As we already mentioned in a previous blog article, as part of our long-term cooperation with universities, we help students with their final theses and offer them real experience working on our projects. This was the case with Šárka, who Ondřej Zýka took under his wing.

Like every master’s student, Šárka waited until just before the last year of study to select the topic of her thesis. Writing a master’s thesis is very time-consuming and thus difficult to manage if the student has a job. Šárka was already working at Profinit at the time, so the best solution was to somehow combine her thesis with her work. Therefore, she decided to ask if she could do her thesis directly at Profinit. And we were happy to accommodate her.

We gave Šárka a variety of topics to choose from. Some were from our sister company MANTA, which deals with data flow analysis, others were from the DATA_FRAME project, our solution that automates data warehouse development. Since all the topics were interesting, it was a difficult decision. In the end, she went with the DATA_FRAME project, specifically the creation of a new component for code management. Šárka had very little experience with data warehouses (she had only learned about them in her classes), so for her, it was a difficult task. However, it was also a unique opportunity to learn something new—she had to study detailed information about data warehouses and the history of slowly changing data, look into every nook and cranny of PL/SQL and try working with Oracle APEX.

As is already true of software development, problems large and small inevitably arise over time, and it was no different in the case of Šárka’s master’s thesis. Most of the problems were related to customizing the system design for Oracle APEX. The biggest pitfalls were associated with the need to dynamically adjust the screens for different dials. When solving difficult problems, she always consulted the project manager, Ondřej Zýka, who has extensive experience from his many years of work in the field. She solved minor problems and implementation issues independently, using the manuals for the relevant tools or Internet discussion forums.

Šárka managed to complete her thesis on time, and we are very glad to say that she was also able to defend it and successfully pass the state exam.

If you are interested in delving deeper into the issue of code lists in the DATA_FRAME application, you can borrow Šárka’s thesis from the technical library or find it online at dspace.cvut.cz.

Authors: Šárka Weberová & Peter Čmelík