Semester 10: Capstone Integration
Year 4 -- Production Engineering | Phase 10 | Weeks 91-96 | 6 weeks
Curriculum Readiness: Blueprint
Semester 10 is roadmap-visible as Blueprint in the canonical readiness matrix. Use this capstone material as structure and planning context until content/portal/readiness-matrix.json promotes it to Learner-ready or beyond.
Goal
End-to-end project proving production readiness.
Prerequisites
Semesters 0-9 completed with passing checkpoint confidence, plus a stable workflow for testing, Git, documentation, deployment, and incident-style review.
Phase Completion Contract
- Explain: the capstone domain, architecture, deployment, operational model, key risks, and the reasoning behind the main tradeoffs.
- Build: one end-to-end project that can be run, tested, deployed, observed, and defended as a coherent engineering system.
- Evidence: source code, infrastructure code, ADRs, diagrams, runbooks, security review, portfolio narrative, and final assessment artifacts.
- Do not graduate if: the capstone lacks working operational evidence, written decisions, or the ability to explain and defend the system clearly.
Modules
| # | Module | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Domain Analysis & Architecture Design | Problem framing, scope control, architecture diagram, ADRs |
| 2 | Implementation & Testing | Core delivery, automated tests, quality gates, defect reduction |
| 3 | Cloud Deployment & CI/CD | IaC, deployment workflow, environments, rollback readiness |
| 4 | Operational Readiness & Security Review | Runbooks, SLOs, threat model, failure and recovery planning |
| 5 | Portfolio & Specialization Assessment | Narrative, evidence packaging, specialization decision, next-step plan |
Core Resources
No new required books - apply everything learned across the degree.
| Book | Role |
|---|---|
| Staff Engineer (Will Larson) | Revisit for technical strategy, project framing, and execution leverage |
| The Pragmatic Programmer (Thomas & Hunt) | Revisit for engineering judgment, pragmatism, and craft under delivery pressure |
Non-Technical Parallel Reading
| Book | Theme |
|---|---|
| The Effective Executive | Prioritization, scope control, and decision quality during final delivery |
Cross-Cutting Tracks Active This Semester
| Track | Level | Focus This Semester |
|---|---|---|
| A: Testing | Level 5 | Capstone ships with unit, integration, and end-to-end verification plus explicit quality gates |
| B: Git / CI/CD | Level 5 | Production-style branching, CI checks, release notes, deployment pipeline, rollback plan |
| E: Engineering Fundamentals | Level 5 | Production debugging, runbooks, docs-first investigation, and clean written engineering communication |
| C: Security | Level 5 | Threat model, secrets handling, dependency hygiene, least-privilege deployment posture |
| D: Observability | Level 5 | Health checks, dashboards, logs, alerts, SLO-oriented operational review |
Weekly Arc
| Week | Focus | Modules |
|---|---|---|
| 91 | Scope and architecture | Module 1 plus capstone kickoff, requirements, risk register, ADR baseline |
| 92 | Core implementation | Module 2, vertical slice delivery, test pyramid foundation, defect triage |
| 93 | Deployment and environments | Module 3, CI/CD wiring, infrastructure, staging, rollback rehearsal |
| 94 | Operational hardening | Module 4, SLO draft, runbook, security review, resilience fixes |
| 95 | Portfolio packaging | Module 5, case study, screenshots, diagrams, specialization narrative |
| 96 | Final verification and defense | Exam, capstone walkthrough, checkpoint, portfolio review, next-step plan |
Spaced Repetition Schedule
This semester should mostly review and consolidate. Add cards only for mistakes you actually make during capstone work.
| Week | New Deck | Review Decks |
|---|---|---|
| 91 | Architecture decision and scoping cards | System design, DDD, and API design decks |
| 92 | Defect patterns and testing misses | Testing, refactoring, and database review decks |
| 93 | Deployment and infrastructure cards | Cloud, CI/CD, and networking review decks |
| 94 | Security and operations misses | Security, observability, and reliability review decks |
| 95 | Portfolio language and tradeoff cards | Weak decks only; prioritize recall under explanation |
| 96 | No planned new deck | Full capstone defense review |
Weekly Learning Journal Schedule
Use the template at _templates/weekly-journal.md every week. Specific reflection prompts for this semester:
- What is the single biggest delivery or reliability risk remaining this week?
- What would you cut first if scope threatened the deadline?
- What concrete evidence suggests the capstone is becoming production ready?
Semester Deliverables
- All module quizzes completed
- All code katas completed
- All Feynman notes written
- All spaced repetition decks created (including consolidation as needed)
- Capstone project completed
- Final checkpoint gate passed
- Degree cumulative review completed
- Final exam & Feynman challenge completed
Capstone Throughline
Every semester must leave behind evidence that can survive into the final capstone defense.
- Artifact carried forward: final defense packet.
- What to preserve: Assemble the prior evidence into the final defense packet with working system proof, decisions, operations, risks, and the portfolio narrative.
- Module threads: Module 1: Domain Analysis & Architecture Design, Module 2: Implementation & Testing, Module 3: Cloud Deployment & CI/CD, Module 4: Operational Readiness & Security Review, and Module 5: Portfolio & Specialization Assessment.
- Defense prompt: In Semester 10, explain how this semester's artifact changed a capstone decision, reduced a risk, or made the final system easier to defend.
Throughline Evidence Ledger
Use these prior semester throughlines as the source list for the final defense packet:
| Semester | Carry-forward artifact | Throughline |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Proof notebook and math reasoning log | Semester 1 Capstone Throughline |
| 2 | Algorithms repo and benchmark notes | Semester 2 Capstone Throughline |
| 3 | Refactor log and design review | Semester 3 Capstone Throughline |
| 4 | Systems tool/debugging transcript | Semester 4 Capstone Throughline |
| 5 | Networked service and packet analysis | Semester 5 Capstone Throughline |
| 6 | Data-backed app and query-plan reviews | Semester 6 Capstone Throughline |
| 7 | Architecture packet and ADR set | Semester 7 Capstone Throughline |
| 8 | System design review and leadership packet | Semester 8 Capstone Throughline |
| 9 | Deployment, runbook, and operational evidence | Semester 9 Capstone Throughline |
| 10 | Final defense packet | Current module capstone threads |
Model Artifact Calibration
Use the capstone defense packet model artifact to calibrate final defense evidence, demo flow, and tradeoff discussion.