where do you get your ideas??

NerfNerder

Well I studied computer science and programming in college, and have a failry basic grasp on a couple of languages. I would like to get better and feel more competent as a programmer, however I struggle to come up with ideas to actually make an application.

I was just wondering where do you fellow programmers gain ideas from, and do you have any advice on how i could practice to be a better programmer?

NeverSayDie

Well, when you do it for a living, other folks generally come up with the ideas for projects

In terms of practise though, a few of the usual ones;
- copy some existing app that's on your OS or installed on your PC, for practise sake. A basic calculator or address book app for instance, a mail notification app, a text-based card game, etc.
- folks build things they need. If there's some task you need to automate or some app you need that you don't have, build one.
- folks build things related to other stuff they're into. Build an app to help with some aspect of another hobby or sport you're into.
- build apps for other people. Find someone you know who needs a piece of software for something or other, and build it for them, if you don't have any ideas yourself.
- projects based on technology you're interested in. If you have a particular fondness for databases or graphics or AI, etc, build projects around that. Eg, a database visualiser/explorer of some sort, or a rendering engine, or a game, or some kind of AI demo.
- don't build an app, just implement something technical for the sake of it. Find some algorithm that caught your eye and implement it robustly and usefully, maybe with a UI over it - that'll take a lot more doing for a beginner than the pseudo-code and hard-coded command-line examples you find in textbooks. Eg, implement a quicksort algorithm with a UI for folks to enter stuff to be sorted, and display the results. Or implement some tree algorithms along with UI to render the tree and what's happening to it.

Tom Dunne

While I am not a programmer (databases are my thing), I do lecture at third level, so face this problem on a regular basis, especially when it comes to final year projects.

The thing I always say is to look at things you do, things people do and things that interest you for inspiration. Look at processes that can be automated, especially things that are paper based and repetitive.

For example, things you do - I have a mobile phone, with GPS, I have friends with mobile phones that have GPS. I thought, wouldn't it be cool if I could send my GPS location to my friend, via SMS, and on his phone he could see a map where he is and a route to where I am?

Ok, that's possibly a little advanced, but that's the kind of real-world problem that you could use as inspiration.

amen

While I am not a programmer (databases are my thing

how can say that? Is SQL not programming?

Tom Dunne

amen wrote: »

how can say that? Is SQL not programming?

SQL was only a small part of my job as an Oracle DBA.

I wouldn't class SQL as programming anyway.

amen

I wouldn't class SQL as programming anyway

really ?

it has syntax, supports procedures, can perform complex logic etc.

a lot of badly designed dbs and sql statements are created by programmers who think sql is not programming.

fasty

Anyway... Your choice of project really depends on what technologies you want to brush up on.

What would you like to get into? Web, Windows, Mobile, Games?

wobbles-grogan

It depends really. If you want to get into writing large projects, find your favorite open source program and contribute! Its probably the best way to get a project handed to you, and you can easily (normally) show prospective employers what you've done.

Otherwise, as above posters have said, just pick something you use on your PC everyday and recreate it. If theres something that you repeatedly do while on your computer everyday write some software that will automate it. After all, practice makes perfect.

Currently im working on building a 2D rendering engine and a game to go along with it. Just pick something that interests you!