT from inside my programs. While I often prefer statically typed skills for their structure and stronger performance, Pythons unrivaled ability to connect to APIs, plug ins, and more make it undoubtably the best option to write many programs.
C++
My main language for low level, high-performance programs. My c++ courses have deepened my understanding of memory management, pointers, and advanced data structures (like linked lists, queues, stacks, etc). While I explicitly learned how to use these in c++, the ideas transfer to my other known skills very well.
JavaScript
The foundational language for all my web development. While I often use frameworks, my knowledge of core JavaScript is essential for understanding how to utilize the strengths of said frameworks.
React
My go-to library for building clean, and more importantly, component-based UX/UI. The stars in the background, for example, are a component I downloaded and easily applied to this page. This website was built from scratch using React and NextJS (as well as Tailwind!). Having used raw HTML/CSS/JS to build a website before, the benefits of using this framework are very noticable.
PHP
While somewhat outdated, the first full stack website I created utilized php as the main logic language. I used PHP to query/adjust a database, check input using regex, and maintain security. PHP is also where I was first introduced to key-value pairs, which quickly became one of my most used data structures.
SQL
SQL is the main language I have used for interacting with a database. Using SQL, and a MySQL database, I learned how to construct a database to fit my needs, understood how to use relationships (like One-to-One connections, One-to-Many Connections, etc.), and applied these skills to a full stack website.
Certifications
Information Technology Specialist - HTML and CSS
Information Technology Specialist - Javascript
Information Technology Specialist - Software Development
App Development - Database Application Development
App Development - Computer & Mobile Applications
App Development - Programming
Business Professionals of America | Web Application Team | 3rd Nationally (2023)
I lead a team for the Business Professionals of America Web Application Team (V04). For this competition, we were tasked with creating a database-driven Website with server-side functionality. We chose to make an "all in one" educational website, similar to Canvas, Schoology, and Powerschool. This required us to create a complex database, with each page displaying different information based on authorization levels. Teachers could upload content, create and join courses, create lessons, quizzes, grade assignments, and much more. Students, on the other hand, could only join classes, not create them. They could complete assignments, watch videos, see their grades, and more. Admins could delete accounts, change authorization level, see all responses, and perform similar backend jobs. All accounts could change their information, profile picture, username, password, what classes they were in, etc. If you want to learn more about this site, we made a walk through video that shows off the capabilities of our website.
Business Professionals of America | Web Design Team | National Competitor (2022)
I was a national competitor for Web Design (435) Competition. For this event, we were tasked with creating a purely front end website. This project was our first dive into the world of web languages. We coded this website only using raw HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. As our first major project, this was a significant learning experience. We quickly realized how difficult creating websites without a library was, which gave us a new found appreciation for why modern tools like Tailwind, React, and Bootstrap exist. Although this project had a significant number of issues that, due to our inexperience, we were unable to see before it was too late, we learned from our errors. We improved on many of the shortcomings of this project to create a far more industry-acceptable program the following year, in the Web Application Competition mentioned prior. Working on this project was a strong introduction to programming in a team and managing a development workflow.
I also love photography! Here are some of my favorite pictures I've taken:
