Purpose, Names, and Other Things

I created this blog to chronicle the progress of my senior honors thesis. If you're reading, you probably already know something about my thesis. However, I'll start by providing some background for the uninformed.

I am Allen Boone, and I'm a senior studying computer science at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. To graduate with honors, I'm required to complete an honors thesis my senior year. My thesis is actually more of a project. I am going to create some software, and the actual paper will detail that software--how it was made, the algorithms it employs, the design decisions behind it, how to use it, and so on. I intend this blog to serve many purposes, but one of the foremost is to hold raw writing material for when I formally write the thesis paper. Rather than worry about the paper while coding the software, I can use the blog to keep track of the process, providing a loose rough draft of the paper as I go.

The project itself is to develop an HTML5 Game framework. A more detailed description of the project can be found in the thesis prospectus [link to prospectus -- edit in later]. The short version is that the framework will utilize HTML5's canvas API to make developing awesome browser games a fun and easy experience. It will provide modules to handle graphics, input, control flow, internationalization, and other useful game components.

My goal is to update this blog with a detailed post about the project's progress at least once a week. The progress report will include a description of what I intended to do that week, what I was able to do, any blocks or problems I encountered, and what I plan to do the next week. I'll also post smaller updates periodically as they're warranted. The more detailed posts will serve as a form of accountability for me and as a way for my thesis advisor and other interested parties to stay informed of my progress. The lesser updates will be for record or just for fun.

Of course, it may seem strange that the blog is titled "Glob Games" and not something more academic. I recently realized that I would need a good name for my framework. CS4410ThesisBoone makes for an ugly directory, namespace, and blog title. Something with more brevity works better for those things. Unfortunately, "Glob Games" is the best I could produce in a short timeframe. The name may change, but for the sake of avoiding confusion during development, it will remain "Glob Games" at least until the thesis is finished.

I tried to build an acronym, but I couldn't get a good one to work. I also tried taking the Java approach to naming and chose from a pool of completely unrelated names. I found I couldn't easily get my mind away from existing tech titles. However, somewhere in the midst of that brainstorming "Glob Games" popped into my head, and I decided to go with it. I could easily see coding Javascript that looked like Glob.drawSprite({x: 3, y: 100, anim: lemurRunning}) rather than using some ugly namespace like HONThesisSp2012. Plus, it's alliterative, and I'm fond of alliteration. 


If you're interested in my thesis, check back here each week for progress reports. I'm also open to suggestions. The project will certainly change and grow as time marches on, and input will be valuable in that process.