Introduction

Modern Application Development-1 (MAD1 in short), is the first course project that we are required to make when coming into the IITM BS in Data science off-campus degree.

On layman’s term, we are asked to create a website to help and automate a task that would have been taken care of by some group of people manually, this was really a fun and enjoyable project due to the fact that we are making a full-fledged site and doing something productive with what we learnt.

The stack we are expected to use:

  • Python: Flask framework for the backend.
  • ORM: Flask-SQLAlchemy
  • DB: Sqlite
  • Styling: Bootstrap and Vanilla CSS

My Project Statement

Project statement for the JAN 2026 term was Placement Portal Application.

Here is the overview of it:

Institutes need efficient systems to manage campus recruitment activities involving companies, students, and placement drives. Currently, many institutes rely on spreadsheets, emails, or manual processes, which makes it difficult to manage company approvals, track student applications, avoid duplicate registrations, and maintain placement records.

You are required to build a Placement Portal Application web application that allows Admin (Institute), Company, and students to interact with the system based on their roles.

Quick glance at the application.

My Reflections

Since I already enjoyed writing code in Python, working with Flask felt very natural. The project itself was fairly simple visually, mostly a traditional multi-page application (MPA) that focused more on functionality than design.

What the Syllabus Didn’t Prepare Me For

  • Wrestling with Jinja for Breadcrumbs.
  • Managing the Domino Effect of Cascade Soft-Deletes.
  • Surviving Vanilla CSS Before Escaping to Bootstrap.

What stood out to me most was understanding how everything connects together in a web app: routing, templating, handling different HTTP requests, structuring files, and turning small ideas into something actually usable from a browser in a simple way for users.

My Grades for this

Total Course Score - 100.00
Course Grade Letter - S

Ending

So this was about my first ever full-fledged project built from scratch.

Thanks for reading till the end.