Mini projects

Buford T Justice

I'm currently studying Java and looking into php and mySql at the moment. Trouble is, I can read and learn plenty of information - that's fantastic but there is no current practical use for what I'm learning.

There are plenty of small exercises that you can do all over the place but its not exactly getting any creative juices flowing if you know what I mean.

My question is this:
Are there any resources online anywhere that have any ideas for mini projects that I could be working on? They don't need to be of any use to anyone at all, just something i could write and say it works and I did it sorta thing.

Ta

Digital Society

Database driven Java and PHP Apps.

Program that stores a Database on anything really. Then a PHP website that reads off the same database.

What interests you? Work some hobbies into it. Do something you'll enjoy.

ChRoMe

Buford T Justice wrote: »

I'm currently studying Java and looking into php and mySql at the moment. Trouble is, I can read and learn plenty of information - that's fantastic but there is no current practical use for what I'm learning.

There are plenty of small exercises that you can do all over the place but its not exactly getting any creative juices flowing if you know what I mean.

My question is this:
Are there any resources online anywhere that have any ideas for mini projects that I could be working on? They don't need to be of any use to anyone at all, just something i could write and say it works and I did it sorta thing.

Ta

Writing a task list application is generally used as an example for writing database applications.

Buford T Justice

I have thought about something database driven with a web interface in php.
Something like an epos system, but a simpler one.

What I was thinking was a program that could lookup barcodes via an online db for dvd's and import their data into a database, with the end user able to enter a few fields or amend them, and be able to log / view their stock level somehow. I'm looking more around the database stock management side of things rather than a till system end of things, but using a barcode reader to lookup the info. The till side of it could easily be built afterwards.

1) I think I might be biting off waaaay more than I can chew here to start with.

2) Is there an online DB available that has barcode listings for dvd's? I tried IMDB and them, but I couldn't find some with the barcode numbers.

For me the trials and tribulations about building it are part and parcel of the experience, and would give me a chance to learn.

I guess I'm looking for a starting point. Again this is the only idea that I've come up with so far. I'm not pushed about what I build, its more to build something that actually does something. Thought I might get some pointers from you guys here.

Thanks.

ChRoMe

Buford T Justice wrote: »

I have thought about something database driven with a web interface in php.
Something like an epos system, but a simpler one.

What I was thinking was a program that could lookup barcodes via an online db for dvd's and import their data into a database, with the end user able to enter a few fields or amend them, and be able to log / view their stock level somehow. I'm looking more around the database stock management side of things rather than a till system end of things, but using a barcode reader to lookup the info. The till side of it could easily be built afterwards.

1) I think I might be biting off waaaay more than I can chew here to start with.

2) Is there an online DB available that has barcode listings for dvd's? I tried IMDB and them, but I couldn't find some with the barcode numbers.

For me the trials and tribulations about building it are part and parcel of the experience, and would give me a chance to learn.

I guess I'm looking for a starting point. Again this is the only idea that I've come up with so far. I'm not pushed about what I build, its more to build something that actually does something. Thought I might get some pointers from you guys here.

Thanks.

If you are asking these sorts of questions, that idea is way too complex, start with something simple and work up to it.

Buford T Justice

ChRoMe wrote: »

If you are asking these sorts of questions, that idea is way too complex, start with something simple and work up to it.

Fair enough, lets start off with a simple idea. a simple ui built in either Java or php running over a mySql database.

In order to make it usable for an individual, is there an online resource available to return information on a barcode number? end user could enter a number to the system, and it will return pertinent information, giving the option to add x number of copies of it to the database.

The reason I want to use an online DB for the info is, if you have 200 different dvd's no one is going to spend a whole day doing data entry on title, year, genre etc..

Simple enough start, but would cover a good few basics for me.


Alternatively, if anyone can suggest a simpler idea, I'd be glad to hear it.

redman85

Buford T Justice wrote: »

In order to make it usable for an individual, is there an online resource available to return information on a barcode number? end user could enter a number to the system, and it will return pertinent information, giving the option to add x number of copies of it to the database.

Is their a particular reason you want to use a barcode to enter data? In terms of user experience it would mean they have to have a copy of the dvd beside them or have the barcode number handy. It would be better if you could run a query based on the name of the film. You could then fetch the data about the film using this IMDB api

ChRoMe

Buford T Justice wrote: »

Fair enough, lets start off with a simple idea. a simple ui built in either Java or php running over a mySql database.

In order to make it usable for an individual, is there an online resource available to return information on a barcode number? end user could enter a number to the system, and it will return pertinent information, giving the option to add x number of copies of it to the database.

The reason I want to use an online DB for the info is, if you have 200 different dvd's no one is going to spend a whole day doing data entry on title, year, genre etc..

Simple enough start, but would cover a good few basics for me.


Alternatively, if anyone can suggest a simpler idea, I'd be glad to hear it.

FFS stop talking about barcdoes. Write an app that can write a record to a database, read a record from a database, update it and delete.

Hint: a task manager app would require all of these actions.

A Greedy Algorithm

I am also trying to think of a simple program idea. I am pretty new to programming and have being attempting to learn Java.

I was thinking of stock market program that takes in various stock prices from the web and stores them in a database which could be updated every day or so.

I could attempt to build a GUI with Swing that allows the user to check/view the prices of various stocks and see increases/decreases in prices on graphs/charts with a few other features such as allowing the user to play with virtual cash or something.

Simple idea but i might attempt it and see how far i get. I just don't know how i would go about getting the stock prices from the web into a database.

Buford T Justice

redman85 wrote: »

Is their a particular reason you want to use a barcode to enter data? In terms of user experience it would mean they have to have a copy of the dvd beside them or have the barcode number handy. It would be better if you could run a query based on the name of the film. You could then fetch the data about the film using this IMDB api

Reasoning behind this is, I helped a friend of mine move premises a few weeks ago. One of her lines that she sells is second hand dvd's. After packing a few thousand of them on the shelves I asked her if she knew how many she had and she said no. No idea. This is why I came up with this idea. If it simple for an end user to use (ie, barcode scanner) then the more likely it is to be practical and used.

For someone who has a couple of thousand dvd's selling them at a euro or two a pop, they aren't going to bother with manual data entry like manually typing in names etc.... That's where it stems from.

Buford T Justice

A Greedy Algorithm wrote: »

I am also trying to think of a simple program idea. I am pretty new to programming and have being attempting to learn Java.

I was thinking of stock market program that takes in various stock prices from the web and stores them in a database which could be updated every day or so.

I could attempt to build a GUI with Swing that allows the user to check/view the prices of various stocks and see increases/decreases in prices on graphs/charts with a few other features such as allowing the user to play with virtual cash or something.

Simple idea but i might attempt it and see how far i get. I just don't know how i would go about getting the stock prices from the web into a database.

If its info that's available on a website and you're using Java, then why not implement the jsoup api?

A Greedy Algorithm

Buford T Justice wrote: »

If its info that's available on a website and you're using Java, then why not implement the jsoup api?

I have never attempted to do this before and haven't began to research on possible ways to achieve this. I've never come across jsoup but thanks for your suggestion at least i know where to begin now!

fergalr

Honestly, I really think you should listen to Chrome - "task list" makes a lot of sense.

For this sort of starter project, a clearly defined spec, and lots of tutorial examples is what you want. There are loads of task list examples out there.

Do you really want to try build something practically useful the first time you are learning how to read/write from a database?

If barcodes are what makes you passionate and determined enough to finish a project, fair enough, do your passion :-)

But it mightn't be the most efficient way to learn. You'll get derailed deciding the spec, or learning about barcodes rather than databases, and risk not finishing anything, or making no progress to your main goal. Maybe not though?

azzeretti

I'm pretty sure Rottentomatoes API allows for UAN/UPC searching but I'm not sure if they're universal like book ISBNs.

I'd stick with something small. Look at tvrage API. Maybe have a user search a TV show then add the data to a local database??

Dubba

fergalr wrote: »

For this sort of starter project, a clearly defined spec, and lots of tutorial examples is what you want. There are loads of task list examples out there.

Can you point me to some task list app examples? I had a google... but I'm not sure what I'm looking for.

During my last semester, 2nd year of CS, we did a Java MVC - Swing - JDBC project where we inserted, read, deleted and updated items... would this be considered a task list app?

Colonel Panic

Only if the items you inserted, read, deleted and updated were tasks.

What you did would be considered a CRUD app. (Create, Read, Update, Delete).

Dubba

Cheers Colonel. So we made a Phone and Contact History CRUD app with the data: Contact Table - callHistory, name and phoneNumber.
Also a Call Table - dateAndTime and durationSecs, then persisted to a MySQL DB.

Sorry for the stupid question, but can you explain / post a link to what is a task app?

Thanks.

Colonel Panic

It's an app that lists tasks. Things to do. Did you not Google "Task App"?

Dubba

Ahh, I wasn't sure if it was a To-Do list or something to do with running processes, as these were the pages coming up from googling - Java Task List.

I got it now, cheers. I found this from googling - Eclipse Java Task List.

Kavrocks

Dubba wrote: »

I got it now, cheers. I found this from googling - Eclipse Java Task List.

That's not what was meant. Why are you googling 'Eclipse Java Task List' instead of just 'Task list' or 'Task app'?

A task list app is a to-do list (example: todoist). You could also try a note taking app (example: Google Keep). Or there's the possibility to combine both into one.

Dubba

Thanks for clearing that up for me Kavrocks. I will have a look into building a to-do list like your examples.

SimonTemplar

I'm all in favour of people doing "mini projects" to improve their coding skills. I'm doing it myself. However, it is important to understand why you are doing the project. A project to improve coding skills should not really get bogged down in the complexities of the domain, such as getting barcodes involved in a DVD inventory application. Get a simple CRUD app working first and then build upon that.

Note that "simple CRUD app" doesn't necessary mean "basic". Using Java for example, you could use Spring with Hibernate rather than core JDBC and SQL strings (if you wanted to explore the Spring framework)

Do you have any spreadsheets for home budgets or hobbies? Perhaps you could turn one of them into an app.

Another possibility is to try to emulate an existing website, but a trimmed down version. For example, lets say a new airline or hotel has asked you to build their website. I presume you know how those type of sites work (user searches for flights / user books flight / user received email confirmation / user retrieves details of flight to check in, etc...). That would give to decent experience.

Also, remember to plan your system first. Don't go straight into coding (although that might sound tempting). And use Git to store your code so you have a record of your work (for a possible future employer)

ChRoMe

Dubba wrote: »

Thanks for clearing that up for me Kavrocks. I will have a look into building a to-do list like your examples.