C968 Tips and Rant
Hey everyone,
I just passed the C968 Software I (C#) and I wanted to share some things I wish I knew going in because this course is a little bit inconsistent in some aspects so I decided to create this post.
Tools:
Download 2026 Visual Studio Community Edition (Free)
Once you download and install it:
- Create a new project → In the search type: Windows Forms App (.NET Framework)
- Set your project name → [YourName]InventorySystem
- Location → leave default or set your own location
- Solution name → leave default
- Framework → .NET Framework 4.8
Now you're ready to start creating the GUI. I created all 3 GUIs before I worked on the backend classes and logic. The UML class diagram helps out so much.
The inconsistency problem:
The course gives you four different sources of truth (okay maybe three):
- UML class diagram (source: Task 1)
- GUI mock-up (source: Task 1)
- Evaluation Test Cases (C968) (source: C968 site page)
- C968 C# GUI Mock-up in action (example) (source: wguconnect → how to approach...)
The problem? They don't always agree with each other.
For the most part, they agree but I've found that the UML says one thing, the mock-up shows another thing, the Evaluation Test Cases another, and the Mock-up in action video shows another thing.
For example, the UML uses "InStock" but the GUI shows "Inventory." The Evaluation Test Cases rubric asks for a "Remove Part" button but the mock-up asks for a "Delete" button. Watching the instructor video, you think you have to add tool tips and set colors. It's frustrating, but here's the rule I used:
The UML wins for code → the GUI mock-up for presentation → the submission page rubric wins for everything else. The instructor video is a suggestion on how you can approach it.
The deadlock nobody warns you about (if following the instructor example):
The app is supposed to block you from deleting a product that has associated parts. That makes sense. But in the instructor demo, they have a validation request in the Product form: "must have at least one part to save" which I don't recommend.
That creates a situation where you can never remove parts from a product to delete it later. The correct flow is:
Modify Product → Delete/Remove parts → Save → then Delete from main
If you had a validation check during the Save for "must have at least one part to save", you will not be able to delete the product from the main form!
What I went by for my submission
- Class structure matches the UML exactly (I coded "InStock" to say "Inventory")
- All four validation conditions from requirement J must work
- Confirmation dialogs on every delete/remove
- Search must reset when you clear the search box (or you can highlight like the instructor video and clear the selection if you clear the search box)
- ID fields must be auto-generated and disabled
Here's an old advice from a friend that I'll pass along, he said: "Build an MVP and keep it moving."
If you don't know what an MVP is, it stands for Minimum Viable Project. Don't worry about anything else but meeting the minimum requirement. Then move on.
You've got this!!