The vizualization app for tracking budget and spendings. Viz-Money takes your budget, expenses, or financial goals and vizualizes your progress. Whether you are on track to saving money or need to cut back on spending, Viz-Money will show you what needs to be done.
The goal was to learn how to implement D3.js in React to have a dynamic chart representing daily expenditures. Since React is relatively new, specifically hooks, many of the documentations on implementation were outdated and hard to find. This was a challenge in and of itself because it required more digging and research than what I had initially anticipated.
The very first thing I did was create a trello board with tasks to complete the project. Next, I distributed tasks to each day depending on how much time I needed to reach the goal. Finally, I broke down any tasks I did not fully comprehend through research and similar solutions.
I could not find any projects on the web similar to mine that I could lean on for learning purposes. First and foremost, I learned to focus and persevere until I had gotten my answers. This included reading over React and D3 documentation and testing through trial and error. I began to understand more of the syntax pertaining to D3 which I had never seen before prior to this project. I also learned more in depth the various states in React and how they render dynamically throughout each state.
I was not able to implement user authentication and custom database in the time I allotted myself, but I did gain a bit more experience in styling React apps with custom CSS.
This project was a really great exercise in learning new technology because it challenged me with research and focus. There were times I could have easily gotten distracted but I just kept pushing through. The hardest part was implementing the chart itself in React using hook state. Bringing Viz-Money to life without knowing what I was doing was a tough thing to sit with. However, I am glad I stuck with it because it gave me more self confidence in learning and my ability to learn new things. Overall, this project was super fun and educational.